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The redesigned "Smart Home" at MSI opens to public viewing once again
JB Spector for the Museum of Science and Industry
The inventive "Smart Home: Green + Wired" exhibit was built on the Museum of Science and Industry's backyard.
Reopening today (Thursday, March 19) and continuing through January 3, 2010 is the highly successful "Smart Home: Green + Wired" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. The fully functioning home, a three-story modular and sustainable structure built on the museum's backyard, has gotten an interior renovation by Michelle Fitzpatrick of Verde, an eco-responsible design studio in Bucktown.
Fitzpatrick recruited a who's who list of local environmentally minded artists and designers to lend a hand in the Smart Home revamp. The design now features everything from a bold color scheme and new furniture to the addition of a green baby nursery, a DIY garage workshop and a home automation system with voice updates.
More than 100,000 visitors toured the Smart Home in its installment last year. Guests take a guided tour to view the home's inventive eco-friendly technology and learn about ways to incorporate these ideas into our own lives (whether we live in a state-of-the-art abode in a museum's backyard or not). The home itself, which was designed by California-based architect Michelle Kaufman and built by All-American Homes, boasts reusable resources, smart energy consumption, healthy living environments and the latest home techonology devices, courtesy of co-sponsor Wired magazine. Even the landscaping is cutting edge, featuring urban gardening techniques, such as vertical gardens and Earth Box planting.
Tickets to the "Smart Home: Green + Wired" exhibit are available at set times throughout the day and range from $14-$23.
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Posted Thursday, Jul 16, 2009 - 5:27 PM CST
