10 SUPER-SPECTACULAR SUPERLIGHT SHELTERS

SUPERLIGHT: RETHINKING HOW OUR HOMES IMPACT THE EARTH

PHYLLIS RICHARDSON

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to Beautiful Shelters, as it is with everything else. But architect and author Phyllis Richardson is not only interested in visual beauty, she is also particularly interested in the beauty related to the impact that a building makes upon its environment.

Richardson is an advocate of architect Glenn Murcutt’s philosophy that buildings should “touch the earth lightly.” With climate change and more restricted land use bearing down on us, as well as the opportunity offered by new materials, houses with a light touch have increasing appeal.

Lightweight shelter is not a new concept. Settlements of stilt houses existed in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages in Europe. Buckminster Fuller pondered it in the 1920s, and produced his 3-ton hexagonal Dymaxion House. He thought about producing lightweight houses much in that same way we mass produce cars.

In her earlier book, Nano House, Richardson covered earlier examples of small footprint shelters, in which she showed 40 examples of super-cool beautifully designed homes—each with fewer than 650 square feet of living space.

Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact the Earth, Richardson’s latest book, highlights shelters that are beautiful, both aesthetically and with respect to their relationship with nature. 

The superlight theory is that buildings can weigh less and therefore impact our planet less. Everything is lighter -- visually, materially, and ecologically. Many lighter building materials require less energy to produce, generate less waste, and are easier to transport.

A building is light if it adapts well to its environment and its energy consumption is lower.

This book showcases 41 houses, with stunning photos, plans, and explanations. Some houses are so light that they virtually float on air or on water. Many are smart houses. Some are surprisingly simple. They reside in deserts, mountains, and amidst urban fray, around the world, from China to Chile.

Some ideas are extreme, like a lodge built on a Japanese island in the East China Sea, constructed of polyurethane-coated cardboard tubes -- like a lightweight log cabin -- designed by Interior Design Hall of Fame member and Pritzker winner Shigeru Ban.

Some houses, like Kengo Kuma's experimental Meme Meadows and Casa Apolo 11 by Parra + Edwards Arquitectos, use changeable cladding to adapt to temperature changes, obviating the reliance upon air conditioners and furnaces.

Some buildings are lighter because they sit on piles or stilts or even wheels vs. deep-dug poured concrete foundations. Some float. Floating House, designed by mos Architects, floats on the waters of Lake Huron. The Exbury Egg is another floater.

Lightness offers the luxury of mobility, flexibility, and freedom. These are the perks that make  superlight shelters beautiful things happening right now.    

Read more about Beautiful Shelters, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact, including 10 Beautiful New Books on Beautiful Shelters, 10 Beautiful Natural Shelters Now and Edible Shelters: 10 Spectacular Gingerbread Houses.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Friendships in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 12.07.2014. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Sunset Cabin by Taylor Smyth Architects, Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.
2. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Squish Studio by Todd Saunders. Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada.
3. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Meme Meadows by Kengo Kuma & Associates, Taiki-cho, Hokkaido, Japan.
4. Photo: Courtesy of Thames & Hudson. Nano House: Innovations for Small Dwellings. Rancho Sotol by Gaddo Piazzesi. Baja Sol, Mexico.
5. Image: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth.
6. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Lightness in Contemporary Houses. New Refuge Gervasutti by LEAPfactory. Poligamma, Biella, Italy.
7. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Floating House by MOS Architects, Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada.
8. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Hut on Sleds by Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects. East China Sea.
9. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Lightness in Contemporary Houses. Garoza House by Herreros Arquitectos. Spain.
10. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Floating House by mos Architects. Lake Huron.
11. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Floating House by mos Architects. Lake Huron.
12. Photo: Courtesy of Metropolis Books. Superlight: Rethinking How Our Homes Impact The Earth. Squish Studio, by Saunders Architecture, is located on Fogo Island in Newfoundland, Canada.