Anarchist Architecture: Off-the-grid housing movement is changing the game

in #steemit8 years ago (edited)

“Anarchism is not a romantic fable but the hardheaded realization, based on five thousand years of experience, that we cannot entrust the management of our lives to kings, priests, politicians, generals, and county commissioners.”- Edward Abbey

I studied architecture at the University of Southern California. And after five years and endless nights in the studio, I grew bitter about the direction of my own practice. The history of architecture taught me that things have generally changed for the worst in the field, due to suffocating regulations and greedy interests.

Architecture began as a form of basic shelter, constructed by its own inhabitants. Now, it is a multi-billion dollar industry seeping with code, corruption, pollution, greed, toxins and a lack of sensibility towards its inhabitants.

Architectural codes are often times in pure contradiction of what is best for building practice and the formation of a healthy and sustainable living situation. In fact, there are codes here in California which force you to use materials which have turned out to be toxic. They have done nothing to allow for alternatives. This is why my interest in anarchist thinking has led me to believe that off-the-grid sustainable housing is the right direction for those people who wish to exercise their beliefs in the best way possible.

I believe that the practice of architecture is a culture of hierarchy that appears entirely at odds with the ideals of anarchy: architecture is dependent upon commissions and regulations; the architect must work within a time frame, budget and brief, and is restricted according to safety, money and law. Anarchy, on the other hand is the social and political suggestion that expresses negation of all power, autonomy, domination and division. I can say with certainty that most architectural practice in this world will continue under a regimented system, but total ownership of your living space is a step forward for those who with to distance themselves just a little more from the government. In fact, off-the-grid housing is already changing thousands of lives around the world.

THE TINY HOUSE MOVEMENT

To me, the tiny house movement is one of the best examples of anarchist architecture. Tiny housing is typically built and owned by its own inhabitants and is completely powered by solar energy, due to the minimized need for electricity. Passive heating and cooling systems eliminate the need for air conditioning and heating. In some cases, tiny houses can be hauled just like a mobile home would be, yet the permanence aspect of certain dwellings is appealing to many.

Some benefits of owning a tiny home are:

-No electricity bills. Not relying on the city for power is a huge step towards being independent.

-Low cost. These houses are very cheap to build, and if you have the guts, you can even build them yourself!

-Helping the environment. The footprint is very small and recycled materials can be used to build the whole thing.

-Removing the clutter in your life. Having less possessions has actually proven to redirect your focus.

-Engaging with the outdoors. Tiny homes tend to utilize outdoor space more.

-Grow your own food. Everyone should be doing this anyways, but I have seen some very cool designed which implement this feature around the home. Green roofs are also possible.

TAKING BACK OWNERSHIP OF YOUR LIFE

One of the most rewarding things you can do is to design your own living space. Not only is it fun, but it gives you complete ownership of your space. People need to feel a connection to their living space, something that has been lost and diluted as people are being herder into cookie cutter conditions all across the world.

LIVING IN COMMUNITY

Tiny homes might imply a hermit lifestyle, and it is great for those who wish to have that lifestyle, but tiny home communities provide a richer platform than the modern neighborhood. Outdoor resources can be shared and there is an increased sense of depending on each other, rather than depending on the government.

There are many was to liberate architecture from the hold of government power. As I stated in the introduction, architectural code has made it almost illegal to build the way architecture rebels want to design. Living on private land is currently the most plausible way to be off-the-grid. But I believe there are endless ways to incorporate the ideas of anarchist architecture into our cities. If you check out my previous post, I am working on a project with Behshad Shokouhi to bring a new way of designing mid-rise high density housing in our city and across the world. Many of the same principles stated in this article hold true.

https://steemit.com/money/@benjiberigan/act-of-dwelling-steemits-first-post-about-sustainable-mass-housing-for-the-future

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FYI: Grafton, NH doesn't have zoning laws.
http://www.freetownproject.com/new_hampshire_town.html
The CEO of Soylent got in trouble for installing a tiny (freight container) house on his property:
http://la.curbed.com/2016/7/21/12245620/soylent-illegal-shipping-container-home-lincoln-heights

Oohhh thanks for that info! I might even move there if its that chill!

Where do you live now? I live in Hanoi. How much of the United States fucking bullshitpile effects Grafton, NH?

This sounds potentially attractive. Potentially.

Your post reached the TOP 10 Trending articles on Steemit so I've added it to the Flipboard Steemit Trending Magazine for everyone to see it. Good stuff!

So where can one go to acquire a tiny house in Europe?

The nearest Lumber Yard?

