Forestiere Underground Gardens in California

During the California heat wave of 1906, Baldassare Forestiere dug a home underground with just a pickax and shovel. He spent 40 years excavating 10 acres of rooms, tunnels, a chapel, an underground aquarium, and courtyards to experiment with underground farming. With no budget, he mixed mortar from the dirt he dug out, creating his … Read more

4 Basic Structural Systems for Building with Bamboo

This article shines a light on four commonly employed structural systems in bamboo construction: The support system of a post and beam structure is composed of three key elements: vertical posts, horizontal beams, and cross-bracing. The latter helps to triangulate the structure, enhancing its stability against lateral loads such as winds and seismic forces. Usually, … Read more

Straw Bales for Shelter

Straw Bales for Shelter: a guide for building emergency shelters with bales is available for download now.  This new guide is free to download and share courtesy of Matts Myhrman, David Eisenberg and Robert Cook. It offers clear explanations and excellent details for straw bale shelter construction. Table of ContentsIntroduction 3Site preparation and moisture barrier … Read more

Unique Coastal California Property

Daniel Liebermann studied architecture at Harvard for about a year before transferring to the University of Colorado to study sculpture. After collecting his MFA degree, he visited Frank Lloyd Wright and shortly after their meeting, he began a fellowship at Wright’s Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz. After apprenticing with Wright for two years he worked … Read more