thesis is done.
it goes a little something like this.
(pardon the bad web-translation, and lack of any scanned plan drawings)
(not that anybody is gonna read it anyway)
section 1:
first principles
why design a village?
global dynamics and radical reasoning
the world and all it's systems are failing. we are entering a period of uncertainty, greater even than the amazing confusion of the post-modern era. in this new age, reliable forces of nature, economics and global policy become unpredictable. statistical uncertainty is being replaced by systemic uncertainty as the mechanisms of change themselves undergo change. this is a time, then, that calls for new methods, ideas and a whole new way of living, of seeing and interacting with the world.
the american lifestyle of the 21st century is indisputably unsustainable. perhaps more importantly, most americans today are incapable of conceiving of the requirements of true sustainability, and all it's incompatibilities with what they might take for granted. what is needed first of all is to reinvent sustainability in america, integrating modern tools and information systems as well as archaic practices. this is vital to show that and how it can be done, as an educational resource, as well as vital for the health of the planet's life-support systems.
ecological soteriology: seeking sustainable salvation
i hope to help save the world by actively participating in the invention of a new way of life that takes from all eras of human existence, utilizing ancient and modern techniques, with the intent of fashioning a way of living that produces abundance to humans at no permanent cost to the natural world.
enacting a radical revision of human practices will require changed minds, new skills, and a broad perspective. my thesis attempts to incorporate each of these while focusing on designing the stages and steps that creating a self-sufficient, self-supporting home and farmstead would require, in terms of domestic construction as well as food production. my primary objective, therefore, is to create a year by year, step by step, deeply detailed design plan for creating an ecovillage from the ground up.
reawakening: the psychological door-prize
in my experience, villages are the most direct route back to sanity. at the least, they can be havens of silence from the propogandas and distractions of modern life. this insulation is indispensable as only the very first precondition necessary for achieving a genuine and ungarbled awareness of the world. they can provide the security and seclusion through which true privacy and meditative withdrawal can be achieved, a state it is almost impossible to find in the distorted boundaries and uncomfortable spaces of urban and suburban societies.
once you are equipped with these first tools, freedom from lies and freedom to think for yourself, only then will an individual be capable of psychological cleansing and healing. following this accomplishment, it will become possible to "objectively" assess what is needed for individual and global sustainability. it seems clear that cooperation is necessary in every feasibly course of action. cooperation on an individual, human scale is just another word for community.
the benefits of community are manifold. it is only through conversation, dialogue and the intermingling of viewpoints that media, corporate and government propaganda can be fully deconstructed. it is only through collective labor that sustainability has ever been achieved. it is only in fully equality that social stability is possible. in every sense, on every level, in every way, community is what we need, individually and collectively.
furthermore, i would point out that at no time in our evolutionary history has our species existed in a society so supportive of isolation and solitary living. until just the past century, humans and their ancestors have always lived in close interdependance and community. now, the interdependance has achieved an incredible apogee, such that an individual can live their entire working lives without leaving a single room, while our tradition of community has dwindled such that it is very possible to avoid ever even seeing another member of the society upon which every hermit is wholy dependant. until very recently, this was simply impossible for a person to simply chose to do. now, it is commonplace.
i would infer from this that the tradition of and need for individuality has been vastly over-represented in this american culture that has absorbed the world attention. it is exactly that misrepresentation, and all it's sibling lies, that living in community can excise from our psychology. in close connection and cooperation, a total inversion is achievable - independance from society and its material support, and deep community interdependance, on both a personal and material level
in truth, on a more metaphysical level, the idea of the individual is shown by quantum physics shown to be wholly fictional. nothing is ever in isolation, at any level. it has only ever been a selfish and absurd endeavor to try to become independant from the throng of humanity by moving to smaller boxes.
this misunderstanding may be the most pernicious of cultural traps holding the predominance of humanity en-caged in small apartments and single family detached homes. the revocation of this idea frees us from our fences and small lawns into the true greatness and open fields of our planet.
section 2: design
section 2a: the design process
step 1:
establishment of a system for the determination of values,
for the purpose of consistent decision making.
the full implications of building, of etching your will into a landscape, are ultimately beyond human imagining. every shovel-full of earth moved has echoes along the terrain that never stop sounding. every shovel-full of earth brought to a site has a history, and an site from which it came. ecological damage is almost always accidental, coming as a result of oversight or lack of foresight.
therefore if you wish to minimize ecological impact, minimize your metaphorical shovelfuls. ideally every material used would come from the site, and decompose safely away at the end of it's useful life. working with this intention is what is known as "cradle to cradle" designing. it might be called the deep ecology of using tools, and is the most complete and coherent ecological building ethic.
working strictly in this fashion essentially requires that all technologies be human-scale, which means that they do not require significant chemical processing, deep extractive mining or machine processing, to name a few examples of non-human-scale practices. while it would go too far to say that these processes are wholly taboo (after all, one still needs the shovel) heavy industry should be avoided whenever possible in order to minimize your overall ecological footprint.
-to design for the purposes of sustainability and community changes the emphasis of human actions and systems. cooking naturally becomes a nexus of community activity, as it brings together the people (whose effort was put into producing food), the food, and the food's purpose (sustaining the people who produced it). thus the kitchen becomes the center of human activity in a community, and must be wholly rethought from the traditional everything-in-mom's-reach kitchen design.
-corresponding to the efficiency impulse, there is created a strong impetus towards overdensification. that is - to save work and time and energy by combining as many building functions into a single building. this is the reasoning behind the cohousing movement, to create community at urban densities. however to design at such density requires large inputs of industrial materials, and use of primary production products.
an alternative to this strategy is to build small, to whatever scale you are capable, and to build with earth and straw. the products of this policy are a type of home i refer to as " cheap-ass simple art homes." this refers to the obvious minimization of both ecological and financial cost, and the fact that they will necessarily all be unique, and idiosyncratic. an added benefit is that each home will look little like anything built before.
