Have you heard of the 100-mile diet? This is the 100-mile house! The goal with this build was to source and salvage as many materials as possible from within a 100-mile radius to reduce the carbon emissions associated with transporting building materials, to re-use materials in order to reduce the environmental impact of building with … Read more
The following blog post was written by Michael G. Smith originally for motherearthnews.com and I have shamelessly posted it here to further spread his wise words.A group of about two dozen people gather on a wooded hillside in Northern California. They are women, men, and children, ranging in age from three to 72. They come … Read more
Good Earth Global does wonderful work around the world. Last year they built a dormitory for Resilient Steps, a Netherlands-based non-profit serving girls who are victims of child trafficking, child labor, sexual abuse, child marriages and other traumas. This was in Pokhara, Nepal, with the help of 30 volunteers from SOS Nepal.They completed four houses … Read more
When Richard Weaver inherited 3 acres in the center of a golf-oriented community developed by his father in Bozeman, Montana, he bucked family tradition and tore out the grass to create a self-sufficient urban farm and underground greenhouse home. He turned his father’s RV garage into an off-grid home relying on photovoltaics, rainwater and composting … Read more
This house is one of 250 buildings in The Art of Earth Architecture: Past, Present, Future, a new book by Jean Dethier and Princeton Architectural Press. Dethier is a curator and historian and has dedicated his 50-plus-year career to exploring architecture made from earthen materials. This book is both an informative global survey of buildings—from … Read more
Richard Johnson has photographed more than 100 root cellars in Newfoundland and he has built his latest exhibit around them. “It’s a continuation of my interest for small, hand-built structures,” said Johnson, who has also photographed garbage bins, ice-fishing huts and chip wagons. “I’ve been 10 years photographing the architecture of ice fishing across Canada. Root … Read more