Meet the Architect
Michelle Kaufmann is an architect, designer and advocate for smarter ways to design, build and live. Her firm, Michelle Kaufmann Studio, specializes in sustainable lifestyle design including single-family homes, eco-luxury resorts and multi-family communities. Her goal is to make it easier for people to build green and live a more sustainable lifestyle. She also shares this vision in the book Prefab Green.
Kaufmann began designing environmentally responsible, modular homes when she and her husband were looking for a "green" home of their own. Under the belief that sustainable, well-designed buildings should be accessible to more people, Kaufman simplified the process and chose off-site modular technology as its means to create beautiful, eco-friendly homes and buildings.
She also founded Michelle Kaufmann Designs (MKD), a full service design/build architectural firm that specializes in sustainable, innovative, high-quality modular architecture. The home built for the Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit is an MKD design called mkSolaire™, a three-story, loft-style home, suitable for an urban environment. The Museum's home is the first mkSolaire to be constructed.
More information about Michelle Kaufmann and her work can be found at www.michellekaufmann.com.
- Museum Hours
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- Daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas
- Museum Location
- Getting Here
- Happening Now
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Animal Inside Out
A stunning look inside the animal kingdom from the creators of BODY WORLDS.
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Space Junk
A visually stunning exploration of our planet's perilous ring of orbiting debris.
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Air Racers
Ride along as elite pilots fight for position, wingtip-to-wingtip, in the fastest motor sport.
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- Coming Soon
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Inventive Genius Lecture: Empires of Light
Jill Jonnes discusses the electric clashes between Edison, Tesla and Westinghouse.
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The Wooded Isle and Gardens of the World's Fair
Cathy Maloney discusses the gardens of the World's Fairs and tours the Wooded Isle.
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The Wooded Isle and Gardens of the World's Fair
Cathy Maloney returns to discuss World's Fair gardens and tour the Wooded Isle.
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Exhibit Resource Guide
- Download the 2012 Smart Home resource guide to see the eco-friendly products, "green" ideas and resources found in the exhibit.
- Exhibit Resource Guide (PDF)
Smart Home Podcast
- Meet the architect of "Chicago's greenest home" in our interview with Michelle Kaufmann.
Download the Smart Home Podcast