Sunday, February 19, 2012

Magical Houses

I'm guessing this first video of Bjork's house in Iceland is from the 90's but not really sure, anyone know?
Anywho I love seeing interesting peoples houses, I find it fascinating.

I also recently attended the premiere of the new Earthship doco which is part of the Melbourne Sustainable Living Festival http://festival.slf.org.au/. It was fantastic, the festival has ended now but if you find a way to see the new film I highly recommend it. Earthships, for those that don't know are radical and wonderfully designed buildings that are made from post consumer recycled garbage like tyres, bottles and cans. They're completely self sustained and off the grid, meaning they're 100% solar and wind powered, they capture rainwater for use and then filters and recycles it 4 times through taps, tiolet, greenhouse before it goes into your outside garden, contained sewage system, it has a fully functioning greenhouse inside part of your living area which grows enough food to live off. Basically it has everything you need to live for the rest of your life for free and they're beautiful.

http://earthship.com/ Check out the website for loads of videos and info about the project...
I also attended a lecture on Sunday by the creator Micheal Reynolds an incredible innovator and genius who has spent years fighting nonsense laws, codes and regulations preventing new eco building to grow. He has made it possible to do things that used to be too complex, expensive or simply too radical for people to handle.

It's something so simple, shelter, food, comfort etc that all people have the right to make for themselves without having to struggle to pay for it their whole lives.

Good News! A man and his family in King Lake Victoria are going to be the first ones to get permission to build an Earthship, the first in Australia Hooray! It took him 2 years of struggle to get it passed. So I've contacted Earthship to offer to volunteer to help build, they take on volunteers to do building labour, they call them Interns, in return they learn how to make earthships themselves and become more knowledgeable in Biotecture.

I am also created a profile on the Earthship Global Network so can I become involved in any other buildings in Victoria.. here's my 'About Me' which explains my interest in Earthships in a nutshell:

"I'm a sculptor and contemporary jeweller/metal smith who lives in lovely green Upwey in the Dandenong Ranges with my partner Ben (a builder) and our rescued ferret and Pug. We're planning to build an earthship hopefully in around 5 years (that's our goal!) We're saving now for a deposit for land and building materials.

I've always had a keen interest in alternative architecture and have been researching the subject for years. As an artist, building my own sculpture to live in is the ultimate dream and to be off the grid and living in harmony with nature is massively important to me.

I'm hoping to volunteer on all upcoming building projects in Victoria Australia so I can gain knowledge and skills to one day achieve my dream and help others with theirs. "

I actually attended an Earthship Australia meeting a year or so ago and nobody had gotten permission to build yet at that point so nothing could really start yet, so I'm excited it to hear that the ball is now rolling. If you're keen I urge you to head to the site and creative a profile too.

And lastly another architecture passion of mine as I've mentioned here previously is Art Deco deisgn, I've recently created a blog dedicated to art, fashion, architecture, film, design etc of the 1930's so pop on over and follow if you're so inclined. There some there that caught my eye...
http://www.decodollies.blogspot.com.au/


I also found many gorgeous Art Deco buildings in India, which wasn't somewhere I was expecting to see that, I was pleasantly surprised. So I'll put the photos of those there too soon ;) Two of my favourites I saw in Mumbai were titled 'Sunshine' and 'Moonlight' above their front doors in stylish deco font signage.

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