29-Jan. Placetailor and JPGH exhibited the process of making the JPGreen House and thank you for coming!
18 January 2010. Placetailor's and Archventures collaborated to transform a dull stairwell terminus into a colorful light-filled "Tiger's Den" at the O'bryant High School in Roxbury.
28 November 2009. Powahouse.org, a website that will track all aspects creating a net-positive energy home has been launched.
25 October 2009. The Pratt House is featured on the front page of the Sunday Edition Boston Globe article "Home is where the heat is off".
22 October 2009. Declan Keefe received his Passive House consultant certification.
15-18 October 2009. Declan Keefe and Michael Bernard attended the 4th Annual North American Passive House Conference in Urbana, IL.
3 October 2009. Ken Ward and Tony Sanchez gave a tour of the JP Green House during NESEA's "Green Buildings Open House".
20 September 2009. Placetailor participated in The Boston Globe's "Stalled Project Revisioning". Look through the slide show and vote for Placetailor's submission.
10 August 2009. The Pratt House was featured on NPR's "All Things Considered".
28 July 2009. The Pratt House was featured on ABC's "Green Living" site.
24 July 2009. Simon Hare and the Pratt House were featured in an article on CNET in the "green tech" section.
14 July 2009. Grist contributor Ken Ward and his partner Andrée Zaleska continue to chronicle their conversion of a rundown, 100-year-old store into a green home that serves as both family living quarters and a public space for climate activism, green building education, and community gatherings.
5-18 July 2009. After Passing his LEED exam Declan Keefe is off to New York City to become a Passive House Certified Consultant.
18-21 June 2009. Placetailor participated in Common Boston 2009 where they gave a bike tour, presented photos of Boston's common points, and gave a tour of the JP Green House.
14 May 2009. Simon Hare presented the Pratt house at BASEA's building science slam "Reaching Sustainability in the Existing Built Environment".
18 May 2009. ThirtyOn10, BU's Broadcast Journalism classes program featured a segment on the JP Green House.
12 May 2009. The Youth Build Boston Designery visited the Pratt House to learn about super insulation and its role in today's buildings.
10 May 2009. Simon Hare and Tony Sanchez participated in "Run Like You Give a Damn", the Architecture for Humanity Boston 5K run.
April 2009. Placetailor presented the inner workings of the Pratt House and similar case studies at Residential Design and Construction 2009 (Workshop T40: "Energy balanced buildings: from passivhaus to our house").
26 February 2009. Declan Keefe presented the basic philosophies of Placetailor to current Boston Architectural College students as part of a panel discussion on various types of architecture firms.
29 January 2009. Simon Hare spoke at the BSA's Emerging Professionals "Launch" Party about opportunities for civic service through design.
21 January 2009. Simon Hare presented at the Boston Pecha Kucha event, describing how a house without heat can still be comfortable by balancing intrinsic heat gains with losses.
1 November 2008. Architecture Boston magazine published a letter to the editor by Simon Hare. Here's what he had to say (November/December 2008, p.10):
"Building performance evaluations or post-occupancy evaluations, not unlike David Silverman's fascinating "Measuring Stata" [September/October 2008], are sorely missing from the building industry's project-delivery process.
Silverman compares his story to an architectural Rashomon (a tale told from varied perspectives); however, at the risk of making one metaphor too many, I'd suggest this saga be considered more a "whodunit", with Gehry likened to a scientist and the Stata Center to a Petri dish. Imagine a scientist developing a hypothesis (design), and then cleverly assembling an experiment to test it (building); but as soon as his Petri dishes have been cultured (occupancy), he rushes out of the lab without waiting to find out what happens (failure).
Now, metaphorically speaking, should we blame the scientist for his experiment's failure? Or for his not bothering to assess it? And, in reality, had Gehry evaluated the Stata Center post occupancy, would it be a better building? Would its users still sue him?"
23 June 2008. Declan Keefe launches LocusPocus, an event that becomes a blog that becomes a book. It’s a collaborative tool for exploring what turns everyday spaces into magical places.
19 May 2008. Simon Hare, and Community Design Resource Center of Boston's Brandy Brooks, were recently interviewed about "engaging youth to design their future". Listen to their podcast for some provocative ideas about teens and their role in shaping urban spaces.
11 May 2008. Simon Hare leads "Roxbury Peakbagging: Traversing Fountain, Fort, and Mission Hills", a tour for Common Boston '08. The trek was an exhaustive survey of Roxbury's physical and social topography. Avid walkers ascended, explored, and contrasted the neighborhoods of Fountain Hill, Fort Hill, and Mission Hill to gain a fresh understanding of how natural and architectural forces shape our city.
