Earthship

From Burden's Landing

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http://www.earthship.org/

In Taos, New Mexico. The brainchild of Michael Reynolds, who wanted to be self-sustaining buildings off-the-grid. He started outside of Taos, where he lives. There are now earthships all over the world. Located 1.5 miles west of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge on Highway 64. Open seven days a week from 10am-4pm for self-guided tours ($5).

The basic building block are "tire bricks," tires three feet in diameter that are filled with dirt. These act as good insulating walls. They also make extensive use of can and bottle bricks.

The buildings are all south-facing. Charles at American Artists Gallery House said that the Anasazi Indians used to do the same.

I visited on May 22, 2011 as part of my Santa Fe (May 2011) trip. Pictures from my visit. They're currently working on the Earthship Village Ecologies (EVE) there, a self-sustaining commune for 25 people that will also grow all of its own food.

Andrew stayed at this Earthship:

It's kind of interesting to drive out there. There is a full-sized castle made of pop cans next door and a pyramid-shaped sauna like thing, where supposedly the earthship creator spent some time. The roads are mostly dirt in this area.

The studio Andrew's friend Rose built off the grid is here: 36.486013,-105.816815. That's about 30 minutes on dirt roads and you'll never find it.

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