An Editor's Welcome
A new wrapper for a tried-and-true publication
It’s with great pleasure that we publish this fourth edition of the Habitat X Journal. It’s been a satisfying and fun journey over the recent years as we identified a need, gathered authors, and found a voice for this publication. Our intent is to foment a discussion about housing and how we provide it for our people. I expect that the stories we present here are only the beginning of that conversation.
This is also the first edition of The Journal to be published in a digital-first format. For helping us making that transition I have to thank managing editor Griffin Hagle, whose enthusiasm for sustainable housing is somehow happily matched by his penchant for storytelling. Griffin has spent years above the Arctic Circle, where climate enforces the gathering of people around the fire to share heartfelt ideas, plans, and hopes for the future. I envision the two of us in a similar situation here at the Journal: teasing out knowledge from the past, taking stock of ourselves in the present, and making plans to get housing right in the future.
Our masthead tasks us with, “Reporting from the Intersection of Housing, Culture, and Environment.” It’s an apt set of marching orders for this publication, because we know for certain that no one of those three entities can stand alone. Housing is our focus to be sure, since many of our readers are tasked with the design, funding, construction, and management of residential shelter. But cultural expectations and identity always figure into the way we house ourselves, and housing created without cultural reference is often a place no one wants to live. And the environment? Surely this matters more now than ever as we each take on the tasks needed to create a sustainable future on this planet. Our housing can be a positive addition to our communities and the planet, but only if we create it with the future in mind. Figuring out exactly how to do that is one important goal of this publication.
We skim the tops of many topics here, dipping into the knowledge of an impressive gathering of sustainable housing professionals. They come from a wide range of experience and industries and philosophies. But almost to a person, they have in common being a part of the Habitat X Conferences. Held in Montana each year, this hybrid think-tank and strategic-planning group has maintained a cohesive, productive, and forward-looking presence for the last seven years. Many of these articles were born at this event, and many of our authors will return there for the next level of guidance and inspiration. We hope that one day you might join us.
— Chris Dorsi
