“This project in Powys, Wales was set in a small clearing in an Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) woodland. The client wanted to blur the lines between interior and exterior and create something that fits into the landscape. The house had to be eco-friendly, healthy to live in and affordable.
natural building
Domes with Living Roofs and Geodesic Skylights
I’ve been very interested in underground dome homes with living roofs for many years after my dome building Instructable went viral. The other day I was watching a video about Hacking Aircrete that showed the dome home featured here. One side has a geodesic greenhouse and the other has a skylight.
How the Mississippi shantyboats helped build a culture
“Long before Wes Modes began planning a journey down the Mississippi, he started building a traditional barge-bottom houseboat in a California backyard out of rustic reclaimed materials (e.g. old fences and chicken coops). Once his shantyboat was complete he hatched a plan to transport it across the country from Santa Cruz to Minnesota to begin a “Huck-Finn style” journey down the iconic American river.
Best Places to Live: Scenic Byways
As a young man, I traveled across Nebraska on Highway 20 that parallels the main east-west interstate across the state. It’s very beautiful country. The scenic byway was far more interesting than the interstate which I had traveled many times going back and forth to Colorado on vacation. Places like this would be a great place to homestead.
No-Bake Martian Bricks
“Should we ever get human settlers on Mars, they’ll likely have to construct their buildings at least partially out of Martian soil. That said, it would be nice if they didn’t have to bring along a bunch of kilns, in order to fire that soil into bricks. Well, according to a NASA-funded study conducted at … Read more
Standing Dead Timber
Store-bought lumber is cost prohibitive for many people. One good alternative for natural builders is using standing dead trees – trees that have been killed by insects or fire and are still standing. For best results, select trees that have been dead for only a few years. With some practice you’ll learn to identify sound timber that has little or no rot. The dead trees can be used in the round as posts and beams or milled into lumber. One key advantage is the logs have already dried naturally and are ready for use.