Thinking of home(s)

Over the last few years I've become increasingly interested in sustainable and alternatively designed homes. Low-impact design, permaculture, locally made/found materials---these are all things that are admirable in any home. With the ticky-tacky prefab developments spewing across the suburban landscape, it is about time we start looking at other ways to build homes. Furthermore--with the housing market in the shitter for the time being--there's time to think (or at least dream) of other ways of building.

Before thinking about coming to Korea, I tinkered with the idea of heading to New Mexico as a volunteer intern for a group of architects who practice Earthship Biotecture. These homes are amazing! I went to a screening of the movie Garbage Warrior last year in Madison, and I immediately looked up info on the builders. Basically, these homes are made of old bottles (glass and plastic), aluminum cans, and tires. These materials are made into bricks by filling them with mud and adobe, then these bricks make the foundation for the homes. The materials are predominantly either recycled or naturally indigenous to the area in which the home is to be built. The website doesn't work in Korea, so I can't write on more specifics, but these things are cool! They were originally built in desert areas but I think there are some in other, wetter, colder states now! The construction and situation of the homes makes it possible to heat/cool the homes in due weather. There are also water capture/purification systems and renewable energy systems. All in all, these homes are self-sufficient with very little post-construction costs. Also, the group has gone to disaster areas to help rebuild people's lost homes--think Katrina and tsunamis, where there is a lot of garbage and debris left to work with and very few surviving homes. Very cool.

(First picture is an earthsip built in 2007, the second is a picture of a recycled bottle wall)

I started thinking about housing after I stumbled upon this site for a low-impact woodland home in Wales. In my later college years I thought about how practical it would be to build a home underground. It seemed like it would work better in non-desert places. I asked some architects at a local sustainability fair a little about it who said that this idea had been experimented with in the sixties and seventies but the building often had mildew, mold and humidity problems. The savings associated with climate control (the temperature a few feet beneath the soil is fairly constant) were largely offset by humidity control and mildew removal. Also, these houses have little to no light--which is pretty hard on the ol' biological clock. So, I abondoned that thought, however novel I thought it was.

So, when I came upon this hobbit-like house the other day, I was pretty excited! This house was built in 2005 and it supposedly remains in good shape. It was built with hay bales, materials from the surrounding area and some purchased materials for windows and flooring and the like. It ended up only costing about $6000 for a cool, one of a kind, low-impact, fairly large home. A home which allows the dwellers to practically live in nature, without the creepy crawlies and the elements to bother them.

Finally, these homes are pieces of art--who wouldn't want to live in an original piece, made to suit your own needs, tastes and desires? Well...scratch that. I'm sure there are many who do not, but for those of us who do, look at these. Even if you aren't going to build a new home soon, or ever, they are fun to dream about.