Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter

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The idea of a home extends beyond the strict definition of a house, and this unique Japanese barn/root cellar is a great example of how an inconspicuous shed can become a one-of-a-kind creation and an inspiration to others.
The idea of a home extends beyond the strict definition of a house, and this unique Japanese barn/root cellar is a great example of how an inconspicuous shed can become a one-of-a-kind creation and an inspiration to others.
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The interior of this earthbag home has a palpable handmade feeling thanks to the rounded, uneven
The interior of this earthbag home has a palpable handmade feeling thanks to the rounded, uneven "papercrete" wall plaster and natural wood cents.
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Right: A 1937 Chevrolet
Right: A 1937 Chevrolet "Gypsy Wagon" owned by Jack Fulton. Top: Bill Coperthwaite's personal twist on the yurt design. Bellow: The Hallig homes of northern Germany are built above sea level on artificial mounds of earth to withstand high tide. This home looks much like a lonely ship lost at sea.
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The idea of a home extends beyond the strict definition of a house, and this unique Japanese barn/root cellar is a great example of how an inconspicuous shed can become a one-of-a-kind creation and an inspiration to others.
The idea of a home extends beyond the strict definition of a house, and this unique Japanese barn/root cellar is a great example of how an inconspicuous shed can become a one-of-a-kind creation and an inspiration to others.
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John Stiles (middle) roams the California countryside with his 14-donkey caravan (left) , carrying everything he needs to survive with him.
John Stiles (middle) roams the California countryside with his 14-donkey caravan (left) , carrying everything he needs to survive with him. "I travel the freeways and in huge metropolitan areas with no driver's license, no registration, no insurance, no taxes, no permits - nothing."  Right: This Dust Bowl-era house was built from the most basic of building materials in a hostile environment, yet notice the subtle creativity in the dormer's urved eaves.
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The idea of a home extends beyond the strict definition of a house, and this unique Japanese barn/root cellar is a great example of how an inconspicuous shed can become a one-of-a-kind creation and an inspiration to others.
The idea of a home extends beyond the strict definition of a house, and this unique Japanese barn/root cellar is a great example of how an inconspicuous shed can become a one-of-a-kind creation and an inspiration to others.

Looking for the cure to the common home? You’ll find all the inspiration you’ll ever need about unique, handmade and offbeat shelter in Lloyd Kahn’s newest book, Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter. Packed with 1,100 photos and 300 illustrations of dwellings, domes, houses and huts from all points around the globe, this remarkable 245-page book is about the eclectic materials used to make these homes and the eccentric dreamers and doers that built them. Kahn brings them all to life.

Home Work tells the stories of buildings made by people who chose — sometimes out of necessity — to build homes for themselves using local and recycled materials rather than relying upon the standardized products of modern society.

Take Kelly and Rosana Hart’s “earthbag-papercrete” house in Colorado, for example. This intrepid couple constructed their house from plastic bags filled with crushed volcanic rock to form walls with excellent insulative values. The bags then were covered with a low-maintenance exterior shell called “papercrete” (a mixture of paper and Portland cement) that the couple says will never rot or be damaged by moisture.

Throughout the book, the reader connects with Kahn’s love of what might simply be called “great buildings,” the kinds that have been carefully crafted and that stand in dramatic contrast to the typical cookie-cutter house. His passion is to seek out that which is well-made and unusual.

Kahn is one of the most amazing, generous and inspirational people I’ve met. The vision he locked onto in the 1970s when he was the shelter editor of The Whole Earth Catalog and wrote his first book, Shelter (1973), has stayed with him.

  • Published on Aug 1, 2005
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