- one of the principles of permaculture is to grow food in mimicry of natural systems. thus accentuating wild space, wild and garden habitat, and flow-through of species between these areas hopefully assist in the integrated pest management, helping provide a pest predator for every potential pest, as well as enriching the local biodiversity and complexity generally.
step 2:
assessing the site
source of all frustration
-the lure of a synthetic site plan-
i started this project with the knowledge that it was almost entirely an intellectual and imaginative enterprise, with no real possibility of reaching construction. however, with this in mind, it was still a challenge to find a site for the hypothetical building.
my strongest desire was to design for building in the sequatchie valley of tennessee, where i hope to be living soon. however with no specific site available, and thus no topographic specifics or other site details necessary for truly appropriate site designing, this was not a viable possibility.
i was repeatedly tempted to cultivate an imaginary space which might be able to mimic the complexities of a real site, by the creation of tables of random variables. my optimistic intention, then, was to create designs that would be adaptable to any number of variables, and show how each design was particularly suited to a particular scenario. in the end, however, this had more problems than just to be a little too flighty and fanciful - i decided that to try for universal solutions with natural materials was somewhat to much to hope for. in the case of natural materials, you encounter not only a range of problems according to the site, but also a diversity of building materials. essentially the mud will never be the same twice, thus to hope to develop a plan which would be implementable anywhere is simply delusional.
the obvious choice was a 4.6 acre property owned by my parents in sonoma county. there were several reasons i was reluctant to attempt to design for this location, however. primarily, there are three existing structures which make embarking on new construction for the foundation of an ecovillage a bit of an oxymoron. thus my intended project would have become hijacked by unpleasant realities, and become a project in eco-renovation. instead, i compromised with reality and used the site, but deleted the buildings.
another problem with the site is the government. the area is zoned to reduce the growth of sprawl - thus only one house and one mother-in-law structure would be allowed to be built. furthermore sonoma county is a large and dense county, and we have nearby neighbors on all sides, so it would be fairly likely to see building inspectors during construction. lastly, it is impossible to know how difficult it would be to get any of the more natural structures actually permitted, regardless of zoning.
despite these conflicts with fact, however, i decided it would be best to design for a site that i could visit, and observe, and engage in the real-world process of coping with real-world site problems. generally, once you've started talking about the site, problems is exactly what you're talking about. while this is less true in gardening, in residential construction, for every choice you make, just getting to the pen and paper level of design, there are millions of problems and interrelations to be considered.
it's best to start simple, to start with the bare-bones facts of the property for which you are designing. one of the first things to consider is just how much room you have. on this sonoma property, which i have nicknamed and will refer to as "skinkhorn," there is enough space, but not an overabundance. for instance, in the permaculture zoning system, there would likely be no zone 5, or a zone which was visited only semi-monthly.
the area surrounding skinkhorn ranges from agricultural to suburban, while skinkhorn's density aspect would best be described as semi-rural. the land itself is wholly uncultivated, and was clearly mowed regularly. the solar access is moderately heavy, with a mostly open horizon to the south.
the land slopes slowly (about 1/30 slope) to the northeast towards an intermittent creek bordering the property on the east and north-east, with a moderately steep drop-off prior to the creek edge. there is semi-mature canopy approximately 40' deep along the creek edge, on both sides of the creek, and in both directions along the creek.
the current legal setback from the water is only 30', and some of the neighbors have built surprisingly close. it seemed more natural to be to begin designing from a much greater respect for the wildlife corridor and restrict all construction to 80-100' from the creek. through careful tree, bush, vine and groundcover plantings (with a prejudice towards eliminating invasive acacia), the entire setback can be slowly grown into a multistory food forest full of native species and wildlife, connecting to a potential highway of biodiversity.
on the other hand, skinkhorn is entirely surrounded by an eight foot deer fence. this structure might be altered - essentially bent inward - certainly in the jutting southeast corner, to create and subsidize additional potential wild habitat.
the property is 60' off the main road, attached by a single lane driveway, which leads straight from the road, in the west, and does not curve as it follows the southern edge of skinkhorn, petering out approximately 200' from the eastern edge.
using the straight southern edge and the road as a reference, the property faces approximately 15? east of south. this was ultimately very convenient, in fact it could hardly have been designed better. because of the slight angle to the property, structures built to face due south will all appear somewhat offset, and will not appear to be coplanar. this provides a breaking-up of space that would serve to mask the actual density of the property, and prevent it from feeling too much like a development.
step 3:
early complications
obvious universals
privacy
one of the most obvious problems with village design is the potential conflicts between personal private space, community private space, utility space, and community public space. the careful negotiation of this dynamic is crucial for the success of a village.
water+cleaning
if you make a dish, you need a sink. a surprising number of the challenges to building homes and villages are ultimately as a result of dirt - i.e., you get dishes dirty so you need sinks, you get clothes dirty so you need washers, you get people dirty so you need showers. all of these cleaning responses obviously involve water, so it might seem natural to lump them together. however it is an instinctive truth that kitchens and bathrooms don't really go together, though it might well work to use the same gray water system at least for laundry and bathing. there is also the concern for the processing of any liquid that you'd prefer not to flow into a creek untreated, which is pretty much any liquid.
time
time passes. this is a fact that is frequently overlooked in modern design, wherein you find buildings and systems without any allowance for the inevitable wear, maintenance and ultimate decay of everything that will ever be built. perhaps more so than daily life, building should connect you with transience.
it is also important to remember that the human components of your community will age and change. this means designing buildings that will accommodate their changing needs, whether that involves children, more or less space, more or less privacy, or just a change of scenery every decade or so.
floor foundations take a lot of work! avoid them where appropriate.
ALWAYS remember material specs when siting structures! i.e. don't put cob where it might stand in water. make sure you have appropriate overhangs, etc.
step 4: design solution, multifunctionality, the energy efficiency ratio
when you're starting a village from scratch, things move fairly quickly. it is only modularity that will allow that in a few years, the biggest building you could build in year one now a garden shed or outdoor room, and NOT a useless waste of energy and materials. to work in this way takes a sequential and conscientious temperament, and the patience to find a maximum with a minimum, as well as to be forward thinking and ambitious enough to keep growth going for year after year.
this is the attitude that will produce a cradle to cradle building ethic and that will allow you to design for the demographic transition of your community. such building allows for community members to flow through buildings as their needs change. this flow at first is naturally from smaller spaces towards larger spaces, as the community grows in members, and thus in production capacity.
in the early distance of planning chronology, say four to six years , the flow of construction might choose a more eccentric paths, towards more or less communal dwelling, likely developing an economic support structure. eventually, however, the flow of construction would likely take on a more chaotic seeming backwash, according to the idiosyncratic needs of the community, as structures and systems are repurposed and reworked.
i have designed with the intentional use of more industrial products at the start. one reason for this is to spare the earth from any poorly planned extractive practices. the primary excuse, however, is to hope that these materials, carefully chosen, used, and maintained, can have their true energy efficiency expanded several-fold as their functions and life-span also expand.
step 5: design solutions for mundane problems
-my main consideration with regards to roofing was that there be available a human-scale roofing technology. as far as i know, this includes only thatch, wood shingle, and spanish tile. of these, wood shingle can be eliminated for lack of sufficient forests, and thatch must be eliminated for a lack of skill and experience in it's management. this leaves tile, which has significant possibilities for synthesis with existing cob work, adobe brick making, and so forth.
-electricity for heat? never! install only electrical systems enough only for some lighting, cellphones, laptops and some music.
