Continuing a theme from my previous appearance on Selling New York, in the April 22nd episode I had a chance to focus on identifying and addressing the inherent “energy” of the apartment that I was tasked to sell. An apartment, house or any kind of home acquires its energy not only from its own history, but from the histories—the experiences, goals, aspirations, obstacles and anxieties—of the people who live in it,  as well as of their guests, their neighbors and, dare I say, their brokers. I was educated in the existence and power of this type of energy by my friend and colleague Reginald Arthur, who for years has studied the energies of individuals, their homes and their environments. Almost as soon as I took over the listing of an apartment at 50 Gramercy Park North, I brought Reggie in to help promote the residence’s positive energies. Similar to the penthouse (at 350 West 23rd Street) featured in my previous episode, the one at 50 Gramercy is a relatively new construction and its current occupants have lived there for less than three years. Reggie and I have come to understand that new developments often attract and absorb negative forces that accompany the building process: the stresses of financing, the convulsions of construction, the uncertainties of the marketplace in which the apartments are sold. Furthermore, the 50 Gramercy project incorporates an old New York hotel that has hosted many unusual guests over the years, each of whom contributes his or her own energy to the bones of the building. All of these factors, if sufficiently negative, can create a pall that, on a certain level, deters buyers. Reggie identified this immediately and took measures to reverse its effects. He tries to help homes release negative energies from dark periods in their histories by assisting their owners and brokers in doing the same. In other words, if the people who live and pass through an apartment are able to expel their negative energies, so too will those energies be expelled from the apartment itself, resulting in a space that is brighter and more attractive to prospective buyers. Whether or not they believe in the veracity of Reggie’s methods, my sellers (and I) are always filled with confidence by his presence and charisma. And, after all, isn’t confidence  just another form of positive energy?

Richard Cook and Bob Fox are  two of the most innovative architects of our era. They have been at the forefront of designing energy efficient homes and spaces before it became fashionable.

I received an email today from them which brought a new endeavor of theirs to my attention. It mentioned ….. Today’s Wall Street Journal includes a special report on energy: a look ahead at technology, design, policy, and economics. Its cover story, “The Green House of the Future”, asked four architectural firms to imagine an energy efficient, environmentally-sustainable home without worrying about the usual realities of costs and building technologies.

Their answer is a conceptual design for an environmentally-responsive, “biomorphic” house that adapts to its occupants’ needs, as well as changing weather and other environmental factors. The design is an evolution of their proposal for the Live Work Home, a winner of Syracuse University’s recent “From the Ground Up” competition.

The article from yesterday’s Wall Street Journal shows many creative and provocative ideas from four different architectural firms.