Chris Magwood’s classic book, Making Better Buildings, is now available for free online! This is a comparative guide to sustainable construction for homeowners and contractors. It is also a masterpiece of research and experience folded into an encyclopedic reference book for anyone interested in sustainable approaches to our built environment. Clearly a labor of love … Read more
For over 25 years, The Last Straw journal was dedicated to natural building and ecological design. It was started as a collective effort by straw bale builders Matts Myrhman and Judy Knox in Tuscon, Arizona in 1993. Since then twenty four editors, three publishers, and countless contributors have continued the long conversation about alternative ways … Read more
Overall, straw is a sustainable material that has plenty of redeemable features when it comes to construction, though it may not be suited for everyone or every situation. Take time to look at the risks and rewards (and limitations) while considering a straw bale house. Straw bale houses are considered eco-friendly thanks to the main … Read more
Learn to Draw Your Home in 3D. Starting about Jan 6, this online course will be interwoven with short video snippets from previous live builds. Alosha Lynov, of BioVeda, will show the hows and whys of construction methodologies to get your home from paper to 3D software to physical reality. This will be a guided … Read more
Eight years ago Natalie built a tiny log cabin to live solo in nature for $5,000. A few years later she and her partner had a baby, so she added on a few rooms to the house. Today she is sharing her story and giving us a tour of her beautiful hand-built home. You can … Read more
Celine Ramjit is an artist working in eco-architecture, weaving; and tattooing. Now she is building a community and a homestead through an art practice that is immersed in nature. Ramjit grew up in Trinidad where she started a tattoo apprenticeship in 2013 which revealed the anthropological history of body art. Ramjit volunteered to work for … Read more