Masterworks of architecture are deceptive. It's not the tiny percentage of buildings by the hands of masters that matter; it's the legions of copies they spawn. This is Mies van der Rohe Plaza, the DNA of which metastasized into some of the most soulless things ever built.

Just because it's Platinum doesn't mean it's green. Of all the things for which future generations will question the sanity of architects today, glass-skinned buildings will be near or at the top of the list.

Looking forward to an architecture studio jury this afternoon at the University of Florida Jacksonville Campus, then what should be a lively new presentation of the Original Green + Agrarian Revival at 6 PM, 801 W Bay St., Room 141, Jacksonville, FL 32202 All welcome!

Cars made sprawl possible, but didn’t make it necessary. Sprawl was the pattern of choice made by 20th Century industrialized development intent on making the production of housing, retail & offices far more efficient so they could build a lot more of it boring & repetitive.

Freedom can be both freedom from and freedom to.

Don't work furiously. Work curiously; it's much more fun. So many interesting things lie beyond the Curiosity Portal.

A building that needs a certification to tell you it's green probably isn’t.

If you fake it, fake it well. This is a frightful and fragile fake of brick, with an absurdly short lifespan, unlike the real brick to the left.

It is utterly impossible to continue what I do not begin, including a journey.

Putting up buildings inferior to their predecessors should be considered architectural vandalism.

Who must have expressways in cities? Not city-dwellers; they're already there. Expressways in cities are a must only for suburban commuters. Help people live happily in the city to reduce expressway scars. originalgreen.org/resources/in...

Build as if you’re building for the ages, not just the eight years you may be planning to inhabit this place. Leave good traces of who you are and what you stand for in the places you build, and see to it that they lift both your spirits and the spirits of those who come after.

Build as if walking to school was normal and legal again. This means putting more eyes on the street to see the kids as they go, and also kids walking together rather than alone. Walk them to school or walk them home if you can, or befriend a neighbor who can. Or do it together.

Build as if you care about the youngest and the oldest. They usually don’t drive. The youngest are distracted by the wonders of childhood and the oldest are slowed by the rigors of age. Build streets safe for them, and you’ve built streets safe for us all.

Build as if your neighborhood will be sustained by the young who can afford to move in, rather than becoming a geriatric enclave that dies with you. They need accessory dwellings, efficient multi-family housing, and other places they can afford. Around the block, not across town.

Build as if you want your kids to stay, not move away. In their teen years, don’t bore them with subdivisions and office parks. If a Millennial won’t work there, don’t ask your kids to play there. After school or service, where can they afford to live in your neighborhood?

Build as if your land could nourish you. A home garden won’t supplant all trips to the grocery, but the freshest food comes from closest around. And why not plant edible things? Don’t let your yard lay fallow while you spend more of your money at the grocery store.

Build as if your neighbors were your friends, not just your subdivision cohabitators. You’ll need a front porch for visiting, but also a very private courtyard where you can be alone with your family because we are at our best when we have places to be both public and private.

Build as if daylight were your first light, and artificial light was reserved for the night. The windows you’ll add will also be great for cross-ventilation in warmer months, and everything in rooms with light on two sides (including the people) will be more beautiful.

Build as if your children will inherit your house and pass it down to future generations. To do this, they need to live there after they turn 18, so design the 3-generation house, which is necessary to keep a home in the family. Why live somewhere you don’t want to keep?

Build as if we had no cars so you can make a living where you’re living and walk to the grocery store. Power yourself artificially to distant places when you have to, but travel under your own power on everyday trips. You’ll be lighter, healthier, and happier by doing so.

Build as if you had only the sun to warm and the breezes to cool. Entice yourself outside with great outdoor rooms to condition yourself to the local environment so you can throw the windows open most days. On extreme days, use small but highly efficient AC equipment.

Build as if you only had a wheelbarrow, and you’ll preserve much more of the character of the land and streams, and also many of the trees. Your lots will be more valuable and far less boring in the early years than land scraped flat as per standard engineering practice.

Build as if you can’t afford to throw it away, and you’ll build smaller, better, and more meaningfully. Small is the new luxury. We indulged the luxury of throwaway places long after World War II, but discovered they were no luxury at all, but lowered our spirits at every turn.

LEED is absolutely perfect for about 1% of the world's population.

Shutters are things that shut. Things that screw on the wall and do nothing aren’t shutters. They're "screw-on do-nothings."

Mies was wrong. Less isn't more. Less is better. More is worse. Choose quality over quantity. Better over bigger.

Working at home should be a basic human right. If it were harmful, humanity would have perished long ago.

The machine's answer to hard ground is a bigger plow. Nature's answer is a gentle rain.

That which can reproduce and live sustainably is green. This is the standard of life. Life is that process which creates all things green.