No matter what material you build your house with, the finishes will always be the most visible part both inside and out. For thousands of years people have used natural materials to improve the appearance of their buildings, to protect their buildings from the elements, and to hide the rougher […]
Soil testing is a task that seems daunting to many people who are new to earth restoration projects or even folks who want to start a garden. Maybe you’ve read that you need to take samples with special equipment and kits, or you have to send your results to an […]
Our current culture’s desire for new and innovative ways of doing everything has created many technological and lifestyle improvements, but as a result, many perfectly good and well suited technologies have also been abandoned to the detriment of our culture and the environment. For example, modern and industrial construction techniques […]
Since the beginning of human history earthen building methods have been the primary forms of construction. Even today it is estimated that between one third and a half of the worlds population still lives or works in earthen buildings. One of the simplest and also strongest of these building methods […]
One week before this interview Carole Crews introduced me to a friend of hers she thought I’d be interested to meet. We met Jan Afton on a tempestuous afternoon as the three o’clock thunderstorms started to roll in. she invited us into her small adobe home which looked like a […]
Shelter is at the core of human development, and our ability to survive. The variety and adaptability of our structures have determined where humans can live, and how we continue to evolve. Despite this deep connection that we have with the buildings we inhabit, construction has become an industry that […]
Here in the adolescent stages of the natural, building revival there are few architects or builders that have more than a handful of years of experience. Sigi Koko, owner and operator of Down to Earth Design, is one of the most established and prolific architect/builders of natural structures in the […]
Toilets and poop are always the uncomfortable and squeamish topics that we try to keep away from pleasant conversation, but are also two of the things we should really start talking about, because both are incredibly important to the home and garden systems of anyone hoping to live more sustainably. […]
In May of 2016 I was fortunate enough to visit Charlie Rendall at his home in San Marcos la Laguna, Guatemala. Charlie is the owner of “Return to the Forest,” a natural building and education company that specializes in bamboo and local earthen building techniques. On a sunny Friday morning […]
