Re: [papercreters] Re: dome construction

Thanks for your post, Curtis.   Dissenting views should always be welcome, and hopefully this forum will continue to do so.   I have recently been a dissenter in another "green" forum where I was called an "idiot" and much worse by one or two "individuals" who are also in this forum.   Hopefully they will not try to take over this forum like they did the other one.

 

It was my impression that one person expressed displeasure at the look of home shapes found in the U.S. that are native to the Middle East and areas with a similar climate to the U.S. Southwest.   Although we have Bucky Fuller has the father of the dome, and although sports stadiums and convention centers are routinely built with this shape, certain people still see these structures as out of place for residences.   It may be an acquired taste.   If anyone has ever been to Santa Fe, New Mexico, you will see a whole city built in an architectural style found in such abundance nowhere else in the country.  

 

Domes and vaults were originally constructed by the advanced architectural and building minds of the ancient Middle East and fit with the climate in that region.   Unfortunately such a style is also associated with a certain religious faith that is currently out of favor in the U.S.   In addition, the U.S. building industry originated in the northern regions and uses square and rectangular shapes and materials, so it will continue to hold the day, but hopefully people will be continue to grow in accepting round and cyllindrical building styles.

 

 Neal

 

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From: Curtis Stewart <dbigkahunna@yahoo.com>

dissenting and negative views should always be welcome. Sometime the dissenter sees something being missed by others. As long as no one is personally attacked, there is no foul.

Kristin Elder <kristin_elder@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thanks to the people who shared their experience with building domes etc. I'm glad to hear the positive responses.

I'm a little puzzled over the seeming attack on building with domes and vaults, a method of building which has an extremely long and rich history, and which has proven marvelously adaptable. I agree that in many climates building a papercrete dome might not be the best option, but for the desert southwest, where we will be building, it seems to be marvelously suitable. In fact, the climate of some of the southwest is in many ways similar to the middle east's, and I believe that the strangeness of seeing a domed house is in no way the result of that house being inappropriate to the location, but that we simply have an unnecessarily constricted view of the "American House". In fact, the greater pretension seems to lie in creating a rock or brick facade for a stick built house, or maintaining manorial lawns, or many other features which can be seen in any subd ivision around any industrialized country.

In the ongoing struggle to create a new, "green" architecture, I'm convinced that the fault does not lie with papercrete or with most other alternative building techniques. The fact is that the housing industry is making a bundle of money building in the wasteful way is has been for a long time, and I doubt things will change until people find a way to start making just as much or more money building "green". I certainly can't answer that problem in general, but I can in a particular case, by building my own house.

As for me, I absolutely can't wait to live in my "exotic" looking house. One of the things that appeals to me most about papercrete is the fact that the materials are so common and easy to come by, and that the techniques for building are within the reach of the common handyperson. With our resources becoming ever more limited, and the divide between haves and have nots constantly widening, it's high time we revise our ideas on what a house ought to look like where and why.

For what it's worth
Kristin :)

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