Natural Building (97)

Sustainable-Building Heritage: The Impact of Builders of the Pacific Coast on Modern Architecture

In an era when mass-produced housing and cookie-cutter developments dominate landscapes, Lloyd Kahn’s Builders of the Pacific Coast stands as a profound reminder of the rich architectural heritage that continues to influence sustainable building practices today. This documentation of coastal builders from San Francisco to Vancouver Island isn’t just a historical record—it also serves as a blueprint for contemporary cultural preservation and sustainable living.

Cultural Heritage

The book’s relevance to today’s cultural-heritage conversation is shown in several ways. For example, it captures the intimate connection between Indigenous building practices and environmental stewardship. The detailed accounts of First Nations architecture, particularly the Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka’wakw) people’s sophisticated use of cedar and their sustainable building techniques, provide valuable lessons for modern architects grappling with climate change and environmental degradation. These traditional methods demonstrate how cultural heritage and ecological responsibility can seamlessly intertwine.

Picture of building of painted bear motif with ears

The significance of the book lies in its documentation of a countercultural building movement that has become increasingly relevant in the current housing crisis. The builders featured in Lloyd’s work championed small, efficient living spaces long before the tiny-house movement gained mainstream attention. Their innovative approaches to using local and recycled materials, minimizing environmental impact, and creating harmony between structure and landscape mirror the principles that today’s sustainable-architecture movement embraces.

Past Inspiration

One can see the book’s influence on contemporary builders through a fascinating chain of inspiration. As Lloyd discovered during his journey, many of the builders he encountered were inspired by his earlier work Shelter (1973), creating a direct lineage of architectural knowledge that continues to influence eco-conscious builders today. This demonstrates how documented cultural heritage can actively shape future building practices.

pictures of book covers of Shelter and Builders of the Pacific Coast by Lloyd Kahn

The emphasis on craftsmanship and personal connection to building materials speaks to the current moment, where there exists growing resistance to disposable consumer culture. The builders’ dedication to understanding their materials—whether through one designer’s artistic approach to woodworking or another’s organic building methods—offers an alternative to the increasingly automated and standardized construction industry.

Community

Furthermore, the book’s documentation of community-based building practices resonates with contemporary movements toward collective housing solutions and cooperative living arrangements. The stories of builders helping one another, sharing knowledge, and creating spaces that foster community interaction provide valuable models for addressing today’s housing challenges.

Picture of structure built out of sustainable material

In an age when digital technology often disconnects people from physical craft, Builders of the Pacific Coast reminds readers of the profound satisfaction and cultural significance of creating with one’s hands. The book’s relevance extends beyond architecture to touch on broader themes of cultural preservation, environmental responsibility, and community building—all critical issues in the current global dialogue about sustainable future development.

As society faces unprecedented challenges in housing, climate change, and cultural preservation, the wisdom captured in Lloyd’s work becomes increasingly valuable. These builders’ stories remind us that cultural heritage isn’t just about preserving the past—it’s about learning from it to create a more sustainable and connected future.

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Affordable Strategies: Alternative Housing Ideas From Lloyd Kahn

This is a transcript from our series on YouTube. See the full video HERE.

Screenshot from YouTube video of Lloyd Kahn talking about his book, Small Homes

I find that [the] generation of millennials, the 30- [to 40-]year-olds, are picking up on what we were doing 50 years ago and liking this idea of doing it yourself. I discovered in the 1970s that you can’t be self-sufficient. You can’t very easily grow your own wheat and mill it, and you can’t fill your teeth, but the idea is [that] you do as much for yourself as possible. Perfection? You’ll never get there, but [you can] work towards it. You still need human hands to build a house, so I think that our message is still relevant. Back in the 1960s and ’70s, everybody wanted to get 10 acres in the country and build an adobe house or a log house on it, and [then] have a garden. 

