Proposed Buildings

Earthbuilding has been around for centuries, probably millennia! It is no New Age concept! Archaeological investigations prove that in the building of the earliest habitable dwellings, mankind invariably used easily accessible earth, mud and clay to do so. The ruined remains of ancient, now carbon-dated, earth-built structures upon nearly every continent on Earth are living evidence to this fact.

        Now although the Ancient Greeks are famous for the building of grandiose stone and marble structures such as the Acropolis Pathenon Temple, the plebeian inhabitants of Athens actually lived in simple homes made of mud! Likewise, apart from natural stone masonry, straw-bale, cob and adobe-brick buildings became common during the Middle Ages, many of which still stand today.

        Of course the Industrial Revolution changed everything dramatically. Mankind became obsessed with buildings made of fired-brick, steel and concrete. Such edifices would outlast the human race, was the belief at that time. Yet how few of those buildings still remain standing? What does remain however, as living evidence of that devastatingly industrialised obsessiveness, is the continued presence of pollution upon planet Earth, ever since. That had never existed before! The making of cement, the firing of clay-bricks and the large-scale manufacture of steel have almost irredeemably and certainly negatively altered the ecosystem of our planet forever. Now such thoughts become even more provocative when one realises just how often forty and fifty-year-old structures are nowadays regularly demolished due to the dubious building methods that were employed at the time. It is an appalling indictment upon the continued irresponsibility of mankind that such methods and techniques yet remain firmly in place to this day. Is it not safe to conclude that most contemporary buildings will likewise have to be demolished in the not too distant future? A disconcerting possibility to say the least.

        Ecologically aware humans are especially troubled about the future results of such actions and their impact upon our planet. For there is already a major crisis on Earth with regards the continued future disposal of rubbish and non-recyclable materials. One only has to contemplate the rubble waste remains of the Twin Towers disaster in New York to realise the bulk extent of concrete, steel and brick that had to be removed from the site. But where did that rubble finally end up?

        Now with all the above in mind, there is an obvious major advantage to building with natural materials as opposed to those made by man. The fact remains that if ever such structures require demolishing or perhaps even crumble of their own accord, those original natural materials will eventually become part of the Earth once again, over time. No refuse will ever have to be removed!

        Certain human beings are becoming increasingly aware of impending disasters upon our planet, both natural and man-provoked. But where can such awareness lead? Perhaps forward-thinkers should now be preparing themselves for such predictable earthly cataclysms? And how do we go about assuring ourselves of our basic human survival upon Earth? Surely the answer to such questions lies within the simplistic concept of changing our present human expectations of life and to look once more to Mother Earth for our everyday sustainability.
        
        Self-sustainable lifestyles are certainly within our human grasp. All we need do is 're-member' the inherent ancient knowledge that will facilitate our continued human survival upon this Earth.