'Recycled' Solar Homes

Enlarge Image Image Gallery [1] Gobel’s house is being constructed of double layers of aluminum cans. [2] An aerial view shows the west side of the building. INSET: New Mexico architect Mike Reynolds. [3] The lightweight containers involved in can construction lend themselves to easy working. [4] Reynolds builds walls of bottles and cans… with bottoms exposed for a decorative effect. [5] The Gobel construction has already made use of some 125,000 containers. [6] and [7] A unique fireplace is used as backup heating system… for the tire house’s two large solar collectors. STEVE WINSTON/MIKE REYNOLDS

New Mexico architect Mike Reynolds specializes in the design of energy-efficient (and beautiful!) homes built from aluminum cans and rubber tires.

The young Kentucky-born designer/builder began his architectural career in 1970. Mike, however, felt "unfulfilled" by his lack of contact with the traditional buildings he was asked to design. Moreover, he grew disenchanted with the all too common web of energy dependence, unfair financing, and inefficient materials which went hand in hand with home construction and had caused housing costs to skyrocket.

"The architect alone will charge as much as 10% of the market price of a home . . . which is why most Americans settle for mass-produced, crackerbox-style houses," Mike says. "Then, it costs $10,000 to buy a lot in the Taos area, and another $1,000 to get power to the house. So, a person is out at least $15,000 before he or she can even think about the house itself!"

Reynolds set out to beat this system, but—when he decided to begin by designing houses built from refuse—he suddenly found himself in the building business as well. "In 1974—when I designed my first 'can house'—I couldn't find anyone to build it," Mike recalls. "So I formed my own construction company, and, since then, I've built every one of the houses I've designed."

WORLDWIDE INTEREST

To date, Mike's company (World Energy and Materials) has constructed 25 homes in the Taos area. Furthermore—although he has used adobe and conventional materials—Reynolds prefers to build with cans and tires ... and what he does with this litter has earned him international fame.

This innovative architect has been featured in a German television special, and models of his houses were included in an exhibit of American architecture that toured France two years ago.

And Reynolds deserves the recognition. His talent as a designer is obvious in the aesthetic use he makes of his odd building materials. Exposed bottoms of cans and bottle's please the eye with their texture, and there's something comforting about the massive tire walls with their gently undulating surfaces. However, both the construction methods and the philosophy behind them are of equal importance.

"Overall," Mike says, "we're trying to completely phase out of the present housing system ... from energy to materials to financing. We're looking for more direct living: energy direct from the sun and materials direct from refuse."

A RUBBER-TIRE HOUSE

The rubber-tire house pictured in the accompanying photos comes close to Reynolds' ideal. The structure is solar heated, and contains a unique fireplace for a backup heating system. Three-foot-thick walls—made of tires filled with rammed earth—provide thermal mass as well as insulation for the two bedrooms ... and keep those sleeping quarters at a constant 65°F without any additional "climate control systems".