Earthship Biotecture

Taos, New Mexico

Earlier this year Ollie and I went on a trip to the US of A.  We explored the western half of the country.  The reason for our holiday was Ollie participating in the Tour Divide bike race.  The race starts in Banff, Canada and finished in Antelope Wells, New Mexico.  I know, its a long way.  So that took him a while which meant I had some spare time up my sleeve before picking him up at the end of the race. I took the opportunity to visit a friend from New Zealand, Rosa Henderson.  She was (and I believe still is) living and working at the Earthship community in Taos, New Mexico.

What is Earthship?  Mike Reynolds is an architect who in the (1970’s) started the organisation Earthship Biotecture.  The company designs and builds houses that are off the grid, constructed from a combination of recycled and new materials.  Earthship also runs an education program referred to as ‘The Academy’.  People who are interested in Earthship have the option to do an internship where they live and work in the community as volunteer labourers for a stint of time, or they can join the academy where they will attend educational classes teaching about the systems and processes used in building earthships.

My friend Rosa was an academy student.  I had the pleasure of staying in an Earthship during my four day visit.  I also had the amazing opportunity to accompany Rosa on a tour of other Earthships in the community.  Photos I took during the tour with Rosa’s class are below.

Conditions in Taos are very dry.  It is extremely hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter.  Earthships are partly submerged under earth.  The front is glazed and generally has a planting area for an inside garden.  Grey water is pumped through the planter to bring moisture to the plants and filter the water.  The water is then sent to the toilet where it is used for flushing.  Black water is treated outside the house where it is again used to water plants.  Solar panels are used to generate electricity.  The heating and cooling of the building is remarkable, or lack of it.  It was June when I visited Earthship, almost midsummer.  Temperatures were in the mid to high 30’s (Celsius).  But inside an Earthship, with no air conditioning, it was comfortably cool. 

There are so many awesome things about the buildings, I could rave about them forever.  I’m not going to though, because more than the Earthships, the people and environment are what made my visit to Taos so memorable.  When I first arrived in the evening I’d barely said hello to Rosa and we were out the door to a dinner party down the road with some fellow academy students.  There was great food, musicians playing and people practising acrobatic silks.  The next night an acro yoga class had been organised which was followed by more food and music.  Then a group trip into town the next evening for a community festival that was happening.  Always people were socialising, happy in the surrounding company and so eager to listen and share of themselves.  It felt, after four days, like I was part of this big family.

In the dessert, I had previously felt keenly aware of the dangers this landscape can offer, mostly the heat, dehydration and the challenge of large distances between civilisation.  Now I felt awed by its beauty.  I realised that even in this dessert, where I would have thought only sage brush and dust could endure, people have developed a way of living that doesn’t put unrealistic demands on the environment.  In fact it returns more to the environment than it takes. 

Visiting Earthship was inspiring and thought provoking.  I may return there in the future to attend their academy course.  If you have a spare two months coming up you should go too.  There is heaps of information on the internet about Earthship.  Visit the Earthship webpage for more information.

Rosa at Earthship Biotecture, Taos, NM

Project Eve (don't quote me on that) under construction

Survival Pod

Academy students listen to tutor talk about her own Earthship

Shower in bathroom

Inside garden

Asia Pacific Design Library (APDL) Lecture Series

Design and Thinking - Side Project

I attended the first in a series of design lectures at the State Library of Queensland on Wednesday night.  The Australian premier of a design documentary ‘Design and Thinking’ was the main item on the agenda followed by a panel discussion with three of Brisbane’s notable design thinkers.

Fellow designers expecting to gain revolutionary ideas or insights from ‘Design and Thinking’ would have been disappointed.  It is a collection of interviews with designers discussing what ‘design thinking’ is in their opinion.  Apparently the term ‘design thinking’ is commonly used in the design world, some even criticizing its overuse.  I must be out of the loop as the term has managed to evade me thus far, although I always figured that design and thinking should go together somehow.   

For me the film served as a reminder of design lessons taught to me as a student, three of which I explain below.   

1)      If you want a good idea... have lots of ideas.

I strongly believe this statement.  The more options you have the better chance that one will be right.  This is when I get a storm in my brain.  I find the biggest piece of paper I can and try to write, or draw, it all down.  Brain storming in a group can be really fun as you feed off one another’s ideas.  The best part of this process is that no idea is wrong or bad at this point in the design process.  

