‘NEW’ living

malation of
ccu

ide
a
an way the

as
a
ip

tha
Str stu

ts
ff a

triv
nd
n
e
a
um
to
ch
you
a n ge

h
y
pp
ar e

le

ha
ft
w it h a
Introduction
There are such things as societal norms and a lot of people crave normality because it
makes you feel like you instantly have things in common with the people around you.
This is why the term ‘Alternative living’ should shift into ‘new living’. It needs to be seen
as the future and not the strange lifestyle of those ‘living on the edge’. Some of these
concepts are dramatic and not all change has to be, even simple steps like installing
solar or using recycled materials in building a house works towards a more sustainable
environment.

General housing has a large divide between urban and natural environments. In the UK
1,833,015 Hecters of land is Urban out of 24,249 million [1]. That may not seem like
alot but as our population increases by 0.6% [2] every year and the average house
price in the UK at £251,000 [3] its growing harder to accommodate happily the
people who need it. Standardized housing is not the answer. Capitalist society that
values large housing as a status of power is not the answer. The acquiring of lots of
stuff through a consumerist society which drains our income is not the answer. Large
scale renting which makes families feel unstable is not the answer. 40 year mortgages
where couples have barely enough money to eat to pay for their three bedroom house
is not the answer. There are so many normalised behaviours in our society that de-
struct and distract from the growing problems our future faces.

‘A report by Shelter estimated that on any given night in 2019, more than 280,000
people in England were homeless (mostly people living in temporary accommodation
arranged by their council). More than 60% of these people (170,068) were in London,
where 1 in every 52 people are homeless.’ [4]. With homelessness rising and young
people living with their parents late into their twenties to avoid outrageous living costs it
is clear things need to change.

As a friend pointed out to me recently, alot of alternative living situations such as the
ones I will mention are seperated from society. Their elements of being off grid mean
they are often removed from city life which is often important to the occupancy but also
stops the spread of this information getting into the hands of people who could really
benefit from a dramatic shift in lifestyle. So many people are stuck in a working class
cycle where their patterns of money and rent prevent them from changing their future
and improving their children's prospects. This is a problem we must work to fix, not just
to branch outside of society but to help change society itself and that must happen by
working with mother nature to support future generations and not destroy them.

As designer it is our responsibility to not just play into the consumerist lifestyle. We
must ad
apt as our world must adapt and lead the change we wish to see in the world.
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/bulle-
tins/uknaturalcapital/urbanaccounts
[2] http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/
[3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/751605/average-house-price-in-the-uk/
[4] http://www.streetsoflondon.org.uk/about-homelessness
[5] http://bengtwarne.malwa.nu/facts.html

1
Index:
3) Arcosanti
5) Earthships
7) Naturhus
8) Tiny house
11) Van life
13) House in a box
14) Extra References

2
Arcosanti
‘Miniaturize or die has been the key rule for incipient life.’ - Paolo Soleri

The people of Arcosanti use the term urban laboratory as a way to describe their city
because it's an experiment in social interaction. The city was built in 1970 on the theo-
ries designed by Paolo Soleri and his whole concept of Arcology, of which he invented,
and can be read in his book Arcology: the city in the image of man. He created the
project that built the city and it was all to challenge the way we interact with each other
in relation to nature.

He talks about love and how large cities destroy our connections to each other. He
questions how are we supposed to look after each other without love and how we can
love without connection? This is where the idea of small cities comes in. In a definition
he explains Arcology as being in polo opposite to Ecumenopoly, which is the idea of a
global city and distances man from nature by removing it.

‘If those cities encouraged people to collaborate and cooperate rather than consume
and compete we might see a shift in the way that we behave towards each other but
also in the way that we behave towards the natural world.’. This is a quote from one of
the inhabitants of the Arcosanti community.

One man used the term ‘incidental community’ due to the transient nature of its inhabi-
tants. 30% of its population have been there for 5-15 years but a lot of this space's
purpose is to allow people to learn and develop through internships and workshops and
for them to translate that knowledge into large societies. The people of this wonderous
city spend all their time in each other's company as the spaces blend into one another
and most of the areas are communal with exception to some of the living quarters
which range in the number of beds.

3
The people are called Arconauts which seems similar to Argonauts which were a group
of heroes who worked together in greek mythology to bring back the golden fleece.
Also the term Arco probably comes from arcology which is the name Paolo Soleri gave
to his concepts.

