Earthship Biotecture

[John F]

This isn't Urban in the least bit but I thought that the SSP community might have some opinions and talking points to cast around about Earthships and Biotecture.

Earthships are self sustaining homes, built with recycled goods while employing solar and wind power for the house as well as utilizing water techniques that reclaim and re-use water.

Some of the places have wierd designs



Has anyone ever dealt with or actually visited one of these things? What are they like?

[Independence]

I've seen a documentary about homes like these on TV.

They remind me of the "forgotten" human dwellings (some subterrainean) in computer games like C&C...

Pretty futuristic, pretty mad max....

They're special and I kinda like it

[John F]

I think the Mad Max reference seems appropriate even though I can't put my finger on why. I saw a documentary on this (Real.tv I think) but it was just a five minute piece on it. When I went to the web site, the pictures are a little small, you don't get a real idea of how these homes stand up at night, etc.

but the concept with the water alone makes this all worthwhile IMHO. The buildings/dwellings can be hooked up to power and sewage grids within a city but they can work out well on their own. Just HOW well sort of remains beyond me because you don't hear from people who have "experienced" these homes themselves, or see good pictures (sans through video) of the dwelling.

The picture i posted isn't one fo the better ones I have seen. I've seen a few really impressive buildings through this Earthship biotecture...

[brickell]

In a way it's going backward as much as it's going forward. There are still a few homes here in Florida with cisterns that would fill up during the rainy season to provide water during the dry. Self reliance isn't futuristic at all, but definitely an idea whose return is needed.

[John F]

Brickell -- that's the truth.

[PuyoPiyo]

I would love to live in that kind of house, don't have to worry about the utilities to pay. It's like you are buy a house, and that's it. Nothing else to pay

Or even you can make your own. Extremely creative, what I called it

[Rizzo]

I hope the concepts of self sufficiency really take hold in the near future, but I always find the design of these homes to be a huge turn-off. Since I'm in architecture school, I have to take a class that deals with green architecture, and one of the issues discussed is how many of these energy efficient homes come out looking pretty ugly becasue there are so many factors attached them such as material, window orientation, sun shades, etc. As architects, we are asked to develop ways to make these buildings more appealing (or normal) to the market. It's possible. Even historic buildings can be sustainable, such as the University of Michigan's school of natural resources.