Architecture (85)

Straw Bale and Timber Frame Home

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Hi Lloyd and Co.:

Saw your call for responses to the upcoming Small Homes book. Exciting! I think our straw bale & timber frame home fits squarely into that category. It’s actually around 440 sq. feet of interior heated space, but with the porch and balcony it’s a bit bigger.

15016408354_bd76ef81d5_c 08-strawtron 30-strawtron Read More …

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Eliphante: Michael Kahn's Sculptural Village in the Arizona Desert

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Greenhouse room built out of old auto windshields siliconed together. Stained glass is siliconed onto inside of glass.

A new documentary film has just been completed about the late artist and builder Mike Kahn, Lloyd’s cousin. Here’s a trailer:

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Heritage Salvage: Reclaimed Stories, New Book by Michael "Bug" Deakin

www.lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com:2014:11:heritage-salvage-reclaimed-stories-new.htmlMichael “Bug” Deakin grew up in British Columbia, one of 10 kids in the family. He built his first house in 1970 out of used materials and these days runs Heritage Salvage, a large yard in Petaluma, Calif., filled with hand-hewed beams, flooring, barn doors, and all kinds of salvaged building materials. I love roaming around his yard. There are treasures there, as there are in this book.

He’s an irrepressibly dynamic, cheerful, funny guy (disclaimer: I know him) and this is a scrapbook of his colorful world and history. There are stories: building homes, gardens, furniture and movie sets (including for McCabe and Mrs. Miller), planting trees, tearing down old buildings all over America, a touching (and happy) tale of first meeting his daughter when she was 40 and their immediate rapport, of hanging out with Tom Waits.

He’s a dynamo for all good things and this a charming introduction to Bug’s World.

Links:

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Jonny Briggs' Timber Frame Buildings in UK

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I did 3 posts on Jonny Briggs’ timber framing on my blog here: www.lloydkahn.com/?s=briggs

Jonny is a 26-year-old carpenter from North Yorkshire who learned his craft at the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community (that’s Prince of Wales — traditional carpentry is just one of Charlie’s many earth-sensitive endeavors).

“…The building craft apprenticeship allows students who have a genuine interest in traditional building, sustainability and design to learn from master craftspeople around the UK.

Jonny now specializes in the design and build of traditional timber frames, structural timber work and bespoke furniture.”

Jonny wrote us today:

Hi Lloyd,

I have finally got a website together which shows the larger structures I have built over the last few years. It’s www.jonny-briggs.com

Thanks,
Jonny

I tell ya, the 20-year-olds these days are really something! A whole new octave.

See also:

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Trip to Peru

floating home

Floating home on the Amazon

I recently got home from a two-week trip to Peru with my wife Chelsea. We flew into Lima and hung there for a day. From there we flew to Cusco for two days then took a train to Aguas Calientes where we stayed for three nights and visited Machu Picchu. We then went back to Cusco for a night and then onto Iquitos which sits directly on the Amazon, Iquitos is the largest city in the world not reachable by a car. Everything must come in by boat or plane, we stayed at an eco lodge for three nights. One of the best parts of the trip was seeing all of the different building techniques which are employed from the Andes to the Amazon. Hope you enjoy.

IMG_1697 Floating House
IMG_1491 old adobe and brick building

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Driftwood Beach Shack

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For as long as I can remember, people have been building little surfer shacks on the coast. This one has been up for a few years and remodeled, every time I go by there someone has added something new. A whale washed up about a year ago and some of its bones have found its way into the architecture of the shack. Read More …

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