Brentano Collaborates with MSI Smart Home
Sustainable fabric designer contributes eco-friendly faux
leather to exhibit
09.01.2011
Surrounded by its established gardens, the Smart Home welcomes visitors in its niche at the Museum of Science and Industry.
The designers of the "Greenest Home in Chicago" have turned
to Brentano as their source for environmentally friendly textiles for the third
year. Brentano, the local expert in sustainable fabric design, first
collaborated with the Museum of Science and Industry on the original
installation of the Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit in 2008. This
year, Scout, a Chicago interior furnishings store, and technology blog Gizmodo
have teamed up to create a completely new look for the home that combines
uniquely repurposed pieces with the newest, most innovative technologies -- one
of Brentano's polyurethane faux leathers a standout among them.
Brentano's pattern Caress covers a reclaimed Knoll sofa in the most prominent
position on the first level of the 2011 Smart Home. Scout's owner Larry
Vodak chose Caress for the way its substantial, supple construction emulates
the hand and weight of real leather. With outstanding abrasion resistance and
almost 250 lbs breaking strength, Caress can also handle the traffic of an
exhibit that has hosted over 300,000 visitors. Caress carries the Brentano
Green fabric label in line with MSI's goal for the Smart Home to introduce "the
ways, big and small, to make eco-friendly living a part of everyday life."
The Smart Home exhibit will be open for public guided tours
through January 8, 2012.
"Recovering a vintage sofa in eco-friendly, biodegradable leather-like material makes smart use of old furniture."
About the Smart Home
The fully-functioning modular Smart Home -- conceived by the Museum of
Science and Industry, designed by architect Michelle Kaufmann Designs™ and
built by All American Homes® of Decatur, Ind. -- was opened to the public in May
2008 and due to its popularity has been redesigned each year. It was given the
designation "Chicago's Greenest Home" after a comprehensive review of the
home's plans, materials and design by the City of Chicago's Chicago Green
Homes Program. Since its opening, the Museum has welcomed more than 250,000
guests on 30-minute guided tours that showcase the ways, big and small, that
people can make eco-friendly living a part of their lives. Some of the green
features that remain year to year include rooftop solar film, a 45-foot wind
turbine, green-roof gardens and an interior that has been designed to maximize
light and space.
Smart Home: Green + Wired is a must-see exhibit for anyone who wants
their home, and life, to be smarter, more efficient and more in tune with the
environment than it is today. This exhibit is not included in general admission
and requires an additional timed-entry ticket. Tour times vary and are subject
to change. The tickets, which include general Museum admission, are $23 for
adults, $22 for seniors and $12 for children 3-11. City of Chicago residents
receive a discount. Please visit msichicago.org for more information on
schedules and to purchase tickets in advance.
Smart Home: Green + Wired is proudly sponsored by ComEd.
download press release <pdf>
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