Nowadays, if I were a young person, I would look around in small towns or cities, maybe in a neighborhood, and find a house that needs work. The advantage is, you’ve already got water, electricity, and waste disposal on the site. I would look to make sure the foundation is solid and then, you know, fix it up. If you live in an apartment in Manhattan, grow some parsley on your fire escape, you know. Just do anything you can to create your food and shelter.

I have young people coming up to me…. It was yesterday, this guy was 36 years old. He said, “I saw the book Shelter when I was a kid, which influenced me, and I’m now a carpenter.” You know, I probably get two or three people a week telling me that these books inspired them to do stuff, you know, to use their hands to build something, so the idea of this ADU thing, you know the, the unit in the backyard, is a good one, and I mean you can do it complying with the code. A lot of stuff is…people are going under the radar to live and…in every place where it’s difficult. 

Picture of Small Homes book by Lloyd Kahn

Are books like Small Homes, from Shelter Publications, helpful with today’s housing issues?

I think that’s true, there are a lot of great ideas. You know, there’s different construction techniques, different materials, different designs, and different approaches. It has [appeal in the] city, as well as [in the] country. For example, in San Francisco, in the book, Jay Nelson [is] another person [who] bought a house in San Francisco, and, with the approval of the building codes, turned it into a duplex to cut the cost of the building in half. Another couple bought a home in LA that was really run down for like $200,000 and fixed it up, and so that’s a really, that’s a kind of important thing, I think, for people to consider, you know, as an alternative to starting from scratch. 

You know people can live in school buses. There’s just all kinds of approaches you can get out of these books. 

When people are hesitant about whether they can do it themselves, I tell them to start, and they’ll figure it out as they go along. You know, I read [a book on] Picasso recently. I read a quote where he said [something like], “If I want to know what I’m going to draw, I have to start drawing.” And so, you know, I think the use of your hands is a very important thing because, I tell people, your computer isn’t going to build a house for you. I mean, they do have these machines that extrude houses from a computer, but I don’t think that’s a very sensible thing. It’s not going to amount to anything…. You know, you still need a hammer and a saw, and the hammer could be a nail gun, and the saw could be a skill saw, but still, you need those things to put a house together.

Shelter Publication's social handles with book covers

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Wonderful Houses Around the World—and in the Classroom

School is back in session, and Shelter Publications has a book that’s popular among elementary teachers and school librarians. Showcasing diverse housing styles around the globe and offering a glimpse into different cultures, Wonderful Houses Around the World, by Yoshio Komatsu with drawings by Akira Nishiyama, was first released in 1997 in Japan. Katy Bridges and Naoko Amemiya translated it into English for its US release by Shelter Publications in 2004. 

The book features clear illustrations of the insides of different homes, where family members are performing everyday tasks. Each illustration includes captions that tell where the house is found, how the surroundings influence its design, what life is like for the family, and how the homes are furnished. This offers a fascinating look at various cultures and promotes understanding and appreciation for lifestyles around the world.

Inside pages of Wonderful Houses Around the World - showing outside and inside house side by side in Romania.

Why This Book is Valuable in Education

Wonderful Houses Around the World is beneficial to the classroom, as it promotes cultural understanding and global awareness, introduces basic architectural concepts, displays side-by-side comparisons of building exteriors and interiors, and encourages critical thinking about living spaces and cultural adaptations. Learning about different cultures is helpful to understanding other people; it increases empathy and curiosity, and it enhances an appreciation for diversity in living conditions.

The book aligns with several educational standards: as social studies curriculum by understanding diverse cultures and societies, in STEM education by introducing engineering and design concepts, and in art education by showing different architectural styles. The photographs and drawings are great for comparing a variety of art forms as well.

Examples of Classroom Use

Inside pages of Wonderful Houses Around the World - showing outside and inside house side by side in Africa.

The book can be integrated into the classroom with a geography lesson, mapping the locations of featured houses. An art project could include the creation of models or drawings of unique houses; a writing exercise could imagine life in different types of homes. Projects and activities could include virtual “world tour” presentations by students, a comparative analysis of housing in different climates, or a design challenge to dream up houses for specific environments.

