Inhabitat

Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

Inhabitat was started by NYC designer Jill Fehrenbacher as a forum in which to investigate emerging trends in product, interior and architectural design. Mike Chino is the Managing Editor; Emily Pilloton, Olivia Chen, Evelyn Lee, Abigail Doan and Jorge Chapa are Senior Editors. The site was designed by Jill Fehrenbacher and runs off the fabulous blogging platform Wordpress.

THE INHABITAT TEAM

JILL FEHRENBACHER - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
Jill is the founder of Inhabitat, as well as a freelance designer, green design consultant, and architecture student. She created Inhabitat in the Spring of 2005 as a way to catalog her endless search for new ways to improve the world through forward-thinking, high-tech, and environmentally conscious design. Educated at Brown University, where she received a B.A. in Art Semiotics, and Central St. Martins, where she received an M.A. in Design Studies, she currently resides in New York City, which so far has been good for her obsession with rooftop gardens and vegan junk food restaurants.

MIKE CHINO - Managing Editor
Mike is a writer, researcher, and musician based in San Francisco. He left sunny UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in French and Modern literature and delved into publishing through a stint at ReadyMade Magazine. Inspired by the impact that forward thinking can have on the present, he has cultivated a voracious appetite for developments in sustainable architecture, design, and technology. Mike likes to bike, blog, and build things, and in his spare time he also cooks, produces music, and rocks out.

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EMILY PILLOTON - Senior Editor
Emily Pilloton is Inhabitat’s senior editor, and Founder of Project H Design, a charitable organization that supports, inspires, and delivers product design initiatives for Humanity, Habitats, Health, and Happiness. She is also a freelance design writer, furniture designer, and nomad “based” in San Francisco. Trained in architecture with degrees from UC Berkeley and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she has written for GOOD Magazine, Innovative Home, and ID, and has also taught design theory in Chicago. When she isn’t traveling or emailing, Emily enjoys baking cupcakes and playing trivia board games.
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SARAH RICH - Senior Editor
Sarah is a writer and editor based on the West Coast. She spends most of her creative energy devising ways to strengthen the bridge between sustainable ideas and mainstream culture, and has found design to be the most effective tool for the task. Sarah is also the Managing Editor of Worldchanging and edited the Worldchanging Book. Past and upcoming publication credits include Dwell, I.D., Innovative Home, Look-look, and Readymade, as well as brand identity work for Snohetta and Lovetann. Sarah is a biodiesel driver, farmer’s market devotee and Sunday crossword addict.

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EVELYN LEE - Senior Editor
Evelyn is a 2010 MBA candidate at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, CA. Trained as an architect, she received her Masters in Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture’s (SCI-arc) Metropolitan Research and Design Program. Prior to going back to school, she was program manager for Public Architecture in San Francisco, CA, where she oversaw all aspects of their 1% Program, encouraging architects to give 1% of their time to the public good, pro bono. Evelyn is constantly searching for new avenues to expand her architectural knowledge, and is a freelance writer for a number of written and online publications. When she’s away from the computer, Evelyn enjoys running, playing the piano, driving her Prius, and coaching/playing soccer.

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JORGE CHAPA - News & Transportation Editor
After finishing his architecture degree at the University of Monterrey in 2001, he realized that he wanted to focus on sustainable architecture, and knew nothing about it. Foolishly thinking that it would become important in fifteen years time, he packed up his suitcases, left Mexico and headed for Australia, where he studied a Masters in Design Science at the University of Sydney. During his time in Sydney he worked as an ESD consultant and product assessor, looking at everything from the thermal performance of a building, to the environmental impacts of a particular product. Currently working at the Green Building Council of Australia, he continues in his quest to learn what sustainability is and how to achieve it. He figures that it will take some time, but refuses to make any estimates.

ABIGAIL DOAN - Art & Style Editor
Abigail Doan is a fiber, mixed media, and environmental installation artist based in NYC and Siena, Italy. She has worked and traveled as a documentary film researcher, an art director for digital media and 3D design projects, and as an outreach coordinator for environmental education initiatives. Educated at Princeton University and Purchase College, she has exhibited her artwork in numerous shows internationally and is also a featured artist on Greenmuseum.org, the online environmental art museum. When not writing about art, craft, gardening, and fiber, she is restoring a 14th century farmhouse in rural Tuscany. She and her husband use local reclaimed materials while abiding by strict historic and regional preservation codes. She is also currently designing and crocheting air loft “canopy” gardens and is creating a fiber and vegetation based jewelry collection.

