Roundhouses, especially ones with a lightweight roof, get my vote for the easiest shape to build. This obviously goes against conventional thinking that uses modern materials such as plywood and sheetrock. Sure, there’s a certain degree of efficiency in building rectangular structures with modern materials — they do go up quickly. But the logic falls … Read more
Akio Inoue from Japan has been a long time advocate and pioneer of earthbag building (see http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/akio-inoue-dome-photos/ for more about him). He created one of the first concise manuals for how to actually go about building, but it has not generally been accessible to the public. Akio wrote to me and asked if I would … Read more
Here’s an update from the Konbit Shelter group who’s finishing their dome in Haiti. Way to go team! Now they’re calling for volunteers to finish a prototype in Pennsylvania (see details below). “Moses, Craig, and myself left Haiti about a week and a half ago. The final week there was so frantic and felt so … Read more
The idea of DIY cast stone houses has proven to be so popular that I’ve started a new blog to facilitate the development of geopolymer housing. It is an open source project to develop geopolymer cast stone construction. The goal is to create an archive of relevant information through an interactive process of sharing ideas … Read more
This new insulated earthbag idea is from Chris, one of our readers. “Feel free to post away with the idea–after all, ideas are to be shared not owned. It seems like a good way to efficiently build thermal mass inside insulation, while being another (simpler? faster?) alternative to compartmentalized-sewn bags or laying inner and outer … Read more
This photo shows the near impossible to make perfect fit between stones that indicates they may have been cast in place with geopolymer. One source said iron tools were not available at that time, only copper. Ever tried chiseling and cutting hard stone? I have and I can tell you it’s ridiculously slow even with … Read more