Entry to a House in Kerala, this lonesome looking house stood out among all the other concrete entrances by virtue of moss covered bricks, a small tree, entrance leading into a courtyard. The house itself seems to have been set back behind the courtyard. There is no carpark, just these steps in the front covered with white flowers and moss leading into the house. Quite mesmerizing. 

CORNELL
First Impressions: not quite impressive, probably a case of unrealistic expectations. Textbook orientation when it comes to Temperate climate.
Materials: Bamboo for Flooring & Cabinetry
My Take: Everything dictated by manufacturers willing to sponser, probable lack of innovation.

101805-Solar Decathlon

Went to national mall-DC last weekend. 'Solar Decathlon' - the name clearly suggests something to do with sun (which fortunately made an appearance after a wet-wet-week).
My humble opinion - the designs displayed had a miniscule response to sun & it's behavior.
As a practicing architect - I was there to get some fresh inputs on what architecture schools are upto esp. US schools. The most apparent theme to all designs was - how much they were molded by the sponsers. I understand - sponsers need to have their opinions displayed - how else do you get the funding. Maybe the schools themselves could have done it.
I have to give credit to all the students participating in such a project as building with one's own hands. The amount of insight & understanding they must have gained gives them a tremendous edge - it'll pay off in the not so distant future. (so much for life cycle costing)