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
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
Unfortunately, after 88 years, the Frank Lloyd Wright’s School of Architecture at Taliesin is closing because the Governing Board of the school was not able to reach an agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to keep it open. Generations of architecture students have had a chance to immerse themselves in creative experimentation, often designing … Read more
At Cob Cottage Company in Oregon Kara Stiff trained in cob, an ancient technique using clay, sand and straw, with stone or recycled concrete for the foundation. They built rounded houses that seemed right out of a fairy tale, using materials that were freely available just about everywhere, non-toxic, cozy and beautiful. There wasn’t a … Read more