- use sun heat whenever possible! this is implementable in passive solar design, small skylights, as well as in cooking, in brick and tile manufacture, and in the inoculation of tempeh (see section 3c)
- rocket stoves! rocket stoves combine many needed housing functions into one system. the stove itself provides super efficient mass heating, limited cooking capacity, and it's heating element is integratable into comfortable cob benches
- natural air conditioning - in the windy semi-coastal area of skinkhorn, simple designs to accentuate natural air patterns can create a virtually on-demand airflow through every structure. you can utilize the venturi effect, in which a fluid passing through a small aperture increases in speed, by placing small operable windows in the side from which most wind comes (the north-west side, in this case) and larger windows opposite (the southeast side), essentially creating an operable wind tunnel.
- outdoor rooms - outdoor rooms are the cheapest rooms by square foot! this also true in environmental cost. whenever possible, utilize outdoor, unheated, uninsulated space, and help bring together the exterior and interior worlds.
- cob garden walls - these low walls can frequently be built in a single day. they can be intensively sculptural, hold benches or ovens, and can be used to define space in whatever way you choose. by placing a cob garden wall by the entrance to a dwelling, you can create a small private sanctuary, and more clearly delineate private and public space, while creating a natural transition zone between the indoors and outdoors. a cob wall with a north facing bench and good southern access can become a warm evening seat, or retain earthen cool long into the day.
- brick-making/baking - it is easy to make lime-stabilized cinvaram (a small manual single-brick press) bricks, which can then be sun-baked (using reflectors if necessary, to bake the bricks to higher temperatures). this creates a highly waterproof brick for high-traffic flooring or for landscaping, i.e. patios and paths.
- modular tables - by custom designing and building tables of similar design, you can use several smaller tables to create a large dining area, which is then disassemblable into individual desks or other utility tables.
- rough walls - it is easy to make small, permeable, extremely rough, salvaged wood walls (potentially from salvaged pallets) for non-insulative privacy purposes. potential uses for these light walls could be cheap, easy and portable outhouses.
- bucket toilets - with a supply of five gallon buckets and sawdust, it is incredibly easy to compost human wastes. by adding twice the waste volume in sawdust and sealing the bucket for a matter of weeks, you are left with only a rich, black, loamy compost for landscaping or non-vegetable mulching.
- chickens - with minimal human input, chickens can weed, till and fertilize land, while living out their highest aspirations as fowl who scratch and peck. simultaneous with doing of the most menial and difficult garden chores, they can provide eggs and meat, as well as miscellaneous byproduct. with some logistics and forethought, a virtual infestation of chickens in portable pens, "chicken tractors," an be brought into the budding ecovillage to prepare the soil for future gardens.
- covercropping - by following the chickens closely with carefully chosen cover crops of legumes and other noninvasive, food-producing soil building plant species, productive farming land can be created and maintained without every picking up a shovel.
- worms - while chickens can eat most garden waste, wood waste makes wonderful landfill, turning readily into soil, worms can eat your kitchen waste, allowing for complete organic break down of compostables, again without ever picking up a shovel, or making a compost pile.
- tempeh - the development of a revenue-producing business is to the long term survival of a business. soybean production along with their fermentation into tempeh products is simple, efficient in terms of volume inputs and outputs, requires only very light industry in the cracking and cooking of the beans, while the heat-activated (100?)ferment can be done in a straw or straw-clay solar heated oven.
step 6: design
year 1: observation
1-3 residents, 10 peak/event hosting (tents)
2-4 64's
see building design: 64
chickens
limited gardens
no greenhouse - cloches
observation
select future gardening sites
find materials
clay
sand
wood?
make test bricks, build test cob walls
collect materials
sips
lumber for flooring
roofing
cement
stone
select next building site
excavate and construct pier foundation for tinies
see building design: tinies \
plant
under 20 fruit trees
1-3 future shade tree: larger more decorative natives, ie bay,
madrone, locust. (also food producing)
collect materials
year 2: housing
2-5 residents, 25 peak/event hosting
assemble 1-2 tinies
64 - modularity in action
residence (if necessary)
kitchen
begin benches and brick patio adjacent to nexus site with cob
oven, solar cookers
bathhouse
barn - tool+material storage
more observation
intensify gardening
chicken infestation > cover cropping
cloches
plant
more fruit trees
bamboo
collect materials
clay
sand
industrial materials: tin roofing, steel, cement
select next building site
excavate and construct pier foundation for prismatic barn
year 3: production capacity
4-8 residents, 50 peak
assemble Prismatic Barn
128 kitchen
2x 64 bath
intensify gardens
chicken infestation > covercrop
food for 8
cloches
plant
fruit trees
bamboo
year 4: infrastructure
pick your requirements:
building design: Bathhaus
building design: Nexus Caliente
building design: Officespace
building site remediation
year 5: demographic divergance
demographic: children
building design: Diamondzoid
demographic: transition
building design: Baghut
building design: Cobhill
demographic: stability, slow growth
building design: Tinies plus
alternatives to construction
business infrastructure
tempeh systems
Officespace: education, etc.
landsculpting
wildland creation
marshland
drainage for gardening
section 4:
things i left out:
- cisterns, gutters, water catchment - this was not specifically designed because it's something i want to experiment with more, for efficiency, for controlled overflow designs, and half wine barrel cascading treatment systems.
- overhang measurements
- exact building facing angles
- root cellar - not enough slope! i was uncertain how to handle drainage for an underground structure from which it would be extremely difficult to build a trench drain.
- solar power - there was only token reference to solar power, which would certainly be a larger part of an actual village design.
index: building designs
building design: 64, 128, 192, 256
description:
8x8 square. tin shed roof. steel framing. floating pier footers. tarp walls.
function:
multifunction multipurpose semi-enclosable space. redesignable, repurposable to become residential, kitchen, bath, tool and storage, or any number of potential functions as an outdoor room.
features:
it's a tent, it's an extremely durable tent. a step up from the traditional step before a yurt. a step up because nylon tents are not sustainable/reusable/modular - they're closer to disposable.
with these structures it would be establish a sturdy mini community in one day, one truckload. cost: approximately $100 each.
100% reusable.
amazingly modular:
rotatable seasonally, allowing for modular solar heating and cooling. thus turn the opening to the north in the summer for more shade, turn it south in the winter for more light, or to the south east, for more protection from winter storms.
tiny cob walls (6" high) can provide security from flooding and protection from insects and animals, while providing added home value, dry storage, wind protection.
