Slow Home is a movement founded by architect John Brown of Calgary. Slow Home says "We believe that our homes and neighborhoods should be healthy, vibrant places that uplift the spirit and gracefully fit our needs...
"We call for an end to poor construction, bad design, misleading marketing, unfair lending practices and environmental neglect in the housing industry. We acknowledge our collective responsibility to create CLOSE, SIMPLE, LIGHT places to live that leave a positive legacy for future generations.
Check out the Slow Home blog for residential projects that exemplify the tenets of the movement (like the House on Last Mountain shown above) and take the Slow Home test to see how your home's location and functions fulfill the criteria of CLOSE, SIMPLE, and LIGHT. We took the test and found that our home is very CLOSE to work and recreation but we could stand to do a little work when it comes to keeping it SIMPLE and LIGHT-ening our footprint on the environment. It's something we knew going into the test, but it's good to get this reinforcement and a reminder that we have plenty of room for improvement.
The test helps you identify these work areas in just a couple of minutes. So, give it a shot. Then let us know, how did you fare on the Slow Home test?
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I think you mean that the projects exemplify the "tenets" of the movement. Only the rental properties have tenants. EGGCORN haha!
view JoanneM's profile
Interesting quiz questions - but clearly geared towards owners of suburban detached housing rather than renters of any type.
view bepsf's profile
It's a really interesting quiz -- one that shows how green it is to live in a city.
view Lisa (Montreal)'s profile
Thanks, JoanneM.
view regina's profile
A horrible survey.
I actually wasted my time and took it. The survey's end conclusions about my home didn't match reality AT ALL.
view Daily Nuance's profile
Yes, the survey was a neat concept but clearly not accounting for the large population of renters out there.
view asdf3001's profile
My home's one of the residential projects included - so I guess we pass the test!
view potluck's profile
Mostly didn't match my reality, except for the excellent walkability.
view Pixie's profile
Wha? I entered the age of my neighborhood (more than 25 years) and my home (more than 25 years), my square footage (smallest available) and received the following:
"Your profile suggests that your home is a recently constructed large detached home in a newer suburban neighborhood..."
I live in a major city, in a tenement studio. My building is nearly 100 years old.
Data Interpretation: They're Doing It Wrong.
view tinystudio's profile
I agree that the survey is a nice concept but nearly impossible to execute well. And let's be honest, there would be very few architects who don't strive for great design, healthy vibrant communities and environmental sustainability, it's hardly a new movement, it's just good design.
view MsUnreliable's profile
I didn't even bother finishing the survey. Depressing.
Disagree with MsUnreliable... cheap and superficially showy seems to be the rule in my area.
view whytephoenix's profile
Tinystudio, I had the same kind of disconnect with the survey results. I live in a 50-year-old house, the smallest square footage listed, on a smallish lot -- and I got the same interpretation as you. I'm sorry I wasted my time doing the survey.
view Northern Homebody's profile
Though I share the movements aesthetic ideals, it seems that they would be better served by wrapping their concepts in more variable packaging. Not everyone will be happy and comfortable living with the Slow Home look. Personal style matters, yet all of the designs fit into a pretty small spectrum.
view fordjoe's profile
A very, very belated response to whytephoenix - if the US is anything like Australia, architects are responsible for around 1-2% of housing design. The rest is the work of developers and building designers. So I'm still sticking by my point. Any architect that doesn't respond to site, context, climate and community is in the minority.
view MsUnreliable's profile