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Wisconsin Public Radio

Design Like You Give a Damn

Program 06-02-26-A

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Rebuilding's going on in New Orleans, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, and other places devastated by natural disasters. But what kind of structures are going up? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, green architects and designers talk about building for the future. Also, a look at the latest spiritual design craze - vastu, the ancient Hindu art of home design. Think of it as yoga for your house.

SEGMENT 1:

Cameron Sinclair was 23 when he founded Architecture for Humanity - a non-profit group that puts architects and designers on the front lines of disaster relief. He talks with Steve Paulson about some of their projects around the world and why young architects are drawn to this kind of work. Also, Azby Brown is an American architect who lives in Tokyo. He's the author of "The Very Small House: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space." Brown tells Jim Fleming how a Japanese family of four can live comfortably in a house under 1000 square feet in size.

SEGMENT 2:

Robin Mastro is an interior designer; Michael Mastro is an architect. They are both experts on Vastu - a Hindu philosophy for designing buildings in harmony with the universe. Their book is "The Way of Vastu." The Mastros talk with Anne Strainchamps about designing with vatsu. Also, Ralph Knowles talks with Steve Paulson about designing buildings to take advantage of seasonal rhythms of light and dark. Knowles has written 9 books on solar design. The latest is called "Ritual House: Drawing on Nature's Rhythms."

SEGMENT 3:

Science writer Winifred Gallagher has written a book about how to make a house feel right. It's called "House Thinking: A Room by Room Look at How We Live." She talks with Jim Fleming about what she found wrong with her own house, starting with the entryway.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 06-02-26-A.

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Books:

• Azby Brown, The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space (Kodansha)
• Cameron Sinclair, Kate Stohr, Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises (Metropolis Books)
  
• Winifred Gallagher, House Thinking: a room by room look at how we live (Harper Collins)
  
• Ralph Knowles, Ritual House: Drawing on Nature's Rhythms for Architecture and Urban Design (Island Press)
  
• Michael and Robin Mastro, The Way of Vastu: Creating Prosperity through the Power of the Vedas (Balanced Books)
  

Music:

• - "If I Had a Hammer"/Billy Bragg with Eliza Carthy/THE SONGS OF PETE
  SEEGER, Vol. 2/ Appleseed Recordings
• -"Fukaki Umi No Kanata/Yoshida Brothers/ASIAN LOUNGE/Putumayo World Music
• -"Palmistry"/Tabla Beat Science/INDIA THE GREATEST SONGS EVER/Petrol Records
• -"Funky Guru"/Prem Joshua/ASIAN LOUNGE/Putumayo World Music
• -"Burning Down the House"/Talking Heads/STOP MAKING SENSE/Warner Bros.
• -"This Old House"/Rosemary Clooney/16 BIGGEST HITS ROSEMARY CLOONEY/Sony Music

Distribution dates:

week of 02/25/2007 - hour 2 week of 02/26/2006 - hour 1

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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