Eco-Luxury is the New Black

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Nothing is more American in spirit than the latest trend in mashups - eco-luxury. The idea, of course, is that you can still have your lavish lifestyle of excess without the guilty conscience. Or simply put, you can have your cake and eat it too.

[Image: Landing page for the new SKY development in Florida. Courtesy of SKY.]

Your attitude towards “eco-luxury” plays heavily on your understanding of sustainability. Are you leaving less of an impact in a direct or relative manner? Are you trying to have a minimal impact on the environment, or are you just trying to be slightly better than the energy-hungry mcmansion you could have built?

Perhaps this is an ethical question, one of culture, or maybe of economics; but any way you view it, it’s deceitful. To clarify my position in this statement, I will give props to anyone trying to make a difference, even if they are baby steps. However, this is a marketing ploy. Their aim is satisfying the needs and the conscience of consumers, but the content behind these sexy phrases typically only deliver to the former.

I bring this up because I recently came across the website for a new development in Florida by the folks who brought you Seaside. Sky, as this development is known, has not revealed anything beyond a masterplan. Yet, they have rolled out a full marketing campaign alluding to the qualities that will be inherent in this project. They speak to the sustainable technologies being used, the role of the landscape, a list of possible amenities, an architectural character that is one depressing blast from the Medieval past, among many other characteristics. Ultimately, they claim the following…

The boldest vision for eco-luxury ever developed in this country.

Sounds like a must-have, right?

[Image: Masterplan for the SKY development. Courtesy of SKY.]

[Image: Bucolic character of SKY development. Courtesy of SKY.]

[Image: Agricultural component of SKY development. Courtesy of SKY.]

Still looks like a fairly car-based development by the conceptual renderings. However, they do provide the following Eco-smart Principles…

• Edible & medicinal landscape will dominate Sky plantings.
• Sky residents will raise much of the food that we eat on the grounds at Sky. Every residence will have a garden and in addition there will be another 150 acres of community gardens, orchards, and vineyards.
• Sky homes will be designed with passive and active solar and cisterns and cellars,
  and some with gardens on the roof.
• Through the Sky Institute, learn how to grow agriculture and the latest in energy efficient technologies.
• Free ranging children can grow up happy and healthy, with a strong sense of community,
  with an understanding about agriculture and nature, and responsibility.
• Sky will have a state of the art and environmentally friendly water treatment
  system that yields irrigation water for our gardens.
• Sky will bring pure water from the Florida Aquifer deep
  beneath the ground as the source for fresh drinking water.

Now, given the involvement of Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, I have to believe in some level of sincerity behind the plans. However, I cannot help but cringe at the notion of eco-luxury.

As you already know from Image of the City, I like to use different web portals as a type of cultural index. Therefore, through a quick Google search the first listing for eco-luxury is Eco-Luxury, part of LCL World. They offer a much more promising definition for the word.

The term ‘Eco-luxury’ refers to the ‘production process’ of economic activities that simultaneously promote a sustainable economy and high quality standards. We have already outlined the general concept of sustainability. When we speak of ‘high quality’ in the tourism sector, we refer to constantly-evolving projects that aim at improving customer services, accommodation, architectural style and catering and offer special activities and ‘extras’ such as spas, transportation, shops, libraries and so on in order to provide luxury and ensure high levels of satisfaction.

We are not thinking of ‘luxury’ as a ‘superfluous’ or merely expensive commodity but use the term more in the sense of the original Latin word luxus, once used to indicate an object that was more beautiful or precious than others and would stimulate admiration and appreciation.

Hopefully, time will prove this to be the common definition of eco-luxury, with appreciation being the key word, rather than suggesting a worry-free deal.

As a final note, and something to contemplate, I leave the following quote from SKY.

Built with the finest architecture, craftsmanship, and materials, our homes are meant to last a millennium. Powered by the multi-million dollar research and development.. we are building the most ambitious collection of ecologically-sustainable, environmentally-responsible luxury homes ever developed in this country.

In this country, the most ambitious we can get is “responsible” luxury homes. The Middle East and China are actually trying to build net neutral cities with diverse demographics. Oh where did our imagination go?

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