Innovative Home: Shelter Mag with a Purpose

We just picked up a copy of InnovativeHOME, a new shelter mag from the Institute for Home Innovation, "the premier international organization dedicated to advancing and effecting change within the shelter industry, and promoting the creation of today's "life-homes." An interesting list of contributors and a "Council of Innovators" including both Jill Fehrenbacher of Inhabitat and Sarah Rich of both Inhabitat and Worldchanging, as well as "Celebrity Designer" Nicole Sassaman. (how do you design celebrities?). They have grand plans- a summit of home innovators, the magazine and a "great American Home of Innovation".

The first issue looks interesting- good coverage of our beloved modular (yet more Glidehouse!), a fabulous house by Steven Erlich Architects, a good article on green roofs. We completely agree with the approach of making greener, better housing approachable and trendy and mainstream- it is a trade mag and perhaps the builders will buy into it. They all seemed a bit big and Alison Crouch's article on kitchens seemed out of place, (and we still hate Sybarite's silly tree houses) but overall, a brave effort at changing a conservative and entrenched industry. Not all of it is online but you can read an interview of Mark Newson and review the ::Institute forHome Innovation