This is the first English edition of The Barefoot Architect by Johan van Lengen, originally written in Spanish, published in the 1980’s and distributed widely in Mexico and throughout Latin America. Shelter Publications made this new edition available in 2008 because of the relevance of the content to our current times.
green building
Domes beat the noise from the world’s busiest international airport
“Pupils at a London school so close to Heathrow airport that it sometimes seems descending planes might land in the playground have found a novel way to fight the roar of jet engines.
Miracle Springs
This report is from a reader who goes by the name Ajarn Richard. This is where Steve Areen’s dome home is located and other unique structures such as the ones above.
“I’m staying at Miracle Springs right now. The owner is Hajjar Gibran, author, designer, builder. He is the great nephew to Kahlil Gibran, author of the “The Prophet” and has written the sequel to his great uncle’s masterpiece.
Hajjar and his wife Lumyai worked closely with Steve Areen to design and build his dome home out of cement block. Most recently, Hajjar has created a CEB press and a system for building with foam cement and is eager to experiment with these sustainable methods. They are also owners of the organic mango farm where Steve’s dome is located. The property has many of Hajjars creative structures on it. They plan to create an international center for learning various building methods as well as organic agriculture.
Evaporative Refrigerator no electric bill
“This is my powerless Fridge design that can bring temps from 96deg down to 64deg.”
Straw Bale Mud House Weekend
“Friends and guests from all over the world came to our land in late January to help us build a natural straw bale and mud house for Tit Yai, an Issan man who is partially paralyzed. We were fortunate to have teachers from baandin.org and Michel Spann from Holland along with children and teachers from the Sri Sangwan Khon Kaen School for children with disabilities and many local Issan people help us make the house.”