The structure itself is the perfect example of organic architecture. Built through the pro-
cess of silt casting it uses the natural earth around the site to form the casts that the
concrete is poured into. Concrete, although not a very sustainable material, will remain
strong for a very long time and especially for the climate, being in the arizonian desert,
suits the environmental needs. The earth used for casting returns to nature and thereby
creates an effective cycle that both benefits nature and society.

Lorem ipsum

The name and the name of the people show to outsiders the unified nature of this city. It
is a building that allows for community and instead of dividing nature it includes it. Look-
ing at a city as a living breathing organism rather than a mechanism. Arcosanti has lived
as an experiment for 40 year and while a lot of the people come and go the ideas still
stay the same. This is a theory ahead of its time but should be acknowledged now as a
working example of what quality community existence could look like.

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U787b23Af50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk83N2u1ZmY
https://www.organism.earth/library/document/arcology
Tv Show - Home buddies - S1 Ep6

4
Earthships
Earthships, much like Arcosanti, are treated like living breathing organisms. You have to
put in the work to allow your building to breathe so it can look after you in return. This
duty to your home insues respect and belonging that no poorly treated renters apartment
will ever be close too.

The idea of earth ships is to make them circular not just in structure. The term earthship
varies, some people won’t see a building as a ‘real’ earthship unless it has all the right
qualities but the general idea is that it’s built with natural resources and has an element
of circular system to it. Also there are special techniques that seem to be used in all
earthships that make them function so well. Mud packed tyres form a strong base, cob is
used to cover the walls, curved rooms create stronger structure, glass or plastic bottles
fill the space in the thinner walls to reduce purchased materials and create more light
and decoration. As one of the workers on Micheal Reynolds’s site said ‘blue bottles are
like gold here’.

So Micheal Reynolds is the creator of Earthship biotecture and in 1969 he graduated

from architecture school and moved to Taos in New mexico. He built the idea of earth-
ships by first creating the ‘can brick’ from old tin cans. His idea of recycling waste into
housing grew and he and his crew built large communities of these earth ships. Forever
testing outside the realms of legal architecture his buildings had mistakes but so quickly
developed new incredible methods for sustainable living.

He described the generic earthship as ‘A series of u-shaped rooms connected by a

greenhouse’ and in relation to his work ‘I am free, I am free’. Earthships are completely
self-sufficient if you allow them to be, by putting in the time for the garden you would
never have to leave the plot if you didn’t want to.

5
Qualities that can be found in earthships:
Solar energy
Water harvesting - Grey water tank plumbed into plant beds
Indoor plants as circular air
Open plan layout for circulation
Cob walls (straw, mud, sand, clay mixture)
Built into the earth
Glass bottle/ tin can walls
Plants for food
Composting waste to give back to nature
Build with natural materials
curved roof to collect water
Natural air conditioning (with funnels and heat rising ventilation)
Roughly 45% built with recycled materials
South facing window wall
Natural solar gain: where the sun pours its energy into the earth layers of the house
inside through the south windows and when the sun goes down that energy escapes
back into the space to warm it up.

More context on Micheal Reynolds:

He lost his license because he was breaking planning laws and in 1997 the law
stopped him from building any further.
‘What do you want me to do?’ - micheal
‘Be a subdivision’ - county government
7 years later (2004) the site was reopened very legally and strictly followed the law
which destroyed their creativity to test new ideas for sustainability. Micheal said ‘I have
lost the freedom to fail’
They tried to pass a bill in the state to be able to have places to test out new ideas
not to sell but just to experiment with new ways of thinking. The bill died due to
filibuster. 2006 tried again and failed. 2007, after the government saw the incredible
impact Michael and his team had in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, it finally
passed.

The design of the earthship has to be adapted to the location because these buildings
entirely depend on their climate. This can be a problem for dark, cold climates be-
cause the earthship relies mainly on the sun so while this isn’t a global solution it does
work very well in deserts and hot, dry countries.

Referance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ywb7VCZL0
https://www.earthshipglobal.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5voBFW1fQPs
Garbage warrior - documentary
https://www.earthshipglobal.com/project

6
Naturhus
Every sustainable house is finding solutions to the problems of the climate. Instead of
ignoring nature we can harness it and circulate the energy. Bengt Warne designed the
idea of the nature house. A house inside a greenhouse to adapt to the cold climate of
the swedish winters. The first Nature house was finished in 1976 and since them
others have been erected in Germany and Sweden due to the appeal of the style and
the practicalities of the climate.

