West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, United States
In 1989, after twenty years of architectural practice in New York City, I opened a satellite office in the Berkshires, where I had spent many years of "family" time. One of the firm's primary aims has always been the design of energy efficient, affordable homes and opening our Berkshires office has provided better access to building projects in the area. For me, the Berkshires has been a place to experiment and develop project ideas. In 1981 I designed a small (24'x24') affordable, passive solar private residence in Monterey, MA which was later developed into a prototype "starter" house. Published in Popular Science Magazine as the "Little Big House" over thirty years ago, it's become popular with many people all over the world because of its efficiency and economy (today we occasionally get requests for plans). Many versions of this low cost house have been built throughout the United States as well as abroad. Today, my focus remains on designing beautiful, affordable, sustainable, green, single-family as well as multiple unit net zero-energy residence buildings. A short account of my activities beginning when I left Budapest (in 1944) appeared in a local paper recently and can be accessed on line at: "On the Bridge: John Fülöp remembers Hungary in World War II".
In late 1974 I started my own architectural/planning firm. For over forty years, we have been designing what we consider to be beautiful, functional, energy efficient, sustainable new buildings and alterations to existing structures. We've designed single and multi-family homes throughout the East Coast, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. Commercial and Institutional projects have also been on our drawing boards. John Fülöp Associates spearheaded several community planning and reconstruction projects for municipalities in Massachusetts and New York State. During this period, projects were also developed and designed with associate Bill Richardson in the Appalachian region of Eastern Kentucky. During the early years of the firm, the office was located in a loft on Mott Street in Little Italy, NYC. In 1983, the office moved to larger quarters in the landmark Singer Building, at Broadway and Prince Street. This is one of the many cast iron buildings that would have been demolished in the district that would eventually become known as SOHO, if the proposed lower Manhattan Expressway, had become a reality.
A South Berkshires non-profit organization that has, for over twenty years, acquired land intended for lease to young local organic farmers as well as South Berkshire County residents. The Community Land Trust also focuses on enabling these South Berkshire County residents to build and own affordable housing. In addition to our continuing efforts in providing land for farms and affordable (workforce) housing, we established a new initiative (CSI), this year, to offer land to new businesses to help attract young entrepreneurs. As of this October, using the same Board of Trustees, the Land Trust was able to establish a "companion", IRS designated, 501.C3 organization. This organization, the Berkshire Community Land Trust, operates in parallel with the existing Trust and will simplify the procurement of lands and funds by granting tax credits for any donations made.
Designed an affordable home for a single, retired nurse with a budget of $35,000. The two Bedroom home, at less than 1,000 SqFt, built for the budgeted figure. It was titled the "Little Big House" when it was published in Popular Science Magazine in 1983 and plans were made available to readers. As a result, over the years, many of these plans were used to build varies versions of "Little" homes all over the US and Canada. To this day, we occasionally get requests for a set of plans, some from as far away as Africa and Asia.
This non profit organization works actively to increase the availability of affordable housing in this small Cape Cod community. The goal is to create homes that young local families, public servants, and senior citizens can afford to live in. This is being accomplished by increasing public awareness through educational initiatives, fundraising, and partnering with other housing development groups. Recently, working with the Truro Housing Authority and Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod, a three bedroom home for a single mother with two children was completed.
The group engaged in discussions (all too briefly) about, and initiatives to disseminate information on, "sustainable" building practices, life styles, etc. to the West Stockbridge community.