Earthships: Spectacular homes built 40 years ago in the New Mexico desert are an example of fighting climate change

The Earthship movement began in Taos in the 1970s after Michael Reynolds. A Kentucky native and founder of the green building company Earthship Biotechnology, he moved here in 1969 after graduating with a degree in architecture.

His goal, he says, is to “ride dirt bikes for fun.”

The man, now 71, had a moment of inspiration.

“I saw Walter Cronkite [presentador de noticias de CBS News] “Talking about cutting down forests for timber creates not only erosion but also an oxygen problem because the trees give off oxygen,” Reynolds tells the BBC.

“I talked about what is now called climate change and global warming. I saw all those beer cans thrown in the trash and thought, ‘Why don’t we build with beer cans and not trees?’

Reynolds built his beer can in 1971, and it didn’t get much attention in the news for its humor.

However, it has been exhibited in various parts of the world, including the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Reynolds notes, with some disbelief, that “MoMA bought a brick made of beer cans for $4,500.”

In fact, after using one of the beer cans in an exhibit, the museum decided to add one to its permanent collection.

Still, for years he was considered a crank and not a serious architect.

“It was a naive and ridiculous idea, but I went ahead and started going in that direction,” Reynolds says.

“I started using bottles and tires and kept going. I’ve been going this way for easily 55 years, and then about 36 years ago I first tagged a house as Earthship.”

But it took a long time to gain widespread acceptance.

“You know, they seemed very strange, and they still seem strange, but now people understand it, and they’re more open to them. [muchos] “They’re on the verge of becoming homeless and disabled because of the electricity and utility bills,” says Reynolds.

“Now people want to reverse climate change.”

Taos has long attracted artists and individuals.

Its old town (village) and new town have remarkable architecture, mostly of wooden adobe houses with wooden roofs and thatched floors.

Taos was the perfect incubator for earthship homes, walled thick with tires, each filled with dirt.

A dam (a purpose-built bank of earth) surrounds the earthworks on three sides, providing an insulating mass that controls temperature.

Cooling is provided through traditional transom windows placed high on support beams for cross ventilation and through vents in the building.

Each has a greenhouse (because Reynolds believes in it People should have the ability to grow their own food), north or south, depending on location.

Most Earthships are powered solely by solar energy; Some have wind turbines as an add-on or wood stoves as backup.

Taos has cold, snowy winters and often hot, dry summers, but on Earthship, the internal temperature stays close to 21°C year-round, regardless of the weather conditions outside.

Reynolds moved to his first Earthship 35 years ago and raised his family there. He still lives there: “It’s so comfortable, we don’t want to leave,” he says.

What would it be like to be inside the Earthship? “It feels like you’re in a womb,” says Earthship Construction Manager Deborah Binder.

“You feel constantly cuddled and snuggled in. The temperature is always pleasant. “Sometimes, when it’s so cold outside, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ It is so hot inside, I go out without a coat without realizing it.

With no construction experience, Binder joined the company 11 years ago to manage a nonprofit project in Malawi, Africa, he says.

Not only did he stay in the company, Instead, he moved to Taos and currently rents the Earthship while he builds his own.

Binder also teaches at the Earthship Academy, which attracts all types of students to learn Earthship design principles, construction methods and philosophy.

“Most people want to learn on their own,” says Binder. “Some learn to create for community projects.”

Despite their environmental appeal, Earthships have yet to be accepted as an option for mitigating the housing crisis and climate change.

“In a way, they’re still on the sidelines,” Binder says. “It’s very important that people live in one of them. The feeling you get from living in them is unique, and you practically pay no utility bills. It’s amazing.”

“Once people try them, they usually want one,” adds Reynolds, confirmed by the numerous glowing testimonials in the guest books posted at each Earthship rental.

Reynolds believes that the regularization of Earthships could not be too timely, if not too urgent.

Its goal is to create social housing for rent as a response to homelessness and planet-destroying energy consumption.

“I’m not that interested in commissions; having a client slows me down,” he says. “I need to produce them quickly and rent them out to people at reasonable rents.”

Reynolds is in full swing with his latest simplified Refuge Earthship model, which he hopes will help fight homelessness and poverty. For the simple financial issue of not paying huge utility bills every month.

“Asylum is being built as a very economical model; we’re going to replicate it around the world,” he says passionately.

Then there’s the extravagant Atlantis, a striking curved turquoise landscape that exemplifies the sculptural and artistic side of buildings.

“They have an artistic side: I played with the bottles as stained glass, and there’s a sculptural aspect. They’re beautiful,” says Reynolds, who worked as an artist and put herself through college.

“What’s really beautiful is that they take care of people while they take care of the planet. There’s nothing in art like a home.”

This article appeared on BBC Travel. You can read the original version in English Here.

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