A family from Sweden are working towards a solar storing system so they can be
self-sufficient because while they have reduced their heating costs and weather prob-
lems with this idea, they still have moments in the winter where they are dependent on
heating. They have a natural water system that takes the water waste and cleans it and
a chemical toilet system, these then circulate back round the house. Rainwater is
collected for water entering the house and once any black water has been collected it
is cleaned and pumped into a pond outside to give back to nature. The composting
system enters back to the plants.

‘It’s all a philosophy of life to use nature, the sun, water to live in another world.’ - A
Nature house owner from Sweden.

This concept reacts to a very different climate to that of the earthships by reducing the
extremes of weather to find balance. It is therefore not a matter of saying which is
better but including both in a world where we need many different solutions to suit
different needs.

Referances:
http://bengtwarne.malwa.nu/gallery.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ghnDOFbNQ

7
Tiny homes
Living tiny doesn't always mean living in a vw camper in the middle of the wild, totally
off grid. It can mean just taking out a room from your house and going that little bit
smaller. This is what this is about, every need and want is different and tiny homes are
to show you that you can find the living tiny that suits you and helps the planet at the
same time.

The concept of tiny homes is about minimising your life to be more manageable. A Lot
of tiny home owners come to this lifestyle because of money or rather their lack of. We
see through the television show ‘Tiny house nation’ that a lot of their clients are losing
their homes because of rising market prices in America which leads them to resort to a
tiny house. Presenters John Weisbarth and Jack Griffin are trying to push the idea that
a tiny house doesn't have to be a compromise but it can be a luxurious home.

Tiny homes are everywhere and in a far bigger range than people first assume. You
have treehouses, house boats, shipping container or barn conversions, sheds, gypsy
wagons, motor homes, trailers, garage apartments, bunkers, cabins, yurts, tents and
even igloos. The continent and country will change the size and materials, along with
the rules. Some states in america now have government guidelines in their planning
regulations that allow for tiny homes because of the dramatic increase in demand for it
there.

There are tiny house villages being set up all around America. As an example there is
one in San Diego that has been made Legal, which is really hard to do with tiny
homes, and it's run by Melissa and Jon Block. They rent out ones they have built as
well as parking spaces for those that already have tiny homes. They are hoping as time
goes on they will get more permanent settlers to build their community.

8
Another reason people convert to tiny homes is for traveling purposes. They aren’t
streamlined or light weight like an RV so they’re not made to be on the road constantly
but some tiny home owners will pick up and move every 3 months or so for a differ-
ent scene or because they find cheaper land. Tiny homes are made to last a very long
time with weather resistance and insulation to sustain living all year round which makes
them a much prefered choice to motor homes.

Andrew Morrison, a tiny house owner and an active participant in the tiny house
movement, has a Tedx talk about reduced living. He mentions what he likes to call
‘living within the scale of your humanity’ and he also said ‘Trust yourself to love you
even when the stuff is all gone’. He, alongside many other tiny house activists, fought
hard for legalisation of tiny homes in America and although they still have many battles
to win, they are paving a way for this strong form of alternative living. The problem with
unauthorised tiny homes is the risk that the owners enter into. If they were made by
someone else then they could be unsafe, hard to insure and could be deemed unfit to
live in by the council which means removal or the property. Andrew Morrison himself
fell into some of these problems and was nearly evicted from his home which caused
concern and uncertainty for his family. In our current society owning a home does not
secure your future or ensure you will always have that shelter but having a legally
owned property does give you some safety if you are able to maintain that.
In Vermont there is a school called Yestermorrow, they provide a number of courses
on craft and sustainable design which range from 1-20 days of learning. These quick
experiences give people insight on how they can improve the way they are living or to
take it into their careers. Because tiny homes are so personal due to their shift in
lifestyle and active decision to be different, most owners want to have an active partici-
pation in the design or build. Schools like this one allow for that learning and ensure
the guidelines are met so housing can be safe.

England has a long way to go in relation to tiny houses. A young woman, by the
name of Florence, in Herefordshire is a good example of one of the few people who
live in England in a tiny house. The only option is to live on someone else's land but
with her very compact home it fits in tight spaces very well. Sustainably she has used
locally sourced materials or recycled parts from her work or rubbish tips and all her
energy and water is off grid which adds to the beauty of this personal home.

