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[GregWS]

OK, so sorry to continue the discussion from the "article on Rohrer" thread, but this living-in-nature house is priceless.  I found it while doing research for a highly natural project I'm currently working on in studio:

http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

 

[William Broom]

Hobbiton!

[jeb]

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really

I would've soooo wanted to see him digging out the hillside with the chainsaw :D

[GregWS]

Haha, they even call it a Hobbit home on the site, and apparently that's one of the reasons people like it instead of immediately calling them hippies.  :D

Oh, and about the "main tools," go to the stuff about construction; they didn't actually dig out a hillside, they cleared an area and what looks like hillside is just dirt etc. on the roof of the house.  The house is just shaped to look like a hill.

[jeb]

Haha, they even call it a Hobbit home on the site, and apparently that's one of the reasons people like it instead of immediately calling them hippies.  :D

Oh, and about the "main tools," go to the stuff about construction; they didn't actually dig out a hillside, they cleared an area and what looks like hillside is just dirt etc. on the roof of the house.  The house is just shaped to look like a hill.

Yeah, that is what I meant. My English vocabulary is not filled with building terms, sorry. My point still stands, though! That whole site wins the award for extreme over-simplification

[Movius]

I'm sure he'll be set upon the arrival of this "energy decent" he seems to fear.

Personally, I'm not a fan of water-borne parasites and rotten food. Also I wouldn't trust someone with his construction methods to install a compost toilet.

But thats just me.

[Hajo]

I like houses that are integrated into the landscape. There are a few designs on the web, but I didn't keep the URLs.

I definitely want a nature-integrated house some day if i ever can afford/make it.

[agj]

That looks awesome. I'm not sure exactly how structurally sound it is, though, but yeah.

[Corpus]

My main issue with this house: no way to power my laptop.

[GregWS]

My main issue with this house: no way to power my laptop.

This would also be an issue for me, but as far as I'm aware you can now buy mini solar panels with normal plugs in them; they seemed to be marketed to people who go camping a lot.  Another thing I've heard is that you can built mini hydro dams with something as little as a stream; that would definitely be enough to power a couple laptops and some speakers.

Oh, and I may and up building one of these just for kicks at some point soon (I definitely wouldn't live in it, but I might sleep there a couple times).  Farther down the line, assuming the whole laptop thing is sorted out, I could totally see myself living in a house like this.  And given the history of our species, it's a much more natural dwelling than any "modern" house.  Really, I think it's about time that we as a species simultaneously moved forward and backward; the laptop in the forest, essentially.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I prefer adobe houses -- you can build them yourself for quite cheap apparently, just out of mix of pebbles, mud, and such. And they last longer than modern houses too, and often don't require air conditioning because the material insulates very well.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I just looked it up, and to build an adobe house requires just this stuff:

# Straw
# Soil
# Water
# Brick molds
# Nails
# Trowel
# Wood
# Tar
# Asphalt

[Melly]

I could only live in a nature house if there was:

- An effective way to ward off bugs and parasites. Maybe one of those sound emitters that work in a frequency we cannot hear.
- Constant electricity and internet.
- At least a town I can go to for supplies/emergencies/buy new computer equipment

I can't fully detach myself from modern life, but I like the idea of living in a houe in that style.

[GregWS]

I could only live in a nature house if there was:

- An effective way to ward off bugs and parasites. Maybe one of those sound emitters that work in a frequency we cannot hear.
- Constant electricity and internet.
- At least a town I can go to for supplies/emergencies/buy new computer equipment

I can't fully detach myself from modern life, but I like the idea of living in a houe in that style.

I'm generally on the same page, but of course we live in very different climates, so, for instance, bugs aren't as much of a problem in Edmonton as they would be in Brazil.  Internet and supplies/computer equipment are definitely a must.  I think that's what I was attempting to get at with the comment about simultaneous progression and regression: keep the ultra high tech, like computers, but get rid of a lot of the needless middle tech that only makes our modern lives more pointless/depressing.  I guess I would say individual vehicles (as opposed to bikes/public transit) fit here, as do a lot of consumer products that no one really needs.

@rinku: I'd actually looked at adobes for this project too, but part of my intent is to design a structure that doesn't clash with the surrounding landscape, and as I'm not designing for an arid climate, adobes won't work.  I do really like them though, and they do fit very nicely within the desert aesthetic.

[george]

I thought I read that they put solar panels on this house of theirs...?

From what they used (oak poles) I don't think this house will just fall down. Then again I don't think there are many earthquakes in Wales (?). I'd be more worried about the waterproofing they used and any rot that might get in there.

Otherwise I think this is fantastic. Here in the (US) Northwest straw bale, lime plaster, cob, etc. is quite popular and is a lot of fun to build with from the little I've done with it.

There is a huge established industrial inertia/resistance against this kind of thing though. People have been using square lumber and flat materials for a long time.

[GregWS]

People have been using square lumber and flat materials for a long time.

Yeah, and this touches upon an interesting aspect of the "green" building shift.  Architects are actually having trouble getting "green" buildings made (eg. contains things like composting toilets and/or green roofs) because the contractors refuse to build them, as they don't know how, and don't want to learn.  It adds a whole layer of resistance for us trying to build better buildings, so seeing these "build it with your friends" projects is really nice, as it eliminates that resistance and you end up knowing your own home really well, being the one that built it and all.

[increpare]

because the contractors refuse to build them, as they don't know how, and don't want to learn.

Such laments as this are not unknown to architects of many varieties...

[GregWS]

because the contractors refuse to build them, as they don't know how, and don't want to learn.

Such laments as this are not unknown to architects of many varieties...

Quite true, but I think the sustainable building is even more frustrating because we're trying to design ethical/environmentally conscious buildings (eg. using materials from buildings being demolished) as opposed to just having some crazy curves for some artistic/theoretical reason.

By the way, have you heard any of these laments directly increpare?

[increpare]

By the way, have you heard any of these laments directly increpare?

Yep.

[GregWS]

Haha, cool.  So did the designs end up getting built?  Or did the contractor problem actually succeed in preventing that?