Earthship Biotecture

Earthships are an interesting concept in design, and the idea of green architecture. Based out of Taos, New Mexico, Mike Reynolds came up with the idea of an Earthship back in the late 1960's. He was working out in the desert, and he noticed an abundance of tires from vehicles that had been discarded , and the thought struck him to use these tires in the construction of a new home, or Earthship. The basis of it is that you take tires, pack them with land from your building site, and stack them on top of one another just as you would lay bricks, until you get the desired height of the wall. They are supposedly very good in earthquakes, can support very heavy loads, are resilliant, and in essance leave you with a "Steel belted, thermal based high compression brick." In the winter when the sun is low, the sun hits the tire wall, heating the tires themselves, and also the earth inside of them, creating a system of radiant heating that costs absolutely nothing. In the summer, the sun does not hit the tire wall, therefore keeping the tires and the earth inside of them cool, using the natural temperature of the earth to cool the structure. The buildings are currently a little funky looking, very hippie-esque, but the basis of the design is brilliant, and very cost effective. All the earthships that are built currently are nearly or all the way off the grid, and are completely sustainable. They use cisterns and water catchment, and use photovoltaic panels to harness the sun's energy. Check out this link for more information: http://www.earthship.net/