Designing Your Natural Home: A Practical Guide

by David Pearson

Uncovering the best of new opportunities for sustain able, healthy and imaginative design Finding ideal locations, and considering soil, solar, wind, and water aspects Assessing the potential of an existing apartment or house Drawing up eco-friendly plans and working out options for sustainability, self-sufficiency, and autonomy Choosing natural materials for walls, floors, roofs, doors and windows Maximising small spaces Embracing the needs of your spirit and sense of place

Genres: Architecture

159 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

David Pearson is an architect-planner who has been actively involved in inner city and new town housing for most of his working life, and with the Gaia movement (inspired by the view of the Earth as a living planet) for several years. Widely travelled, and with degrees from both University of London and University of California, he is Director of the eco and health consultancy Gaia Environments, a founder member of the Institute of Building Biology, England, and in touch with a network of "green" architects worldwide.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as books about building green with the help of a fancy architect go, this one wasn't bad. At least the author comes at the topic admitting that an architect, builder, and project manager aren't strictly necessary for building with natural materials. A lot of the ideas are applicable whether or not you're building a several-thousand square foot retreat on the top of a mountain. The pages discussing "What to discuss with your architect before you begin" or "How to make sure workers get stuff done on time", etc., are still important for a DIY-er, because if you don't have an architect and crew of craftsmen on your payroll, you're going to have to do all those same things by yourself.
The different homes that were featured offered up lots of new design concepts that started some wheels spinning in my mind, and the layout of the book was gorgeous. I'd say this definitely falls more into the realm of house porn than how-to. Coming at it from that direction, it was an enjoyable read and a decent overview. This book also addressed the landscaping of the different sites, which is (I'd say) an important part of making a place habitable, but which other natural building books don't really cover.
My big complaint is that, while three (or more?) of the houses were built using some form of straw bale, the author never touches earthbag or rammed earth (etc.). He barely mentions cob as a substance with which to decorate a fireplace mantel.

[Jeanette Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I snapped a few design element photos from these texts to save in my "Housing" file in Evernote. My general impression of this text is 'Green Architecture for Yuppies'. Normally, I perceive natural building techniques as not only eco-responsible, but also incredibly affordable for the middle to lower classes. This text approached the building process with an architect and a lot of disposable funds. The ideas set forth for being "green" were not as informative or thorough as other texts I have read.