SunRay Kelley, the barefoot builder of fantastical handmade castles, yurts, temples, spirit lodges, tree houses, etc., died on July 16 in Sedro-Woolley, Wash. He was 71. I first met SunRay at one of the Natural Building Colloquia, and you can read an article I wrote about this at greenhomebuilding.com. Bonnie Howard, Mr. Kelley’s longtime partner, … Read more
Just outside of Taos, NM at the Veterans Off- Grid property, Mark Goldman, the coordinator for the UNM-Taos Construction Technology program, shares his views about sustainable building practices and the transformative power it holds for both aspiring builders and the environment. Goldman wants to see more affordable, hybrid and natural building methods used, while preparing … Read more
Yu Sing, an Indonesian architect, relies on local materials when constructing homes and public spaces. “Natural houses are no longer the first choice for people’s homes,” Yu Sing said. “The state even calls them uninhabitable homes.” Yu Sing founded Studio Akanoma in 2008 to showcase the design of low-cost housing using natural materials. A year … Read more
This year’s Venice Architecture Biennale has as its theme “The Laboratory of the Future.” The laboratory part of the title suggests experimentation and radical rethinking. The National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia shows a series of more traditional yet still alluring spaces with arches on either side of a rectangular central room that feels almost cave-like and … Read more
Witness the interplay of earth, water, and straw to create in-fill walls for a hand-crafted timber frame structure. Stone, clay, bamboo and straw are combined to create beautifully finished walls. Many hands come together, to gather stones, make adobes, mix cob, harvest bamboo to build natural walls that are durable and breathable. Multiple methods of … Read more
permies.com has a wonderful thread going about tree houses that is worth exploring. I’ll post a few of the pictures they have on display to whet your appetite.