Earthship Biotecture

Earthship construction is a building method developed in the 1970s by Michael Reynolds, and American architect. He wanted to create a method of building that uses recycled materials accessible to everyone around the world. Reynolds also stresses that this method can be built by people with little or no building experience.

Earthships are self-contained structures made with tires filled with packed earth and stacked like bricks to form walls. Non-structural walls are made with pop cans and wine bottles mortared with cement. One style of Earthship is a long rectangular building, where the back wall is made from the tires into a hill or surrounded by earth. The long front face of the house is covered with windows and positioned to face south. The windows are angled in such a way to take advantage of passive solar heating - they let the sun rays in while the sun is low in the sky in the winter, and block the sun in the summer. Blinds are also fitted to the windows. The tires and other walls are plastered with earth plaster or a mix of earth and cement so they are smooth and can be sculptured. Other Earthships are small round huts.

Water is used many times within an Earthship. The roof is metal to collect water that runs into a cistern. An Earthship is self-sustainable in this way. The water collected from the roof is filtered and treated within the home to use for drinking and washing. The grey water that goes down the drain in sinks, tubs and showers is then filtered and routed into built-in planters within the home, that can be used for growing your own food or houseplants. Earthship Biotecture, Mike Reynolds’s company has kits available for the power centre of the house where solar panels or wind turbines lines can be routed and transformed into electricity. Groups of skilled builders can also be hired to come and build the structure or at least teach the home owner how it is done.

I do question the availability and low cost used tires and pop cans can be taken in for money where I live. However, the beauty of Earthships is that they use recycled materials and they are very structurally sound and cheaply run. Reynolds also comes across as a bit of a maverick in the eco movement, which may appeal to many of your reading this.

Earthship Biotecture is based in Taos, New Mexico, USA. I have visited there and you can see a slideshow of pictures here.

Written and Researched by Kim Tanasichuk. Copyright © 2007-2009 Kim Tanasichuk. All Rights Reserved. You may not reproduce any content on this website without the written permission of Kim Tanasichuk.

Videos About Earthships

Videos courtesy of Youtube and Google Video and Copyright to Their Owners

Earthships 101 - Part 1	Earthships 101 - Part 2	Earthship Journey
Earthship Tour (Taos, NM) - Part 1	Earthship Tour (Taos, NM - Part 2)	Earthship in Taos, New Mexico, USA