Testimonial

“Clear, color photo spreads and explanatory paragraphs introduce 10 ‘wonderful houses’ from a variety of cultural backgrounds. A circular tulou in China, a felt yurt in Mongolia, an underground home in Tunisia, and an earthen ‘castle’ in Togo are among the featured domiciles. Each picture has a full-spread color diagram of a structural cutaway with captions that describe architectural details and/or furnishings and indicate the makeup of the family/families in residence. The author’s personal comments enliven the terse text, and his three-sentence introduction mentions his enthusiasm for ‘interesting’ domestic design.”

—Patricia Manning

School Library Journal

Inside pages of Wonderful Houses Around the World - showing outside and inside houses side by side in China.

Integrating Wonderful Houses Around the World into classroom activities gives kids a lot more than just a peek inside homes. Students learn lessons in social studies, STEM, art, and character building. Teachers will enjoy putting together projects and activities based around this book. True to Shelter Publications’ tagline, “Shelter is more than a roof overhead,” this book—with its thoughtfully created text, photos, and illustrations—offers a rich experience that goes beyond traditional learning.

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Discover the Path Forward: 2024 Crestone Energy Fair

The Crestone Energy Fair, celebrating its 35th year, is one of the longest-running sustainability fairs in the nation. The focus of the gathering is on “sharing innovative, sustainable, and regenerative ideas in construction, lifestyle, and community.” This free event, which will take place September 14th and 15th, features presentations, demonstrations, home tours, and vendors showcasing alternative building methods and materials, such as straw bales, Earthships, cordwood, and Hempcrete. Attendees will also learn about different electricity sources. In addition, the fair contains a Wellness Village and an Artisan Marketplace that will host music and yoga. 

Crestone Energy Fair's poster

Rooting Forward

This year’s theme is “Rooting Forward,” which is about “prioritizing our commitment to finding common ground, reaching across the aisle, and growing strong roots in order to move forward as a grounded, unified collective.”

Shelter Publications founder Lloyd Kahn will be one of the headline speakers at the fair. His presentation will cover what he’s learned over the years, including his experience editing the Whole Earth Catalog shelter section, interviewing and documenting builders, and the effect of the 1960s countercultural revolution on his life and work. 

Crestone Energy Fair's post of Lloyd at fair

Crestone Town

In a recent interview with Lloyd, he talked about Crestone as a town. 

“Crestone is a pretty cool town in Colorado where a lot of young people have gone. And that was the case in Bolinas in the 1970s. And there are these unique small towns in different states like Patagonia in Arizona or, you know, just a town that’s got something special and, often, the artists will be the first ones to discover it, and then more and more people do.”

Here is the official schedule of events with information on Lloyd’s talk on the Main Stage, scheduled for Saturday at 4:15 p.m. Crestone has a fantastic YouTube page with live broadcasts during the fair, as well as archives of past events. It’s worth checking out.

Visit crestoneenergyfair.org for all the details.

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Breathing New Life into Old Wood: Former Duck-Hunting Cabins Find a Home

In 2017, the Millers snagged a 10-acre gem on Buchanan Lake in Minnesota, complete with a trio of old-school duck-hunting cabins that had seen better days. Legend has it, even an NFL big shot used to hunt here. Right before sealing the deal, the previous owners were close to tearing the cabins down. But the Millers saw some rustic gold in that wood and decided to dismantle the structures instead, aiming to breathe new life into the aged siding.

Two old wood cabins

Each cabin told its own story. One was the crash pad, still packed with a dozen mattresses—a mash-up of bunk and twin beds in one room, plus a couple of full-size beds in the next. The roof had given up on doing its job here, and most of the windows were a testament to better times gone by. Another cabin was all about the grub; its kitchen setup was surprisingly intact with a fridge, stove, and sink. And then there was the storage shack, standing firm on a concrete foundation, while its siblings squatted on wooden floors that were quickly deteriorating—think rotted planks! 