128, 192, 256
combine multiple 64's to make larger outdoor spaces. place two side by side for a larger shed, or two facing each other for a gable roof. lower the roof angle by raising the back end with butressed cob adobe walls to create more indoor space.
building design: tinies
description:
12x12 residential space. pier foundation. SIPS walls. "pocket rocket" heating. limited cooking. no integrated graywater initially (external water systems). fairly traditional construction. post and beam for flooring. storage underneath.
features:
simliar to a yurt in the development of a community inasmuch as it's a relatively cheap and easy structure. a "tiny," however, is far better insulated, easier to build, and almost as easy to move.
having modular location can create a whole new house! thus greater ease of residential turnover.
optional extra tack-on shed to the east for a kitchen, etc. this space can become the cob-benched and -fenced and paved private transition space.
in the longer term, as density increases the tinies would probably move towards the marsh, as their raised pier foundation will provide better resistance to rising damp, as well as providing more complete ventilation.
potential future non-residential uses could include office space, a children's play-room and nursery, or to be dismantled for parts.
tinies plus
tinies can be added onto with relatively little effort, with the addition of rooms, windows, or lofts. they could be removed from piers and given a mass floor foundation, while recycling the flooring timber.
building design: prismatic barn
description:
steel-framed two-story prism. pier foundation, dirt/gravel floor. ground floor split along the prismatic axis, forming two 600 sq.ft. rooms.
southern room: greenhouse. roof extension to create a vertical southern wall. doors to the east, north (into twin room) and west. operable windows to the southeast.
northern room: workshop, tool storage, material storage. central dividing wall used as tool wall. eastern wind-barrier wall. no northern or western wall.
upstairs: stairway on western end. deck/walkway on the southern exterior. barn doors to the east, under pulley extending from ridge beam, to allow for easy bulk storage.
extensive bank of solar panels on southern roof.
functions:
omnifunctional barn space. greenhouse. workspace. upstairs, open space for temporary residence, long term storage, light industry, project space, office space.
power center.
potential uses as interim kitchen space, communal space.
features:
the reason for tin and steel is that the essentially the only other option is extensive use of wood - of which the region has been thoroughly depleted. thus the use of industrial materials in this case is supported by the objective of having this structure stand, with maintenance and potentially future reinforcement, for hundreds of years. durability on that scale can offset a lot of industry.
omnifunctional! this building can do anything.
completing this structure endows the community with the capacity to embark on more labor-intensive, salvage-intensive, custom built structures, as well as providing the space and power needed for buisness applications.
building design: nexus caliente
description:
981 sq.ft. teardrop-shaped cob kitchen and common area, with matching teardrop brick patio. southeast facing kitchen in the round end of the teardrop, with countertops on the eastern wall. large cooking island in the center of the round end. storage along the north wall. ample space for trash, recycling, and compost. rocket stove heating through a 2 tiered cob-bench mass.
patio with attatched southeast facing bench embedded in the tail of the building. detatched cob oven with attatched seating. open space for worm-bin kitchen scrap digestion.
functions:
central kitchen and dining area. central communal space. mail drop and message boards.
features
large inward facing kitchen, creating a communal cooking experience. large patio, sheltered from winds, catching early morning light and heat. community meeting space with message boards and black boards. table modular to large circle or 2 lenticular tables and a flared wedge.
building design: bthhaus
description:
fairly lightly built structure for bathing and toilet necessities. using salvaged lumber and biotecture privacy spaces.
functions:
showers. toilets. sauna. hot tub. human powered laundry facilities. clotheslines.
features:
shed roof opening celestory-wise onto the garden for light and ventilation. pocket rocket heated hot tub. solar water shower heating.
bamboo biotecture privacy walls.
clotheslines over gray-water fed grass.
the classic problem of protection from the microfauna encourages the nanofauna - that is to say if you keep it tight enough to keep all bugs out, you're risking cutting the ventilation necessary to prevent molds and mildews. thus modern insect screening would be necessary.
building design: cobhill
"cheapass simple art homes"
small dwelling, barrell shaped, rounded on the north and south sides, flat to the east and west, around 600sq, adjacent to the childrens area, providing a corner barrier. a fairly simple structure with a shed roof providing space for a loft to the south. probably tin roof or spanish tile. western door providing ventilation, leading into southern open dining etc space, then continuing around the east and northeast, with kitchen counters leading to the rocket stove which leads into a semi circular cob bench seating nook, which provides the thermal mass and chimney for the rocket stove, which exits into a cobbed vertical pipe in the center of the room that also adds structural support to the loft.
the entrances to the loft would be from the cob mass in the northwest, from the doorway and/or from the seating nook.
upstairs would be a mostly open space, with desk facilities to the western end, bedroom in the eastern end, and a curtain to draw between them as needed.
the building is designed as a couple's dwelling, and could be used for an older couple with grown children. it would be safe for an infant, or could be babyproofed with a railing, mesh loft barrier and trap door for an older child, with the office space providing some sleeping separation for a single parent or possibly housing three people. it would also make spacious accomodations for a single person.
building design: baghut
"cheapass simple art homes"
more water tolerant, relative to cobhill = important for siting
the baghut was designed as a single-double dwelling. it is composed of the central space, and a raised sleeping space, with a drawable curtain.
the bag hut has cobbed in southern windows providing light and heat, stored by a thermal mass floor. there are additional smaller vent windows to the north west, and in the sleeping vestibule.
the bag is fairly oriental in profile, with it's fairly shallow tile roof line, squat cylindrical primary aspect, broken only by the round cobbed-in windows, and it's garden wall appendage, rendering it an atmosphere as of a well domesticated cave. it's interior space would be also have a solidly grounded energy, in a simple earthen dome.
the baghut has a doorway to the east, opening directly into the southern portion of the central space, which is mostly open for insolation, with a dining table and area,
to the west of the open area is a counter surface area with a small sink, and storage behind (on the wall) and beneath. after a small gap, the wall continues to the rocket stove on the northwest side, with a stove warmed cob bench which leads up into the attatched sleeping space, with the foot of the bed area also receiving stove-warmth.
building design: diamondzoid
description:
twin off-south facing icosolese trapezoidal residences with a rectangular bathroom adjoining them. mud room in the convex space between them to the north.
earthbag stemwall with strawbale upper walls. poured adobe floors.
function:
child-focused co-housing. sheltered play area. two bedroom in each housing unit. common/public bathroom. central feature of cob-walled protected play area occupying the old orchard space.
features:
terraced
large windprotected mud room for raintime play or other uses
shared bathroom, experiment in high density community housing
order of magnitude more complex than prism - as complicated as the nexus.
building design: officespace
description:
600 sq.ft. rectangular strawbale building. one large open room. one smaller room with wrap-around desk space. south facing, passive solar.
functions:
lockable office space, electronics storage
multifunction open space
-yoga
-meetings, intra community, intercommunity, political, educational, etc.
-classroom
-event space
-media space (movies)
-music space
features:
minimal design. potentially ornate with colorfull earthen plasters, hopefully a bright and friendly open space.
it goes a little something like this.