2)      Why?

My design tutor at Otago told me that a truly good designer understands what their client wants (which can be difficult at times to say the least), and then exceeds their expectations by producing an even better solution than they thought could exist.  Sometimes a problem can be solved by what is initially an obscure solution but later proves to be quite obvious. 

Excerpt from film

“I ask you to build me a bridge.  What ideas do you come up with?  A suspension bridge, a cantilever bridge... whatever.  And then you ask me, ’why?’  I say ‘because I need to get across the river.’  What ideas do you come up with now?  Boat, airplane, swim etc.  And then you ask ‘why?’ again.  I tell you ‘because I need to get a message to the other side.’   What ideas do you come with now?”

3)      Failure!

The first attempt at a new design doesn’t usually succeed.  People who are afraid to fail won’t be successful because they never try new things, experiment and push themselves to the limits of their abilities.     

The panel discussion made up of Tanja Hall (President of AGDA Queensland), Lindy Johnson (creative agent) and Yen Trinh (urban designer) was... unusual.  With the topic ‘Side Projects’, I expected the conversation to focus on projects the designers do in addition to their main work.  I’m not sure if I was the only one, but Lindy Johnson had me confused about her side project.  She spoke about her business and daughter, I’m not sure which one was the side project and thought it rather humours that a child can be considered a project at all.  Perhaps Lindy was at the wrong venue, she was meant to attend the ‘How Professional Mum’s Coupe’ seminar.  Don’t get me wrong, it has to be hard juggling work and being a mother.  This wasn’t the forum to discuss it though.  When asked what motivates them to take on side projects Tanja Hall said it was to prevent boredom in her life.  Yen Trinh answered questions with intelligent and direct answers responding to the question of motivation with, “I think I take more risks in my side projects, and feel it is part of my moral responsibility as a designer to try and engage people.”       

In a fortnights time Peter Rich, a well known architect from Johannesburg, will be lecturing.  I’m looking forward to a session more closing related to my own design field of interiors. 



GOMA Brisbane 

Gallery of Modern Arts

Being in a new city I get pretty excited about all the places to explore.   The benefit of living in a new place is I don’t have to rush out and see it all at once, which would be the case if I was visiting on a holiday.  Last weekend I enjoyed a leisurely outing to explore Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Arts.

I’d been curious and impressed by the gallery’s architecture when walking past it on the river front.  Architectus, a large architectural company based in Sydney, was commissioned by the Queensland Government in 2002 to design the gallery.  The building responds to the site by facing the river and pointing towards the city with large transparent glass walls to create a sense of friendliness while not compromising on the huge gallery spaces for displaying art.  The architecture is considered ‘international style’, but at the same time being responsive to its local context.    

Gallery of Modern Art Brisbane

Upon entering the gallery, the large scale of its interior is what impressed me.  However my attention to the architecture was short lived as I became distracted by the art.  Funny that.  The most thought provoking exhibition for me was ‘Sculpture is Everything’ where artists used found materials, film, photography and motorised displays to create their sculptures. 

GOMA purchased Lara Favaretto’s, of Italy, car wash brushes and electrical motors sculpture.  This was an amazing buzz of colour.  It created a breeze and made me think of candy, the circus and being a kid. 

Lara Favaretto's Car Wash Sculputre

The exhibit that kept me thinking even as I left the gallery was Ai Weiwei’s photographic installation.  I’m sure you’ve all seen it before.  

Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn

Dropping the Han Dynasty Urn is ‘criminal’ only because of the perceived value of it.  Relating this to my own life, I see that everyone values their space, possessions, fashion, hobbies etc... differently.  Ok, not as profound as Ai Weiwei.  But I like to think I might be more understanding towards other people’s values, and perhaps more sensible about my own. 



Now I am a Blogger

I’ve been through the pre-contemplative, contemplative and investigative phases of blogging.  Now I’m in the final proactive phase where I actually make one.  Here it is ‘Jill and the Bean Sprout’.  The extensive name has to do with availability; the ones I wanted initially were already taken.  I finally concluded that yes I should do a blog simply to keep track of my ideas and observations.  So it has begun, this is where I will endeavour to post interesting stuff for your enjoyment.