JASON SAHLER - Operations Assistant / Contributing Writer
Jason Sahler is Inhabitat’s operation’s assistant as well as a contributing writer. Jason recently graduated from NYU with a B.A in Sustainable Development. Focusing on a holistic approach to sustainability, he looked to find connections between different disciplines and issues crossing different systems. He is a devout follower of small businesses and anything “SLOW“. Jason brings his love for the the outdoors and his passion for finding sustainable solutions, to pretty much everything he does…Oh and he is a professed Craft Beer Geek.

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OLIVIA CHEN - Senior Editor
Olivia is a writer currently living in New York. She graduated from Cornell with a degree in landscape architecture where she first became curious about the challenge of sustainable (and affordable!) development, though she is easily distracted by the poetics and mechanics of gardening. She has a love for the written word and a passion for design which led her to be an intern at The Architect’s Newspaper and the non-profit organization, the Institute for Urban Design. She often finds herself reading books with pretty pictures but otherwise her current obsessions include finding certified fair trade flowers, exploring flea markets and thrift stores, and trekking around New York.

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PIPER KUJAC - Contributing Writer
Piper is a LEED accredited designer in San Francisco with architectural experience ranging from project manager at C. David Robinson Architects to design consultant at Origo, Inc., developing the Best House Ever business model. Trained in Architecture at the environmentally-conscious University of Oregon, she admits to an obsession with materials and resources and thrives on finding new means and methods of sustainable design. She is co-chair of the NCC Emerging Green Builders committee of the USGBC and teaches a class in Sustainable Project Development at the UC Berkeley Extension. She enjoys knitting, running marathons, and the occasional design competition, winning first prize in the Green Dollhouse Competition. She also loves trekking through virgin rainforests in Oregon, Thailand, Malaysia, and Brazil, where she recently fell in love with Ipe trees.

TYLENE LEVESQUE - Contributing Writer
Originally from Texas, Tylene received her BA in Architectural Studies and History of Art from Brown University and her MA in the History of Decorative Arts & Design from Parsons School of Design. In 2006, she relocated from New York City to Shanghai, China to establish ArtToursChina, which provides guided art tours and art consulting services to those looking for insight into an always evolving and sometimes baffling contemporary Chinese art scene. When Tylene is not out on one of her walking tours, weaving in and out of moped traffic and avoiding other occupational hazards, she spends her time learning Mandarin, documenting daily life in China’s largest city, and doing her part to make China a greener place to live, one reusable chopstick at a time.

KATE ANDREWS - Contributing Writer
Kate Andrews is a designer, writer and researcher based just north of London. Educated at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, she holds a First Class Honours in Graphic Design and a Merit Award from The International Society of Typographic Designers. Kate has worked for The Sunday Times Magazine in London, Synectics Innovation Consultancy, has exhibited at Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida and continues to research for a wealth of social design platforms including; Design21, ThinkPublic, DesignSessions, Roger-Live, and SocialDesignSite.com. As a designer, Kate is passionate for the power that visual communication has to impact social change and in October will start the MA Design Writing Criticism course at London’s College of Communication.

MAHESH BASANTANI - Contributing Writer
I am a research scholar in the Botany Department at University of Lucknow and will be submitting my PhD thesis in Spring 2008. I am an avid science fiction reader and an enthusiast for modern day biotechnology tools and techniques. I have also made a website for biotechnology and general biology students. I’m an active digg user and was featured in the Top 10 Green Diggers. The efficient use of the sun, wind and tides as alternative energy sources has always fascinated me, and it is perhaps this interest in modern day green technology that brought me into green blogging.

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ARIANA MOUYIARIS - Contributing Writer
Ariana Mouyiaris is a freelance writer and design researcher based in London. She holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and is studying for an MA in Curating Contemporary Design, with Kingston University and the Design Museum in the UK. Ariana hopes that an increasing awareness of sustainability will create a debate that goes beyond the effect of individual consumer habits to impact global change on a policy, as well as a personal, level. In the meantime, she’s always looking for an excuse to keep her camera snapping and wondering if a bonfire might not be a better bet for conquering her ever-growing recycling heap.

