I have always been interested in leading a simple life and having a small ecological footprint. A few years back, when I ran across the designs and philosophy of Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny House, I was enamored with the idea of a tiny low-impact house. I decided I would build one.
Recent developments in my career path have brought me an opportunity to continue a pursuit of higher education, a path with which I had parted 10 years prior. I became interested in studying design, and during the September '09 semester, I explored various approaches to design, and settled on the area of sustainable residential design. I am developing my own curriculum of studies with the help of my academic mentor, David Wheeler.
Last semester, in a design studio class with David, I decided that I would consider the design of a tiny house that had been in my head for a year. I did sketches, drawings and a model of the tiny house.
As I was developing my concentration of sustainable residential design, an idea coalesced that my tiny house would be a good model for sustainable design, and eventually my project found its place at the center of my studies. Every study that I would undertake would be a lesson which goes into the design of the tiny house, or else a lesson which comes from it. For example, this semester I am undertaking a study of Vernacular Architecture, which will inform my design by considering historical and cultural solutions to energy-efficiency and home construction. I am also doing a study in Energy-Efficient Windows and Doors, in which I will design and build the doors and windows of my house, and learn and process all the lessons that come from that experience.
I have found that Empire State College offers unique freedom in developing independent studies, which I have taken advantage of in my curriculum, developing a template of studies which will follow each stage of the construction of my tiny house.
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