Natural Building (96)

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

KA-04

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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Lloyd Kahn and His Greenhouse

Art Rogers Family Album, November 6, 2014 | The Point Reyes Light

lloyd_kahn_and_his_greenhouse

Lloyd Kahn and his greenhouse built from recycled windows and handmade bricks made from local clay. Photo by Art Rogers

Lloyd, who was born and raised in San Francisco, began building things in the late 1940s when, at age 12, he helped his father construct their family home in Colusa. After building a large timber home for himself from recycled materials in Big Sur in 1967, he became interested in domes and began his publishing career with a series of publications titled Dome Book 1 and Dome Book 2; he became the “Shelter” editor in 1969 for the Whole Earth Catalogue. He moved to Bolinas in 1971, built a dome, tore it down and replaced it with a stud-framed house and became a pioneer of owner-built simple structures using recycled materials. He has since published over 20 books on the subject, including  Shelter, and The Septic System Owners Manual, Builders of the Pacific Coast, and Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter.

He will be giving a slide presentation and book signing this Friday, November 7, 2014, 7:30 p.m., at the Point Reyes Presbyterian Church for his latest book about living in small structures, titled Tiny Homes on the Move: Wheels and Water.

For more information, visit www.pointreyesbooks.com.

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How to Build a Reciprocal Roof Frame

reciprocal frame roof

In Tiny Homes, we did two pages (pp. 110-111) on Ziggy Liloia’s cob cottage. In this excerpt from his website, TheYearOfMud.com, he explains how he built his reciprocal framed roof.

ziggy-gobcobatron-01A reciprocal roof is a beautiful and simple self-supporting structure that can be composed of as few as three rafters, and up to any imaginable quantity (within reason, of course). Reciprocal roofs require no center support, they are quick to construct, and they can be built using round poles or dimensional lumber (perhaps with some creative notching). They are extremely strong, perfect for round buildings, and very appropriate for living roofs, as well. The reciprocal roof design was developed by Graham Brown in 1987. Read More …

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Uncle Mud's Rocket Stoves

Hey Folks,

rocket stove bench

We have been working on some fun Rocket Heater projects. You might have seen the 8″ with a big cob bench that heats our 1600 sq. ft. uninsulated barn apartment even though our renter managed to blow the cleanout caps and crack the barrel seal by trying to start it with gasoline — I think it would have killed him if it had been a regular woodstove. I had been told that an autoclaved concrete core would disintegrate but its holding up pretty well in year two. Read More …

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Massey Burke's Cob Cabins in Mendocino

Interior wall

We featured these cabins about a month ago and have repeatedly had requests for some more photos including interior shots. Here are some more shots as well as some info on the builder.

Massey Burke is a designer, builder, and advocate for natural building.

She has also taught natural building and design with various educational institutions, including the University of San Francisco, Swarthmore College, and the Solar Living Institute. Other current projects include permitting a load-bearing cob studio in Berkeley and a natural remodel in El Sobrante. Current work can be found at masseyburke.carbonmade.com.
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