(pardon the bad web-translation, and lack of any scanned plan drawings)
(not that anybody is gonna read it anyway)
section 1:
first principles
why design a village?
global dynamics and radical reasoning
the world and all it's systems are failing. we are entering a period of uncertainty, greater even than the amazing confusion of the post-modern era. in this new age, reliable forces of nature, economics and global policy become unpredictable. statistical uncertainty is being replaced by systemic uncertainty as the mechanisms of change themselves undergo change. this is a time, then, that calls for new methods, ideas and a whole new way of living, of seeing and interacting with the world.
the american lifestyle of the 21st century is indisputably unsustainable. perhaps more importantly, most americans today are incapable of conceiving of the requirements of true sustainability, and all it's incompatibilities with what they might take for granted. what is needed first of all is to reinvent sustainability in america, integrating modern tools and information systems as well as archaic practices. this is vital to show that and how it can be done, as an educational resource, as well as vital for the health of the planet's life-support systems.
ecological soteriology: seeking sustainable salvation
i hope to help save the world by actively participating in the invention of a new way of life that takes from all eras of human existence, utilizing ancient and modern techniques, with the intent of fashioning a way of living that produces abundance to humans at no permanent cost to the natural world.
enacting a radical revision of human practices will require changed minds, new skills, and a broad perspective. my thesis attempts to incorporate each of these while focusing on designing the stages and steps that creating a self-sufficient, self-supporting home and farmstead would require, in terms of domestic construction as well as food production. my primary objective, therefore, is to create a year by year, step by step, deeply detailed design plan for creating an ecovillage from the ground up.
reawakening: the psychological door-prize
in my experience, villages are the most direct route back to sanity. at the least, they can be havens of silence from the propogandas and distractions of modern life. this insulation is indispensable as only the very first precondition necessary for achieving a genuine and ungarbled awareness of the world. they can provide the security and seclusion through which true privacy and meditative withdrawal can be achieved, a state it is almost impossible to find in the distorted boundaries and uncomfortable spaces of urban and suburban societies.
once you are equipped with these first tools, freedom from lies and freedom to think for yourself, only then will an individual be capable of psychological cleansing and healing. following this accomplishment, it will become possible to "objectively" assess what is needed for individual and global sustainability. it seems clear that cooperation is necessary in every feasibly course of action. cooperation on an individual, human scale is just another word for community.
the benefits of community are manifold. it is only through conversation, dialogue and the intermingling of viewpoints that media, corporate and government propaganda can be fully deconstructed. it is only through collective labor that sustainability has ever been achieved. it is only in fully equality that social stability is possible. in every sense, on every level, in every way, community is what we need, individually and collectively.
furthermore, i would point out that at no time in our evolutionary history has our species existed in a society so supportive of isolation and solitary living. until just the past century, humans and their ancestors have always lived in close interdependance and community. now, the interdependance has achieved an incredible apogee, such that an individual can live their entire working lives without leaving a single room, while our tradition of community has dwindled such that it is very possible to avoid ever even seeing another member of the society upon which every hermit is wholy dependant. until very recently, this was simply impossible for a person to simply chose to do. now, it is commonplace.
i would infer from this that the tradition of and need for individuality has been vastly over-represented in this american culture that has absorbed the world attention. it is exactly that misrepresentation, and all it's sibling lies, that living in community can excise from our psychology. in close connection and cooperation, a total inversion is achievable - independance from society and its material support, and deep community interdependance, on both a personal and material level
in truth, on a more metaphysical level, the idea of the individual is shown by quantum physics shown to be wholly fictional. nothing is ever in isolation, at any level. it has only ever been a selfish and absurd endeavor to try to become independant from the throng of humanity by moving to smaller boxes.
this misunderstanding may be the most pernicious of cultural traps holding the predominance of humanity en-caged in small apartments and single family detached homes. the revocation of this idea frees us from our fences and small lawns into the true greatness and open fields of our planet.
section 2: design
section 2a: the design process
step 1:
establishment of a system for the determination of values,
for the purpose of consistent decision making.
the full implications of building, of etching your will into a landscape, are ultimately beyond human imagining. every shovel-full of earth moved has echoes along the terrain that never stop sounding. every shovel-full of earth brought to a site has a history, and an site from which it came. ecological damage is almost always accidental, coming as a result of oversight or lack of foresight.
therefore if you wish to minimize ecological impact, minimize your metaphorical shovelfuls. ideally every material used would come from the site, and decompose safely away at the end of it's useful life. working with this intention is what is known as "cradle to cradle" designing. it might be called the deep ecology of using tools, and is the most complete and coherent ecological building ethic.
working strictly in this fashion essentially requires that all technologies be human-scale, which means that they do not require significant chemical processing, deep extractive mining or machine processing, to name a few examples of non-human-scale practices. while it would go too far to say that these processes are wholly taboo (after all, one still needs the shovel) heavy industry should be avoided whenever possible in order to minimize your overall ecological footprint.
-to design for the purposes of sustainability and community changes the emphasis of human actions and systems. cooking naturally becomes a nexus of community activity, as it brings together the people (whose effort was put into producing food), the food, and the food's purpose (sustaining the people who produced it). thus the kitchen becomes the center of human activity in a community, and must be wholly rethought from the traditional everything-in-mom's-reach kitchen design.
-corresponding to the efficiency impulse, there is created a strong impetus towards overdensification. that is - to save work and time and energy by combining as many building functions into a single building. this is the reasoning behind the cohousing movement, to create community at urban densities. however to design at such density requires large inputs of industrial materials, and use of primary production products.
an alternative to this strategy is to build small, to whatever scale you are capable, and to build with earth and straw. the products of this policy are a type of home i refer to as " cheap-ass simple art homes." this refers to the obvious minimization of both ecological and financial cost, and the fact that they will necessarily all be unique, and idiosyncratic. an added benefit is that each home will look little like anything built before.
