An architect's education includes writing, drawing and just thinking about structures and spaces. It does not typically include sitting on a bamboo floor, kicking a 300-pound concrete slab into place around a fireplace.

Yet that's what Eric Fisher was doing several weeks ago as he and project foreman Erik Wingard put finishing touches on the modern house Mr. Fisher designed for himself and his wife, Mary. He's an architect, not a builder, but there were times over the past two years that he felt like one.

"It was the only time in my life when I couldn't sleep at night, worrying about materials, costs -- everything," he said.

The result is an architectural wake-up call to staid Shadyside, with verdigris copper and bright blue fiber cement siding, a long lawn that doubles as a driveway and a garden on the roof. It's a "green" house in both color and sustainability, from leafy top to earth-sheltered bottom.

"A building that looks like it has hair is totally cool," said Fisher, 48, an adjunct assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Inside, all that separates most of the bright, glassy spaces are cable railings, polycarbonate panels and a see-through steel mesh curtain. Though only 2,500 square feet of living space, it feels like much more. And for Mr. Fisher, an architect with the soul of an artist, feeling is everything.

"I design experiences. I don't care so much about how something looks. I care about how it feels."

That's the reason his Mac and personal computer are filled with more than 100 computer-assisted drawings of this house from every point of view, allowing him and his wife to virtually experience every space before it existed.

"It was extremely difficult to get a sense of space from drawings on paper," said Mary Fisher, 36. "But the 3-D images brought it to life -- how the light hit the walls, what the different colors would look like."

Her suggestions included eliminating exposed beams in the living room and substituting a portable steel rack for the kitchen island.

"My tastes, left unrestricted, are more technical," Mr. Fisher said. "As a result of her input, the house became lighter, more airy, more ephemeral."

The house's few walls contain three bedrooms -- one is used as a study -- three full baths and a self-contained apartment with kitchen at ground level. In both kitchens, the counter tops are poured-on-site concrete slabs containing fly ash, a coal-burning byproduct.

In an architect's statement (see slideshow and design philosophy), Mr. Fisher says his house's details and open floor plan reflect their lifestyle and love of Pittsburgh (he grew up next door). The green roof and grassy lane harken back to the Western Pennsylvania wilderness. The no-maintenance copper siding and single steel column supporting the living room link the house to Pittsburgh's industrial past. And the shiplike shape, nautical elements and sense of movement? They're partly a tribute to two favorite California modernists -- Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra -- but also might reflect his 20 years of rowing.

The living roof not only cools the roof on hot summer days, it gives the couple a second-floor garden off their bedroom, where they can enjoy their breakfast.

The site's most obvious green space is the 160-by-25-foot lane that connects the house and its 150-by-60-foot lot to the street. Because it's a shared easement that offers the only access to the Fishers' R-2 zoned lot, no developer ever bothered to try to build there.

Grassy Pavers by RK Manufacturing allow the lane to be both lawn and driveway. A grid of hexagonal plastic modules supports vehicles while also providing drainage for runoff and a substrate in which grass can grow. The system is similar to the Geoblocks used to create temporary parking for the Dale Chihuly exhibit at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland.

Since the lane is the only part of the property visible from the street, few passers-by notice this unusual house. But plenty have found their way back over the past two years.

"Almost every day, people come down the lane -- 'What's going on?' " said Nathaniel Greene of Washington, D.C., a fifth-year CMU architecture student who sometimes works for his professor.

"I really enjoy seeing people's reactions," Mr. Fisher said. "When you see their eyes light up, it makes you feel like you're doing the right thing."

After first convincing the city zoning board to accept this unusual house and grassy driveway, Mr. Fisher had to get his neighbors on board. He knew that typical modern construction -- concrete and gray metal -- wouldn't win them over. Then he discovered Revere Copper Products' Evergreen prepatinated panels -- "my one piece of senseless beauty."

"Unpatinated copper wouldn't make it in this neighborhood. It looks like a dirty penny," he said.

Mr. Fisher chose to paint the James Hardie fiber cement boards bright blue to complement the green copper and as an antidote to Pittsburgh's gray winters. The two-car garage and apartment on the lowest level are partially built into the hillside, reducing energy costs. The huge windows and glass doors are by Lowen, which Mr. Fisher chose for their quality, energy efficiency and light fir interiors that complement light maple woodwork and bamboo floors.

