Local Hero—Sim Van der Ryn Looks for Answers Close to Home

Published by Martha Danly under Green Building, Inside Design, Renewable Energy, Sustainability

Bearing a simple cloth sack of Asian pears from his garden, Sim Van der Ryn arrives at my door for lunch today. He gazes around the house and immediately we discover a connection—the designer/builder of my place turns out to have been one of his students, Paul Korhummel.

Sim is a recognized pioneer of ecological design, an architectural movement that integrates the intelligence of nature into building and landscape architecture. In 2004, a New York Times profile wrote of Sim, “Long before sustainability became the buzzword du jour, there was Sim Van der Ryn, the intrepid pioneer on the eco-frontier”. So imagine my delight to learn that the very roof over my head was influenced by him.

As a neighbor of his in West Marin, I had invited Sim over to learn more about ecological design and about his views on our prospects for Planet Earth (your casual, everyday lunch).

“We’re very much at the beginning of creating a sustainable world and about 30 years late in getting started. But don’t let that scare you,” says Sim, with a balance of realism and optimism. He’s right—we’re about a generation behind more advanced European countries such as Germany, 20% of whose energy is renewable. In the U.S., only 2% of our electricity comes from wind power and well less than 1% from solar power.

So how does Sim maintain this balanced outlook, 40 years into a career that helped launch the concept of green design? Our freewheeling conversation covered a broad territory, and I’ll share a taste of it here, with more to follow in future blogs.

“I’m a localist,” he says. Sim believes that lasting solutions will come largely from our communities—from the ground up. Local watershed councils, local farmers’ markets, local building materials. For Sim, democracy is not about voting every few years and hoping for the best. It’s about digging in and participating at the local level. So he urges us to think, act, and take our inspiration locally.

Consider the Danes who live on the island of Samsø. A recent profile in The New Yorker describes how the 4,300 residents of the island accepted a challenge of energy independence from the Danish government. They formed energy coöperatives, set up wind turbines, and are now exporting electricity instead of importing it. What impresses me most is that the people of Samsø, while proud of their accomplishment, insist on their ordinariness. They have the wind, and they discovered the will to use local resources.

Closer to home, Sim pointed me in the direction of Lloyd Kahn, who brings us incredible designs from unique carpenters along the Pacific Coast of North America. In Builders of the Pacific Coast, Kahn features homes, lodges, boats—and even gypsy caravans, tree houses, and woodpiles—produced in a rainforest where water and wood are the predominant features of the landscape. Many of these inspiring buildings are constructed entirely from driftwood, found material, or local trees.

Of course, what works on the islands of Samsø and Vancouver derives from their locations. What we are learning—not too little, too late, we hope—is to use available resources from our own local environments and, in turn, to work as a community to protect and sustain these resources.

And I, for one, have some pears to turn into spicy chutney next weekend.

4 Responses to “Local Hero—Sim Van der Ryn Looks for Answers Close to Home”

Nancy Spring says:

November 4, 2008 at 12:29 am

Beautiful and very informative. We know Sim, and will tell you about our connection sometime soon.

Great pictures and design. Love visiting your site.

Nancy & Mike Spring

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Stefanie says:

November 4, 2008 at 3:31 pm

The Danish experiment is really interesting. It’s amazing what people can do when they actually work together and try.

It’s hard to imagine people here in the Midwestern portion of the U.S. doing something like this, but I would absolutely love to see it (and this very thought makes me feel compelled to action). Aside from being good for the environment, I think it’s very good for the soul when people join together and do something out of the ordinary. Trying something new and succeeding can do so much for your overall happiness and confidence.

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Lisa Lee says:

December 9, 2008 at 10:22 pm

Sim Van der Ryn
PO Box 858
Inverness, CA 94937
01.415.669.7005
info@ecodesign.org

Dear Mr. Van der Ryn,

I am an architect practicing in New York City.
Recently I visited San Francisco during Thanksgiving holiday. I decided to look up your office in Sausalito on Monday 12/1/2008.
I attended Bucky Fuller symposium in NYC summer this year, and also I met you in early 90’s when you lectured in Rochester, New York.

I have your “Ecological Design” book and retained your business card.

What happened in Sausalito when I got off the ferry to look for your office is puzzling and interesting. I stopped by one of the art galleries on Bridgeway (589) and asked the address for your office. The women who was on computer, Sonya Chow, gallery manager I assume, looked you up on internet and gave me your address, wrote in the back of her card as “245 Gate 5 Road.” Since I wanted to walk and explore Sausalito, I decided to walk to the address, she said it was about 2 miles, just follow Bridgeway.

I did find 245 Gate 5 Road, but it was not your office but it was an industrial structure with garage door. What was most disconcerting was what I saw on Gate 5 Road on the way to look for the address. Adjacent to 245 Gate 5 Road was an old Auto Body shop with muddy front yard, looks contaminated and dirty. I expected pedestrian friendly sidewalk leading to a structure with lots of sustainable features, such as photo voltaic panels and green technology.

It was a long walk to not find your office, disappointing in many ways, especially the industrial brwon field condition at the water front. When I returned I looked up your office on the internet and found the address as 2200 Bridgeway. In the beginning, I thought it was mean of someone to give me a wrong address like that. Then, I wondered whether it was intentional for me to see the conditions on Gate 5 Road. I did mention that I was an architect very interested in Sustainable Design and wanted to look you up for that reason. Do you have any stories regarding Gate 5 Road?

Next time when I visit, I will be sure to call you first.

Best Regards,

Whasoon Lisa Lee, AIA, LEED AP
99 Battery Place
Apt. 20 E
New York, New York 10280
wllarchitects@msn.com

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Green Graphic Designer says:

April 18, 2009 at 12:16 am

That gravity tree sculpture is awesome.

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