One long old wood cabin, half rotting

But here’s where it gets good. The Millers managed to rescue about 60% of that wood, trimming off the rough edges (literally) to weave it into their new digs inside a steel shed—you know, the steel shed that people use for a house—a “shouse.” They power-washed each plank to its former glory, skipped the sanding to keep that rugged charm, and sealed each with a layer of clear varnish. They went all in on a cozy, lived-in vibe.

two walls with repurposed wood, one rustic tongue and groove and the other painted shiplap

Installing the siding was a bit like putting together a giant puzzle—using the tongue and groove style on stud walls, pinned down with finishing nails. Some of the boards were stripped in half for the trim to keep up the rustic look. The roofing boards got a new lease on life too. They were cleaned up, painted, and lined up for a shiplap statement wall. All in all, it took about a week of prep and DIY magic to get everything up and looking sharp.

picture of Meg Simonds house from the book, Small Homes

While many of our books feature recycled materials, Meg Simonds, featured in Small Homes, explains it best: “Building with recycled wood is a slow and arduous affair, from finding it to pulling the last nail. It is a lot of work and rarely is it delivered. The payoff is twofold. The quality of older wood generally surpasses that of new, and its deep, rich beauty only comes with age. For us, more importantly, [we love] getting to have a truly deep relationship with the wood. All this wood once had a home, an ancient forest, the lungs of the Earth; little of this remains. The best we can do now is to have a deep respect for what was and what is. We approached building our home with this in mind.” (pg. 126-127)

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Driftwood Shacks Publication Date Today

It’s now available in independent bookstores.

I’m doing the following appearances:

  • Saturday, March 16th, 7 PM at Mollusk Surf Shop, 4500 Irving Street, San Francisco (maps)
  • Tuesday, March 19th, 7 PM at Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz (maps)
  • Wednesday, April 17th, 6:30 PM, Gallery Bookshop, 319 Kasten Street, Mendocino, Calif. (maps)
  • Friday, April 26th, 7 PM, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, Calif. (maps)

Some early reader feedback:

“…a breathtaking new book…”
–Kay LeRoy, Book Passage, Corte Madera, Calif.
Driftwood Shacks is spectacular!”
–J. Tony Serra, Lawyer, San Francisco
“…a marvelous book with lovely pictures of the California Coast.”
–Eliot Buchdruker, CPA, San Francisco
“Driftwood Shacks is splendid, a tribute to Lloyd’s fine and undimmed eye.”
–John Van der Zee, author
“…fascinating, ephemeral forms of spontaneous architecture.”
–Elise Cannon, Publishers Group West
“…fantastic new book”
–Chris “Uncle Mud” McClellan, natural builder
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Driftwood Shacks Book Version 2.0 Just Released

We just received our new version of Driftwood Shacks: Anonymous Architecture Along the California Coast. It has twice as many pages/pictures and was printed by our printers in Hong Kong who print all of our building books. It is now available for order at www.shelterpub.com/building/driftwood.

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Ziggy and April's Timber Frame and Straw Bale Home in Missouri

…After ten days of the Straw Bale Workshop (and yet more punishing heat), we built the walls of our new home, installed all the windows and doors, and began the natural clay and lime plaster finishes on the walls.

Amazingly, we were able to live in the house by winter of that same year. Granted the house was not complete, but we had a dry, warm place to rest in before the next year’s work started. A year or so later the house was completed.

Building our straw bale house challenged us in many unexpected ways. Just as we had taken a bare piece of ground and utterly transformed it, the straw bale house itself changed us in ways we could never imagine…

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Lovely Cordwood Cabin on Small BC Island

Gary and Marlene Cooper built this lovely cordwood cabin on a small BC island in the 90’s. All the cordwood came off the beach. “I wanted it to be salty,” says Gary.

They used the book Cordwood Building: The State of the Art, by Rob Roy.

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