As a rule I don't want to buy much, but a portable tiny house would be perfect..... Except I'd need to build it ;).

Im planning my own tiny house and will post it pretty soon. I also want to create a community here where we share ideas and plans for building! :)

Great article and great ideas! I would like to be part of such community here on Steemit, and I already have a list of useful articles and plans about sustainable and off the grid living, house boats, etc. Thank you for the contributionism, up-vote & follow from me;-) Cheers, Damir

Let's do that here, by making a tiny house tag?

The objective of my tiny house is to make the thing shippable by exploiting the whole "it's a shipping container" factor. (I'd like to be able to ship the house itself)

If I were to get even more idealistic / crazy, I'd figure out how to either make this shipping container drive able or (we are talking futuristic ideal here) even better I wouldn't need to make it a shipping container, because it would autonomously fly....

My wife and I were seriously planning on one of these but ours was going to fit the mobile footprint so we decided against it. Then we were considering a yurt but didn't want to have to fight zoning laws. So now we're planning on flipping an older home or having the amish build something nice. Love the tiny house movement though.

That is probably an even better investment for the general public! I think using what we already have is the first priority. The tiny house movement is great, but appeals to a smaller demographic at the current moment. This is why i think that mass sustainable housing is necessary because it allows people who wish to remain in suburban conditions to have a better lifestyle.

This. Just all of this. Amazing.

you are amazing

Is this a repost. I'm sure I've read this before?

yes it is, i added a few more images to make the idea more clear. I believe in a limited number of reposts because there is much value out there that people dont see because of the nature the of the platform right now.

No that's fine. I will give you another upvote because it is a good post and deserves more attention - am assuming the original got ignored.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't having a seizure or something:)

It would be better if a repost retained the original votes, and only new voters were allowed.

These used to be called mobile homes.

well the difference is that the tiny house movement is usually met with more resistance by codes and regulations. Mobile homes are in every case, movable and parked in rv parks. I think the tiny house movement is about being able to build your own house and not get penalized for it.

Sorry you're somewhat mixing trailer homes and RVs.

Anyway, yeah we aent talking about those I realize :).

Tiny houses are tinier.

Also, mobile home translates to:

Prefab housing that you dump in an undesirable corner of an undesirable city to stash uneducated uncreative unproductive humans. There might be lots of awesome folks in mobile homes, but fact remains that is the stereotype.

awesome photos!
love that type of self-managed houses 8]

thanks. I will provide house plans for the public for tiny houses free of charge. All you have to do is buy the materias specified and youre on your way to a tiny house that belongs to you. :)

sounds great @benjiberigan !
I would like to see the final result in future post 8]

That's a good idea @benjiberigan, I will be waiting for that.

This post is relevant to my interests

I love these off the grid homes and the benefits speak for themselves. These minimalistic homes could be the future of housing, especially for over populated areas.

Yes! I think the applications are endless. Even in big housing projects, the ideas could be taken and would make apartments much smaller and cheaper for people who are on board with this1

Great point @benjiberigan! Now if we can only get development companies to adopt this it would be awesome.

Isn't a tiny house just an RV built to look more like a house rather than a trailer?

Some tiny houses are, but the kind i am focusing on are larger, differently shaped and more permanent. Check out my design for one!

https://steemit.com/steemit/@benjiberigan/standalone-gif-of-my-swing-house

Very interesting post, and I absolutely love the idea of building a type of Tiny house in the future. Just a question though, what about finding a suitable destination or location for your new home? To me it seems one would still be required to buy a piece of land to build on, like it is common with building nowadays. Or is there a solution to this 'problem'?

The solution to that problem is almost universally finding a friendly person whose land you can put your tiny house on, however this often causes zoning problems for that person. The government, AKA "The Man" will very frequently use this as an occasion to "fuck with you" by imprisoning, taxing, or otherwise causing to be uncomfortable.

Fuck The Man.

I would love to live in some of these!

This is great! Thanks for all the good pictures. :D

There is so much about the housing market in the U.S. that I don't like. Many people seem to accept the fact that "buying a house" is almost the same as renting a house for life. This is partly because the tax code is set up to incentivize "buying" houses and cars. Then people fill their big, inefficient houses with expensive stuff and complain because they can't retire early or travel! I feel like I'm going insane.

It would be amazing to have a plot of land with a tiny house or a yurt on it.

This caught my attention. I really should starting learning a thing or two about carpentry. I want a tiny house too!

That's awesome I love the concept of living off-the-grid - thank you for sharing

I tried some off the grid stuff with my geothermal green house.

https://steemit.com/geothermal/@steve-mcclair/building-a-geothermal-greenhouse