Home
Home Building:
Hopi kiva construction, underground, supplies a safe and ceremonial home at a comfortable 13 deg. C globally (tundra to equator). The Earth is always 13 deg. Celsius below 1 meter of the Earth's surface, and is ideal space for making your home. Plans for Hopi kiva construction can be found in Hotevilla by Thomas Mails, Dan Evehema. 5X5 meter underground dwelling with concentric hexagon log dome to support earth roof/ ceiling. The supports for the dome need to be very solid and it may be helpful to make the walls of the kiva in a slight V shape so that the walls don't crumble. Be sure and build your kiva at the top of hills; avoid building in an area that collects water runoff (or areas that are wet), or areas with insects, snakes or vermin in the soil! Hopi kivas are a very smart design, and hidden from common view; and provide protection from the elements and conflictual people. Be aware that when you build a kiva the roof can fall in. Build it very well.
Caution: Also, if you are building where there are underground power lines or water lines, like near a city or in a city, please check with the utility company first before you dig. You can be electrocuted by digging into a wire that is below the ground.
If you are going to build a kiva I do suggest buying Hotevilla and following the diagram found in the book. Hotevilla is a book that was written by the Hopi(a native American family) following 500 years of invasion by Europeans. It is a good book for any family or village to read that has experienced European colonialism. The Hopi also prophesy a time in the near future when the sun will be occluded by pollution; we will see a ring around the sun. It is said by the Hopi that at that time we must unite worldwide to save the environment. The Hopi have also prophesied a day called Purification Day, a time of cleansing and spiritual awakening of the Earth, by 2013 AD when a red army covers the Earth like 'red ants'.
Coincidentally, I think it is coming time soon for a time of worldwide celebration... a chance for us to get to know one another and to feel the feeling of being one family, united. And this would be a great opportunity to discuss and engage in peace and fair business practices, to respect each others' cultures, ancestral homes and the environment. Later in this document I suggest writing to the UN on gun control worldwide ... if you write regarding this perhaps you can add your opinions on a worldwide celebration for peace as well. See my suggestion to the UN later (under the 'Organizations Working on Peace' heading)
Getting back to building ... please see:
Build_with_Natural_Materials
Architects_Without_Borders
Builders_Without_Borders
Cooperative_Housing_Foundation
The_Dirt_Cheap_Builder
Fishrock_Studios
Green_Building_Professional_Directory
Habitat_for_Humanity_International
Earth_Pods
Shelter_Systems
The Underground House Book by Stu Campbell seems to be very inexpensive and useful. Remember, when you live underground the temperature of the home is a steady 13 deg. C year round, from the Arctic to the Equator. In the Hopi kiva design you can build a fire in the kiva and stay warm during the winter. And you are hidden in times of war and bad weather. Also, an underground house can be a 'first' home that you can later store food in; like corn, roots, spice-preserved foods and potatoes. I found a book at amazon.com that might help with this form of food preservation ... Home Food Systems: Rodale's catalog of methods and tools for producing, processing, and preserving naturally good foods (selection based on title)
'Earthship' is a housing construction design in the US that is inexpensive and uses recyclable materials; mainly plentiful rubber tires and tin cans. In www.amazon.com see Earthship: How to Build Your Own; and Earthship: Systems and Components both by Michael Reynolds (both highly recommended, but housing design may be expensive ... this may be best for middle-income families). See Earthship_Biotecture
Buckminster Fuller was very well known for alternative and highly successful architecture. Do a Google search and an Amazon search on him and you will find a lot on homebuilding.
The following books on house building come highly recommended: Modern Carpentry: Essential Skills for the Building Trade by Willis H. Wagner and Howard Bud Smith; Building with Papercrete and Paper Adobe: A Revolutionary New Way to Build Your Own Home for Next to Nothing by Gordon Solberg; The Cob Builders Handbook: You Can Hand-Sculpt Your Own Home by Becky Bee, Mitch Spiralstone (editor), Alex McMillan (editor)(recommended). See also, Complete Book of Cordwood Masonry Housebuilding: The Earthwood Method by Robert L. Roy. Cal_Earth (see the house made of sandbags and barbed wire) for general information on alternative, advanced building. Ferro-cement is becoming popular in the developing world, as this inexpensive iron and cement mixture is very strong and very useful. Search on Google for this building material.
If you live in a cold region of Earth, it is worth mentioning that straw bale hay is the best natural insulator and can be used in survival conditions as well as for insulating a house; precautions should be made regarding fires, however, and fire retardant insulation is better to use in house building. See The Straw Bale House (A Real Goods Independent Living Book) by Athena Swentzell Steen (recommended). Again, this is for cool regions ... straw is the best natural insulator. Corn cobs are also good insulators and you can find corn cob construction in the Cob Builders Handbook.
Home