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CATE TROTTER - Contributing Writer
A trendspotter and green marketing strategist, sustainability has been a major part of Cate’s career for the past eight years. Her Design and Eco-Design course at Goldsmiths College, University of London involved designing and building an eco coffin, planning a sustainable meal with George Bush, and imagining what would happen if Greenpeace and Tesco joined forces. Since then, she’s assisted Nokia’s CSR team with their research and strategy, worked on sustainability documents for Unilever and helped a celebrity designer develop an eco-product for Tesco. She can currently be found exploring London town, documenting trends for consultancies around the world and developing a green trend tour of London.

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ANTONIA HALSE - Contributing Writer/Photographer

Antonia is a London based writer, photographer & researcher interested in cross-disciplinary sustainable design practice. With a background in casting for film & tv she can usually be found engaged in lengthy conversations with strangers. Other interests include buying raincoats from car boot sales, and working on collaborative projects such as Urban Typhoon, Initiative & Institution & Shoot Nations. Covering Milan during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile will be Antonia’s first assignment for Inhabitat. Her work has previously been published in several issues of Blueprint Magazine.

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BRIDGETTE STEFFEN - Contributing Writer

Bridgette is a LEED accredited sustainability consultant based in Park City, UT and helps individuals and companies reduce their environmental impact. With degrees in Mechanical and Environmental Engineering, she has experience in renewable energy, energy efficiency, green building and sustainable development. When she’s not calculating carbon footprints and recycling materials into new things, she spends her time with her new puppy hiking in the woods and planning her sustainable wedding to her handsome firefighter fiance. She is the founder of Simple and Sustainable, a sustainable living coaching service. Bridgette is also the Executive Director of the EarthRight Business Institute, which helps companies achieve sustainable business practices, offers eco-friendly business certifications, and training for Sustainability Managers.

ALEXANDRA KAIN - Contributing Writer

Alex is a freelance writer and social sciences student with interests in linguistics, human and animal rights and, of course, sustainable design. She is a staff writer for The Santa Monica Sun and regular freelancer. She’s also a volunteer translator for Womens Law and PR volunteer for Lotus Outreach, both working to improve conditions for battered, enslaved and trafficked women worldwide. Alex grew up in the Pacific Northwest, spent two years in Barcelona, shorter stints in Vienna, Munich, and Portland and has made LA her home since 2006. She’s planning a big move to St. Petersburg, Russia in January where she’ll be finishing up school, desperately seeking vegan food, and trying to keep warm. Alex has a working knowledge of six languages and is hoping to learn more.

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HAILY ZAKI - Contributing Writer
Lacking the skills or the patience to be a designer herself, Haily Zaki is a PR maven, freelance writer and secret agent in Los Angeles who contents herself by promoting, writing about, and surrounding herself with great design. Besides running Secret Agent PR and working with some of the best architecture and design brands in LA, Haily is a contributing writer for The Architect’s Newspaper, the Epoch Times, and any other publication that likes her story ideas. She’s also a co-organizer of de LaB (design east of La Brea) - part design lab, part social experiment for creative professionals who work, live or play on the Eastside of Los Angeles. She was first turned onto the idea of sustainable living when she worked with the Mapuche people in Southern Chile and hopes one day to move to the end of the earth where she would live happily in a green prefab pod writing torrid romance novels. For now, she focuses her energy on communicating through the media, re-training herself to be a good, green consumer, and not killing her tomato plants.

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MEGHAN BEITIKS - Contributing Writer

Meghan Beitiks (Moe for short) is a writer, artist, gardener and biofuel lackey living in Oakland, California. She was originally turned on to the concept of sustainability while studying site-specific theatre on a Fulbright scholarship in Latvia. She spent the following years immersing herself in the worlds of organic farming and recycled veggie oil fuels by working on a farm in Oklahoma and driving across the country in a grease-powered veggie bus. Since then she’s sought every opportunity to combine her passions for ecology and the arts in a manner that affects daily city life. She is the Blog Editor for greenmuseum.org and a contributing writer on environmental art for the lohasian. A certified Urban Permaculture designer, she daydreams about bioremediative theater and is excited to be part of a sustainable future.