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10/14/2009 Artwork makes ZEROW HOUSE a home
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To vote for ZEROW HOUSE as your favorite house and help elect it the People's Choice winner, text HOUSE14 to 99503 by Oct. 16!
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BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff
With Galvalume siding that resists corrosion due to humidity and a green wall designed to flourish in a Gulf Coast climate, ZEROW HOUSE will easily make a home in Houston. But Houston has also made a home in the energy-efficient house, a competitor in the 2009 Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon.
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| ERIC HESTER |
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| Photos by Paul Hester, top, and Eric Hester, a father and son who are both Rice alums, adorn the walls of ZEROW HOUSE, the university's entry in the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon. |
"Eric and I have had exhibitions together a few times," Paul said. "I always love doing it. And now, to have our work exhibited together on the National Mall -- it's quite a feeling."
Artwork isn't the only thing that Eric put into ZEROW HOUSE. Though first joining the project about a year-and-a-half ago to help document the construction process, Eric quickly got more involved flexing the welding skills he had learned in a sculpture class at Rice. He worked on footings for the house's foundations and the handrails of the large porch.
"This project has been so time-consuming, so all-encompassing," Eric said. "While I was helping to re-assemble the house in D.C., I was thinking about how to cut boards and nail things together. I didn't really get a chance to think about what it means to have my artwork there. It's definitely a big deal, but I am more overcome with the amazement of seeing these projects from all over the world come together -- and Rice being there among them."
Because his father couldn't share in the D.C. experience, Eric used his free time to document ZEROW HOUSE's moments in the sun.
"Even from the distance of an Internet photo gallery, I can see how our art works in the house to tell the Houston story," Paul said. "I hope for others, too, that they capture the energy of the people here. It's what makes Houston so special. Even when I was a student, Houston was so open. All you have to do here is pitch in and reach out. There are so many opportunities to succeed here. It's a city where anybody can come and add to the mix."
That's exactly what his son is doing now. Eric has been working on a series of photographs for a few years to document the urban landscape and capture meetings between nature and technology, like bayous and bridges.
"I'm always curious to explore these places where nature and technology meet," he said. "I have a curiosity to see where the barriers are and how they meld."
The ZEROW HOUSE team chose Eric's artwork from that series.
"The artwork fits pretty well with this house and project," he said. "After all, we're trying to make tech less intrusive and friendlier for nature."
Though Paul said working with his son can make him feel "like an old timer," he's so excited that they share a passion for photography.
"Watching Eric has been a lesson in itself," he said. "It's just like when I'm teaching. I often find that students have better ideas than I do and a different way of approaching something. I'm learning as much as I'm teaching. It's the same with Eric. When he does whatever he does, I just stand back and watch. He's doing it his own way -- in a way that no one else has thought of."
Regardless of the final results of the Solar Decathlon, which will be announced Oct. 16, both father and son are proud to have been part of the project that drew student and faculty support from across the university.With the only team from Texas chosen to participate, Rice University is one of the smallest schools represented as it goes up against schools with 10 times the number of students and teams with five times the budget.
The average budget for the 20 houses on the mall is $490,000; however, ZEROW HOUSE was created with a building and material budget of only $140,000. The team took the unconventional approach so that its design and concepts could be replicated in six energy-efficient, one- and two-bedroom homes on two 50-by-80-foot lots in Houston's Third Ward neighborhood. Those future houses should cost only about $80,000 because they will not require building materials needed to secure the house for a 1,500-mile journey from Houston to Washington, D.C., and back.
Paul is encouraged by the potential plans to build more such houses; after all, he wants a shot at living in this one.
"When it comes back to Houston, I'm going to get in line to see if I can be selected to live in ZEROW HOUSE."
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