Steve Miller
I aim to provide a better product for people who are looking to downsize their lives, add creatively to existing households, or just need an affordable living option. Clever design can make small spaces outperform traditional dwellings with a fraction of the materials and energy.
Graphic: CNN Money
The average house size has ballooned over the last 30 years, which means more materials being used, more fossil fuels being consumed to heat, cool, and light, as well as more junk for us to gather and clutter our lives. All this stuff is costly, so we wind up working more and having less time for what we enjoy, not to mention the unfair amount of the globe's resources that we use in the U.S.
It is my passion to work towards sustainability given our ever increasing population. Figuring out where to fit in and contribute can be daunting with so many important fields that need addressing: local food production, clean air, clean water, public health, resource equity, social/political reform, wildlife/land conservation, energy usage, urban design, etc. Helping people to creatively downsize is one little area that I can affect.
I enjoy studying the aspects of my favorite urban places, whether it's a quaint village or a city the size of Paris, to find universal characteristics that make people fall in love with them, then figure out those traits could be applied to more spaces in our cities. Unfortunately for the last 50 years we've been designing not for the delight of the people, but to accommodate the automobile. We can reduce the amount of time and energy that we use by bringing the things that we need closer to where we live. The Urban Transect diagram below (Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company) shows how compact urban places can provide for the full spectrum of living preferences, yet keep amenities close to home. Basically: miniaturize our homes, miniaturize our cities, maximize pristine wilderness.
Steve received his Masters in Architecture at the University of New Mexico in 2003. He also has a background in the arts having received his Bachelors in the Fine Arts at Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, VA).
Steve’s an avid bicyclist, both road and mountain, and loves getting out in the saddle whenever possible, as well as getting out to hike and camp.