- one of the principles of permaculture is to grow food in mimicry of natural systems. thus accentuating wild space, wild and garden habitat, and flow-through of species between these areas hopefully assist in the integrated pest management, helping provide a pest predator for every potential pest, as well as enriching the local biodiversity and complexity generally.
step 2:
assessing the site
source of all frustration
-the lure of a synthetic site plan-
i started this project with the knowledge that it was almost entirely an intellectual and imaginative enterprise, with no real possibility of reaching construction. however, with this in mind, it was still a challenge to find a site for the hypothetical building.
my strongest desire was to design for building in the sequatchie valley of tennessee, where i hope to be living soon. however with no specific site available, and thus no topographic specifics or other site details necessary for truly appropriate site designing, this was not a viable possibility.
i was repeatedly tempted to cultivate an imaginary space which might be able to mimic the complexities of a real site, by the creation of tables of random variables. my optimistic intention, then, was to create designs that would be adaptable to any number of variables, and show how each design was particularly suited to a particular scenario. in the end, however, this had more problems than just to be a little too flighty and fanciful - i decided that to try for universal solutions with natural materials was somewhat to much to hope for. in the case of natural materials, you encounter not only a range of problems according to the site, but also a diversity of building materials. essentially the mud will never be the same twice, thus to hope to develop a plan which would be implementable anywhere is simply delusional.
the obvious choice was a 4.6 acre property owned by my parents in sonoma county. there were several reasons i was reluctant to attempt to design for this location, however. primarily, there are three existing structures which make embarking on new construction for the foundation of an ecovillage a bit of an oxymoron. thus my intended project would have become hijacked by unpleasant realities, and become a project in eco-renovation. instead, i compromised with reality and used the site, but deleted the buildings.
another problem with the site is the government. the area is zoned to reduce the growth of sprawl - thus only one house and one mother-in-law structure would be allowed to be built. furthermore sonoma county is a large and dense county, and we have nearby neighbors on all sides, so it would be fairly likely to see building inspectors during construction. lastly, it is impossible to know how difficult it would be to get any of the more natural structures actually permitted, regardless of zoning.
despite these conflicts with fact, however, i decided it would be best to design for a site that i could visit, and observe, and engage in the real-world process of coping with real-world site problems. generally, once you've started talking about the site, problems is exactly what you're talking about. while this is less true in gardening, in residential construction, for every choice you make, just getting to the pen and paper level of design, there are millions of problems and interrelations to be considered.
it's best to start simple, to start with the bare-bones facts of the property for which you are designing. one of the first things to consider is just how much room you have. on this sonoma property, which i have nicknamed and will refer to as "skinkhorn," there is enough space, but not an overabundance. for instance, in the permaculture zoning system, there would likely be no zone 5, or a zone which was visited only semi-monthly.
the area surrounding skinkhorn ranges from agricultural to suburban, while skinkhorn's density aspect would best be described as semi-rural. the land itself is wholly uncultivated, and was clearly mowed regularly. the solar access is moderately heavy, with a mostly open horizon to the south.
the land slopes slowly (about 1/30 slope) to the northeast towards an intermittent creek bordering the property on the east and north-east, with a moderately steep drop-off prior to the creek edge. there is semi-mature canopy approximately 40' deep along the creek edge, on both sides of the creek, and in both directions along the creek.
the current legal setback from the water is only 30', and some of the neighbors have built surprisingly close. it seemed more natural to be to begin designing from a much greater respect for the wildlife corridor and restrict all construction to 80-100' from the creek. through careful tree, bush, vine and groundcover plantings (with a prejudice towards eliminating invasive acacia), the entire setback can be slowly grown into a multistory food forest full of native species and wildlife, connecting to a potential highway of biodiversity.
on the other hand, skinkhorn is entirely surrounded by an eight foot deer fence. this structure might be altered - essentially bent inward - certainly in the jutting southeast corner, to create and subsidize additional potential wild habitat.
the property is 60' off the main road, attached by a single lane driveway, which leads straight from the road, in the west, and does not curve as it follows the southern edge of skinkhorn, petering out approximately 200' from the eastern edge.
using the straight southern edge and the road as a reference, the property faces approximately 15? east of south. this was ultimately very convenient, in fact it could hardly have been designed better. because of the slight angle to the property, structures built to face due south will all appear somewhat offset, and will not appear to be coplanar. this provides a breaking-up of space that would serve to mask the actual density of the property, and prevent it from feeling too much like a development.
step 3:
early complications
obvious universals
privacy
one of the most obvious problems with village design is the potential conflicts between personal private space, community private space, utility space, and community public space. the careful negotiation of this dynamic is crucial for the success of a village.
water+cleaning
if you make a dish, you need a sink. a surprising number of the challenges to building homes and villages are ultimately as a result of dirt - i.e., you get dishes dirty so you need sinks, you get clothes dirty so you need washers, you get people dirty so you need showers. all of these cleaning responses obviously involve water, so it might seem natural to lump them together. however it is an instinctive truth that kitchens and bathrooms don't really go together, though it might well work to use the same gray water system at least for laundry and bathing. there is also the concern for the processing of any liquid that you'd prefer not to flow into a creek untreated, which is pretty much any liquid.
time
time passes. this is a fact that is frequently overlooked in modern design, wherein you find buildings and systems without any allowance for the inevitable wear, maintenance and ultimate decay of everything that will ever be built. perhaps more so than daily life, building should connect you with transience.
it is also important to remember that the human components of your community will age and change. this means designing buildings that will accommodate their changing needs, whether that involves children, more or less space, more or less privacy, or just a change of scenery every decade or so.
floor foundations take a lot of work! avoid them where appropriate.
ALWAYS remember material specs when siting structures! i.e. don't put cob where it might stand in water. make sure you have appropriate overhangs, etc.
step 4: design solution, multifunctionality, the energy efficiency ratio
when you're starting a village from scratch, things move fairly quickly. it is only modularity that will allow that in a few years, the biggest building you could build in year one now a garden shed or outdoor room, and NOT a useless waste of energy and materials. to work in this way takes a sequential and conscientious temperament, and the patience to find a maximum with a minimum, as well as to be forward thinking and ambitious enough to keep growth going for year after year.
this is the attitude that will produce a cradle to cradle building ethic and that will allow you to design for the demographic transition of your community. such building allows for community members to flow through buildings as their needs change. this flow at first is naturally from smaller spaces towards larger spaces, as the community grows in members, and thus in production capacity.
in the early distance of planning chronology, say four to six years , the flow of construction might choose a more eccentric paths, towards more or less communal dwelling, likely developing an economic support structure. eventually, however, the flow of construction would likely take on a more chaotic seeming backwash, according to the idiosyncratic needs of the community, as structures and systems are repurposed and reworked.
i have designed with the intentional use of more industrial products at the start. one reason for this is to spare the earth from any poorly planned extractive practices. the primary excuse, however, is to hope that these materials, carefully chosen, used, and maintained, can have their true energy efficiency expanded several-fold as their functions and life-span also expand.
step 5: design solutions for mundane problems
-my main consideration with regards to roofing was that there be available a human-scale roofing technology. as far as i know, this includes only thatch, wood shingle, and spanish tile. of these, wood shingle can be eliminated for lack of sufficient forests, and thatch must be eliminated for a lack of skill and experience in it's management. this leaves tile, which has significant possibilities for synthesis with existing cob work, adobe brick making, and so forth.
-electricity for heat? never! install only electrical systems enough only for some lighting, cellphones, laptops and some music.
