Their 100 sq.ft habitat does provide ample space to cook, eat, sleep and play but provides little shield from scorpions and mosquitoes during the rainy season. It stands on stilts 3 feet above ground, on structural timber logs collected from near by forest. The side cladding timber planks were sawed by their father. The house was built with man power of several helpful villagers.
This "zero energy" dwelling encourages sufficient natural light and natural ventilation, but heavy rain does let rain drops creep through the invisible holes in the thatched roof. The rain water from roof drips on to the ground and flows to the near by ocean. Since the house is on stilts the site water drainage still happens long the natural path. Other than the laughter of children, shadow cast by the house on a sunny day and slight change in the wind pattern, no other element has disturbed the micro environment of this site.
Does this humble architecture have the ability to inspire us?
Content is based on what author perceived from the conversations author had with Jenee Siems. Photo credit: Jenee Siems
1 comment:
Just a few generations ago, people here in the western US were living in similar situations. The father of the family built the home from materials gathered nearby and a few hand tools. They did a poor job of keeping out the winter cold, but used little energy and had a very small carbon footprint.
Now that our standard of life has improved, why has it not improved for everyone?
Parts of my family's South Dakota farmhouse still stand - but of course it is empty and we now live in nicer, larger houses. They are more comfortable but they waste energy and are filled with japanese electronics, italian clothes, and german furniture.
If all of the world was able to live this way, our planet would run out of resources very quickly. As we slowly address the world's problems, we need to take a critical look at our own consumption.
I'm not saying we HAVE to return to those farmhouse days . . . but we can't continue on our current path for much longer.
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