The architect carefully chose his materials and craftspeople. In long, detailed letters to suppliers, he sometimes negotiated discounts by explaining that this house was a "case study" and "an important house" with regards to technology and design. The house cost about $600,000 to build, not including landscaping.

For the recent Shadyside House Tour, Weisshouse lent him two sofas, some coffee tables and dining set perfectly in tune with his 1950s modern furniture. Artist Dee Briggs designed the living room's hanging sculpture, whose steel ribbons echo the lines of the house, the architect said. The blue exercise ball beneath it was a happy design accent, he said.

Mr. Fisher believes his house embodies his unique approach to architecture as experience. But the experience of actually building it has changed him, too.

"I drew this three or four years ago. If I did it now, it would look totally different. I'm in a totally different place."

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Fisher house sources

Architect/client -- Fisher Architecture, Eric Fisher www.fisherarch.com or 412-657-4153

Foreman/concrete -- Erik Wingard, 412-513-6193

Structural engineer -- Angelo Maione, Atlantic Engineering Services www.aespj.com or 412-338-9000

Surveyor -- Henry Martone, HJ Martone Engineering, 412-781-5908

Appliances -- John Tisdel Fine Appliances, 412-220-9441

Cabinetry -- John Wylie, Wylie Custom Cabinetry, 412-271-3330

Carpentry (trim and stairs) -- Kelly Retzlaff, 412-477-2177

Cable rail -- Feeney Wire Rope and Rigging, Oakland, Calif., 800-888-2418

Counters -- installation: Marble Assoc., 412-821-3900; supplier: Mont Granite, 412-921-6740

Curtains/blinds -- Barry Roth, Plymouth Interiors, 412-771-8569

Metal curtains -- Cascade Coil Drapery, Tualatin, Ore., 971-224-2188

Drywall -- Don Reisdorf, Reisdorf Drywall, 724-321-3183; Jim Grundler, 412-772-1793; Tom Cahall, 412-969-8267

Electrical -- Dave Hunt, Hunt Electric, 724-935-4400

Excavation -- Mike Ficarelli, 412-496-6340

Fiber cement board -- James Hardie Building Products, 866-442-7343

Furniture -- DKVogue, Sarasota, Fla., 941-952-9351; Eisaman Contract Associates, 412-246-4715; Gibraltar Furniture, Beverly Hills, Calif., 310-276-8889; Stacey Weiss, Anthony Lamb -- Weisshouse, 412-441-8888

Glass (shower/mirrors/backsplash) -- Emerald Art Glass, 412-381-2274

Grassy Pavers -- RK Manufacturing, Jackson, Miss. www.grassypavers.com or 800-957-5575

Green roof -- Lichtenfels Nursery, Johnstown PA, www.lichtenfelsnursery.com or 814-525-2090

HVAC -- Michael Gunning, Gunning Inc., 412-298-7046

Insulation -- Fred Searles, Integrity Insulation, 724-352-3113; NuWool Co., 937-608-5641

Lighting -- LaFace McGovern Assoc., Bethel Park 412-854-3200; repco II Inc. www.repcoii.com or 412-563-6220; The Hite Co., www.hiteco.com or 412-391-0205

Copper siding/roof -- Bob Likar, Likar Roofing Co., 412-823-1561

Ornamental metal -- Peter M. Hughes Associates, 412-363-4603; Red Star Iron Works, www.redstarironworks.com or 412-877-3037

Painting -- Roth Quality Painting, 412-965-6564

Pavers/retaining walls -- R.I. Lampus, 412-362-3800

Plumbing -- Robert E. Houck Plumbing, 412-366-7752

Polycarbonate panels -- Extech/Exterior Technologies, 412-781-0991

Radiant panels -- Amante Radiant www.amanteradiant.com or 412-732-9095

Sprinklers -- Eichenlaub Inc., 412-767-4769

Windows, doors -- Blyth & Shearn Inc., 724-941-2300

Garage door -- Thomas Giel Corp., 412-812-0438

Floors -- installation: Richard Stein, Stein Contracting, 412-370-5788; supplier: Smith and Fong Co., 866-835-9859

Interior finishes -- Artemis www.artemisenvironmental.com or 412-353-0197