- use sun heat whenever possible! this is implementable in passive solar design, small skylights, as well as in cooking, in brick and tile manufacture, and in the inoculation of tempeh (see section 3c)
- rocket stoves! rocket stoves combine many needed housing functions into one system. the stove itself provides super efficient mass heating, limited cooking capacity, and it's heating element is integratable into comfortable cob benches
- natural air conditioning - in the windy semi-coastal area of skinkhorn, simple designs to accentuate natural air patterns can create a virtually on-demand airflow through every structure. you can utilize the venturi effect, in which a fluid passing through a small aperture increases in speed, by placing small operable windows in the side from which most wind comes (the north-west side, in this case) and larger windows opposite (the southeast side), essentially creating an operable wind tunnel.
- outdoor rooms - outdoor rooms are the cheapest rooms by square foot! this also true in environmental cost. whenever possible, utilize outdoor, unheated, uninsulated space, and help bring together the exterior and interior worlds.
- cob garden walls - these low walls can frequently be built in a single day. they can be intensively sculptural, hold benches or ovens, and can be used to define space in whatever way you choose. by placing a cob garden wall by the entrance to a dwelling, you can create a small private sanctuary, and more clearly delineate private and public space, while creating a natural transition zone between the indoors and outdoors. a cob wall with a north facing bench and good southern access can become a warm evening seat, or retain earthen cool long into the day.
- brick-making/baking - it is easy to make lime-stabilized cinvaram (a small manual single-brick press) bricks, which can then be sun-baked (using reflectors if necessary, to bake the bricks to higher temperatures). this creates a highly waterproof brick for high-traffic flooring or for landscaping, i.e. patios and paths.
- modular tables - by custom designing and building tables of similar design, you can use several smaller tables to create a large dining area, which is then disassemblable into individual desks or other utility tables.
- rough walls - it is easy to make small, permeable, extremely rough, salvaged wood walls (potentially from salvaged pallets) for non-insulative privacy purposes. potential uses for these light walls could be cheap, easy and portable outhouses.
- bucket toilets - with a supply of five gallon buckets and sawdust, it is incredibly easy to compost human wastes. by adding twice the waste volume in sawdust and sealing the bucket for a matter of weeks, you are left with only a rich, black, loamy compost for landscaping or non-vegetable mulching.
- chickens - with minimal human input, chickens can weed, till and fertilize land, while living out their highest aspirations as fowl who scratch and peck. simultaneous with doing of the most menial and difficult garden chores, they can provide eggs and meat, as well as miscellaneous byproduct. with some logistics and forethought, a virtual infestation of chickens in portable pens, "chicken tractors," an be brought into the budding ecovillage to prepare the soil for future gardens.
- covercropping - by following the chickens closely with carefully chosen cover crops of legumes and other noninvasive, food-producing soil building plant species, productive farming land can be created and maintained without every picking up a shovel.
- worms - while chickens can eat most garden waste, wood waste makes wonderful landfill, turning readily into soil, worms can eat your kitchen waste, allowing for complete organic break down of compostables, again without ever picking up a shovel, or making a compost pile.
- tempeh - the development of a revenue-producing business is to the long term survival of a business. soybean production along with their fermentation into tempeh products is simple, efficient in terms of volume inputs and outputs, requires only very light industry in the cracking and cooking of the beans, while the heat-activated (100?)ferment can be done in a straw or straw-clay solar heated oven.
step 6: design
year 1: observation
1-3 residents, 10 peak/event hosting (tents)
2-4 64's
see building design: 64
chickens
limited gardens
no greenhouse - cloches
observation
select future gardening sites
find materials
clay
sand
wood?
make test bricks, build test cob walls
collect materials
sips
lumber for flooring
roofing
cement
stone
select next building site
excavate and construct pier foundation for tinies
see building design: tinies \
plant
under 20 fruit trees
1-3 future shade tree: larger more decorative natives, ie bay,
madrone, locust. (also food producing)
collect materials
year 2: housing
2-5 residents, 25 peak/event hosting
assemble 1-2 tinies
64 - modularity in action
residence (if necessary)
kitchen
begin benches and brick patio adjacent to nexus site with cob
oven, solar cookers
bathhouse
barn - tool+material storage
more observation
intensify gardening
chicken infestation > cover cropping
cloches
plant
more fruit trees
bamboo
collect materials
clay
sand
industrial materials: tin roofing, steel, cement
select next building site
excavate and construct pier foundation for prismatic barn
year 3: production capacity
4-8 residents, 50 peak
assemble Prismatic Barn
128 kitchen
2x 64 bath
intensify gardens
chicken infestation > covercrop
food for 8
cloches
plant
fruit trees
bamboo
year 4: infrastructure
pick your requirements:
building design: Bathhaus
building design: Nexus Caliente
building design: Officespace
building site remediation
year 5: demographic divergance
demographic: children
building design: Diamondzoid
demographic: transition
building design: Baghut
building design: Cobhill
demographic: stability, slow growth
building design: Tinies plus
alternatives to construction
business infrastructure
tempeh systems
Officespace: education, etc.
landsculpting
wildland creation
marshland
drainage for gardening
section 4:
things i left out:
- cisterns, gutters, water catchment - this was not specifically designed because it's something i want to experiment with more, for efficiency, for controlled overflow designs, and half wine barrel cascading treatment systems.
- overhang measurements
- exact building facing angles
- root cellar - not enough slope! i was uncertain how to handle drainage for an underground structure from which it would be extremely difficult to build a trench drain.
- solar power - there was only token reference to solar power, which would certainly be a larger part of an actual village design.
index: building designs
building design: 64, 128, 192, 256
description:
8x8 square. tin shed roof. steel framing. floating pier footers. tarp walls.
function:
multifunction multipurpose semi-enclosable space. redesignable, repurposable to become residential, kitchen, bath, tool and storage, or any number of potential functions as an outdoor room.
features:
it's a tent, it's an extremely durable tent. a step up from the traditional step before a yurt. a step up because nylon tents are not sustainable/reusable/modular - they're closer to disposable.
with these structures it would be establish a sturdy mini community in one day, one truckload. cost: approximately $100 each.
100% reusable.
amazingly modular:
rotatable seasonally, allowing for modular solar heating and cooling. thus turn the opening to the north in the summer for more shade, turn it south in the winter for more light, or to the south east, for more protection from winter storms.
tiny cob walls (6" high) can provide security from flooding and protection from insects and animals, while providing added home value, dry storage, wind protection.
