The Art of Natural Building: Design, Construction, Resources

Book Overview

The original, complete, user-friendly introduction to natural building, now fully revised and updated The popularity of natural building has grown by leaps and bounds, spurred by a grassroots desire... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865714339
• ISBN13: 9780865714335
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: New Society Publishers
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

What a great book!

My husband and I discovered 'The Art of Natural Building' on a plane to Spain! A passenger next to us was reading a copy & we asked to borrow it: it was so fantastic that we ordered it for a builder friend of ours who works in natural materials as much as possible. He is thrilled with it!

A very Good taste.

This book gives you a very good taste of all the natural alternative building techniques, and also where to find out more information on them. This is an excellent book for you to start researching all the different alternative building techniques or if your already well read on the subject it may introduce you to some new techniques or be a good refresher on the subject.

Stylishly Ethical Living

Today, around 5 million people on Earth work and live in buildings made of adobe, stone, rammed earth, straw bale, cob, wattle and daub and so forth. That is, most of our planetary brothers and sisters live in earthen houses that rely on renewable human labor and local resources like mud, straw, rock and tree. These houses are less energy intensive, more durable, and are often more esthetically pleasing than so-called "modern" homes, as this book shows. "The Art of Natural Building" questions the environmental responsibility of a 5,000-sq-foot, 500,000-dollar house. As more and more people begin to make the kind of money it takes to buy their own American Dream house, we must question the feasibility our of contemporary building practices. Would it be possible cover the globe with modern homes? Building companies certainly think so, but aside from what a project of this immensity what mean environmentally, the resources are simply not available. There is simply not enough lumber, brick, cement, and processed material to go around. Our building industry would gladly sell us into oblivion if it meant a buck or two in the short-haul, but we need to get away from this kind of thinking. We also need to consider the environmental impacts of our current practices. What are these impacts? As this book reminds us, buildings already account for one quarter of the world's wood harvest, two-fifths of its material and energy use, and one-six of its fresh water usage. In the past 100 years the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen 27 percent, one-quarter of which has come the burning of fossil fuels just to provide energy for buildings. During the same period, the world lost more than 20 percent of its forest. Quite simply, our building philosophy is not sustainable; and with a populaiton of 6 billion rising at an incredible rate every year, reconstruction of this philosophy becomes all the more timely and important. We can start by dropping out of the rat race and getting our hands dirty. Natural building is much more affordable, durable, environmentally responsible and estheticly pleasing than the track homes and skyscrapers advancing on the horizon. We can also avoid the loan-mortgage game which weds us to unfulfilling job and Sisyphus-like existence. We can create spaces that are non-toxic, unique, and ecologically sound. And perhaps most importantly, we can reconnect with Earth and the spirit of artisanship. Along with the philosophy, you will discover a veritable treasure trove of natural building styles and ideas, from the radically new and innovative - like concept "earthship" - to the ancient and elegant, such as the living roof pictured on the cover. Architects need not apply, nor must you be good with your hands to fashion your own natural house. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen this book before investing in a home of my own. Like many people, I might have ended up working the rest of my life to pay for "a house without

An easy to read "encyclopedia" of sensible building.

I liked the way this subject was presented. First--why are these building methods sound, ie, the philosophy of using natural materials. Then, the many illustrations with informative descriptions at each one. Almost like reading the captions in National Geographic. The very large variety of methods and materials described in well-written essays by obvious experts in their field, each followed by references to books and periodicals that would deal with that particular subject in even more depth. Each section arranged in a natural progression of ideas. The general tone exudes a warmth and respect for people and our earth.. Thoroughly "good" reading.