Wall niches, also called nooks or nichos in Spanish, are recesses in the walls that create an interesting design element at no cost. They’re used to display art, handicrafts, photos and other objects. You could build one or two wall niches or add lots of niches throughout the home. There are curved niches, niches with … Read more
Pisco Sin Fronteras has been at it again, helping people in Peru build homes with earthabgs. This time they have assisted a dirt-poor family with a bed-ridden grandmother move up in the world from living under a tarp to living in a solid earthbag home, complete with doors and windows.You can read about the details … Read more
The shift toward sustainability in general, and low cost, DIY housing specifically, is the way forward. The trend is unmistakable as I explained in a previous post The Shift Toward Organic Architecture. Plain and simple, people are fed up with the current way of doing things. Why would someone take out a 30-year mortgage (assuming … Read more
Thumb through popular architecture sources and you’ll readily spot a growing trend toward curved and round designs. It’s a revolt against the box. Oh sure, the status quo suburban box is alive and well, and will likely endure as long as the existing building codes, insurance and financial institutions remain in place. But there’s a … Read more
Let’s say you have a group of friends who want to build sustainable homes near each other. Maybe you want to build an ecovillage or something similar. Communal structures with shared facilities for toilets, showers, cooking, laundry, Internet access and group meetings are a great way to cut housing costs. For example, everyone doesn’t need … Read more
Here are two useful maps for natural builders. The map from Natural Homes.org shows locations of natural homes. Actually there are thousands of homes not shown. As a rough guess I’d say for every house shown, there’s probably another 100 not on the map (and far more in some areas). Most people don’t publicize their … Read more