128, 192, 256
combine multiple 64's to make larger outdoor spaces. place two side by side for a larger shed, or two facing each other for a gable roof. lower the roof angle by raising the back end with butressed cob adobe walls to create more indoor space.
building design: tinies
description:
12x12 residential space. pier foundation. SIPS walls. "pocket rocket" heating. limited cooking. no integrated graywater initially (external water systems). fairly traditional construction. post and beam for flooring. storage underneath.
features:
simliar to a yurt in the development of a community inasmuch as it's a relatively cheap and easy structure. a "tiny," however, is far better insulated, easier to build, and almost as easy to move.
having modular location can create a whole new house! thus greater ease of residential turnover.
optional extra tack-on shed to the east for a kitchen, etc. this space can become the cob-benched and -fenced and paved private transition space.
in the longer term, as density increases the tinies would probably move towards the marsh, as their raised pier foundation will provide better resistance to rising damp, as well as providing more complete ventilation.
potential future non-residential uses could include office space, a children's play-room and nursery, or to be dismantled for parts.
tinies plus
tinies can be added onto with relatively little effort, with the addition of rooms, windows, or lofts. they could be removed from piers and given a mass floor foundation, while recycling the flooring timber.
building design: prismatic barn
description:
steel-framed two-story prism. pier foundation, dirt/gravel floor. ground floor split along the prismatic axis, forming two 600 sq.ft. rooms.
southern room: greenhouse. roof extension to create a vertical southern wall. doors to the east, north (into twin room) and west. operable windows to the southeast.
northern room: workshop, tool storage, material storage. central dividing wall used as tool wall. eastern wind-barrier wall. no northern or western wall.
upstairs: stairway on western end. deck/walkway on the southern exterior. barn doors to the east, under pulley extending from ridge beam, to allow for easy bulk storage.
extensive bank of solar panels on southern roof.
functions:
omnifunctional barn space. greenhouse. workspace. upstairs, open space for temporary residence, long term storage, light industry, project space, office space.
power center.
potential uses as interim kitchen space, communal space.
features:
the reason for tin and steel is that the essentially the only other option is extensive use of wood - of which the region has been thoroughly depleted. thus the use of industrial materials in this case is supported by the objective of having this structure stand, with maintenance and potentially future reinforcement, for hundreds of years. durability on that scale can offset a lot of industry.
omnifunctional! this building can do anything.
completing this structure endows the community with the capacity to embark on more labor-intensive, salvage-intensive, custom built structures, as well as providing the space and power needed for buisness applications.
building design: nexus caliente
description:
981 sq.ft. teardrop-shaped cob kitchen and common area, with matching teardrop brick patio. southeast facing kitchen in the round end of the teardrop, with countertops on the eastern wall. large cooking island in the center of the round end. storage along the north wall. ample space for trash, recycling, and compost. rocket stove heating through a 2 tiered cob-bench mass.
patio with attatched southeast facing bench embedded in the tail of the building. detatched cob oven with attatched seating. open space for worm-bin kitchen scrap digestion.
functions:
central kitchen and dining area. central communal space. mail drop and message boards.
features
large inward facing kitchen, creating a communal cooking experience. large patio, sheltered from winds, catching early morning light and heat. community meeting space with message boards and black boards. table modular to large circle or 2 lenticular tables and a flared wedge.
building design: bthhaus
description:
fairly lightly built structure for bathing and toilet necessities. using salvaged lumber and biotecture privacy spaces.
functions:
showers. toilets. sauna. hot tub. human powered laundry facilities. clotheslines.
features:
shed roof opening celestory-wise onto the garden for light and ventilation. pocket rocket heated hot tub. solar water shower heating.
bamboo biotecture privacy walls.
clotheslines over gray-water fed grass.
the classic problem of protection from the microfauna encourages the nanofauna - that is to say if you keep it tight enough to keep all bugs out, you're risking cutting the ventilation necessary to prevent molds and mildews. thus modern insect screening would be necessary.
building design: cobhill
"cheapass simple art homes"
small dwelling, barrell shaped, rounded on the north and south sides, flat to the east and west, around 600sq, adjacent to the childrens area, providing a corner barrier. a fairly simple structure with a shed roof providing space for a loft to the south. probably tin roof or spanish tile. western door providing ventilation, leading into southern open dining etc space, then continuing around the east and northeast, with kitchen counters leading to the rocket stove which leads into a semi circular cob bench seating nook, which provides the thermal mass and chimney for the rocket stove, which exits into a cobbed vertical pipe in the center of the room that also adds structural support to the loft.
the entrances to the loft would be from the cob mass in the northwest, from the doorway and/or from the seating nook.
upstairs would be a mostly open space, with desk facilities to the western end, bedroom in the eastern end, and a curtain to draw between them as needed.
the building is designed as a couple's dwelling, and could be used for an older couple with grown children. it would be safe for an infant, or could be babyproofed with a railing, mesh loft barrier and trap door for an older child, with the office space providing some sleeping separation for a single parent or possibly housing three people. it would also make spacious accomodations for a single person.
building design: baghut
"cheapass simple art homes"
more water tolerant, relative to cobhill = important for siting
the baghut was designed as a single-double dwelling. it is composed of the central space, and a raised sleeping space, with a drawable curtain.
the bag hut has cobbed in southern windows providing light and heat, stored by a thermal mass floor. there are additional smaller vent windows to the north west, and in the sleeping vestibule.
the bag is fairly oriental in profile, with it's fairly shallow tile roof line, squat cylindrical primary aspect, broken only by the round cobbed-in windows, and it's garden wall appendage, rendering it an atmosphere as of a well domesticated cave. it's interior space would be also have a solidly grounded energy, in a simple earthen dome.
the baghut has a doorway to the east, opening directly into the southern portion of the central space, which is mostly open for insolation, with a dining table and area,
to the west of the open area is a counter surface area with a small sink, and storage behind (on the wall) and beneath. after a small gap, the wall continues to the rocket stove on the northwest side, with a stove warmed cob bench which leads up into the attatched sleeping space, with the foot of the bed area also receiving stove-warmth.
building design: diamondzoid
description:
twin off-south facing icosolese trapezoidal residences with a rectangular bathroom adjoining them. mud room in the convex space between them to the north.
earthbag stemwall with strawbale upper walls. poured adobe floors.
function:
child-focused co-housing. sheltered play area. two bedroom in each housing unit. common/public bathroom. central feature of cob-walled protected play area occupying the old orchard space.
features:
terraced
large windprotected mud room for raintime play or other uses
shared bathroom, experiment in high density community housing
order of magnitude more complex than prism - as complicated as the nexus.
building design: officespace
description:
600 sq.ft. rectangular strawbale building. one large open room. one smaller room with wrap-around desk space. south facing, passive solar.
functions:
lockable office space, electronics storage
multifunction open space
-yoga
-meetings, intra community, intercommunity, political, educational, etc.
-classroom
-event space
-media space (movies)
-music space
features:
minimal design. potentially ornate with colorfull earthen plasters, hopefully a bright and friendly open space.
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
didnt read it all, but it sounds pretty cool. i think im gonna do a non-thesis option so i can go and start making moolah (ie: paying back student loans)....my how greedy ive gotten....
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