9
A man named Elvis in Los Angeles is using tiny homes as a solution to homelessness
but it is the government that is stopping his work from saving lives. Elvis has built many
of these double bed sized homes with a window, door, alarm system and light that sit
on wheels so can be toed around if needs be. He said as part of a documentary ‘It's
pretty simple, without shelter people die’ and he has lost friends to homelessness but
refuses to lose any more. It would give these people a sense of a home, a permanent
place to keep their belongings, safety on streets that are full of violence and a source
of hope to help them regain their lives.

Tiny Homes are for everyone and can be adapted to anyone's needs. They can be
simple to build or a complex piece of art. They can be a tech hub with smart every-
thing and walls filled with wires or a wooden frame with candles for light. We are
taught to believe that our future should look like a postcard from American suburbia
with a big house and large back yard for the perfect children to run about in. This
pressure is unnecessary and sometimes damaging to our mental health. If our house
was paid off and filled with everything we need, our energy was paying for itself and
we didn’t have space to fill with rubbish we don’t need then maybe our goals would
have more space to think about others and by that I also mean strangers. I’m not
saying you have to be selfless to own a tiny home because with a tiny house you can
have everything you want. A common term used in tiny living is ‘living big in a small
house’.

Referances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTRiH_rzDUw - good example of a british tiny
home
https://www.instagram.com/flostinyhouse/
Living tiny in a big house - youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYhtKE-oEEM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTPsASRO7WA
Living small - documentary
Tv series - Homebuddies - S1 E1
Living Tiny Legally, Part 2 (Documentary) - Groundbreaking Tiny House
Building Codes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21L1JKZLe9c
https://yestermorrow.org/learn/courses/tiny-house-designbuild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhFKPZqFd3o

10
Van life
Van life is a current popular trend especially on instagram where idealic travel be-
comes the focus. Unique self builds, especially using rustic materials, makes the
interior modern and personal. Often with young people that are big on social media
they tailor their van to a certain style that is desirable by possible viewers which can
build them a fan base. This alternative lifestyle has its similar paths that filter into the
same traveling category. Backpackers, traveling cyclists, campers and of course the
iconic skoolie conversions where, mainly Americans, take old yellow school buses
and convert them into family homes on the road. With Skoolie conversions its the next
step up in terms of space from van life and youtube is filled with families that homes-
chool their kids and say they fit comfortably in these tiny spaces. The most dramatic
I've seen was a family of 2 parents, 6 kids, 2 dogs and 1 snake all living permanently
in the bus with the mum acting as primary teacher while the father worked from his
laptop to gain income.

So the preferred option for travelling van life is to have a stealth van. The prime
choices for these are Mercedes sprinter and it’s rival the Ram pro master and these
come in a few different sizes. These vans look like a standard white van on the out-
side so with out adding windows or too much on the roof no one would guess that
anyone was sleeping inside. Classic vans from the late 20th century is also a popular
choice for style enthusiasts but they can cause more problems with mechanics and
rusting.

It’s important to remember that van life is not about the comforts of home but rather to
test your self and step out side the walls of your home. It does depend on the design
but the big difference is having a shower and toilet or not. Without these luxuries you
have to be very resourceful in your parking spots and often these van lifers will have
memberships to a local gym. Weather is also a big factor in relation to how much
money you spend on insulation or heating appliances. Similar to Shepherd's huts
some van conversions feature tiny wood burning stoves that function for cooking as
well as heat but only work in rural parking.

11
Often van life dweller will have to embody many different skills such as cleaner,
plumber, mechanic, electrician, carpenter and anything else that’s needed on the spot.
This can both be part of the thrill and part of the panic. Due to the community being
divided between couples and solo travellers you could be a lucky camper who has a
partner who embodies all of these things.

This alternative living takes intentional living to a more extreme perspective. Depending
on your setup you have to be very aware of your water consumption and in relation to
how easily you can access more water as well, electrical intake (grey clouds can mess
with your solar), the upkeep of your car because you never want your home to break
down in the wrong place.

Dana for the Youtube channel Wildweroam said in one vlog ‘Van life lesson number
one: never underestimate the kindness of strangers’. One key thing about this lifestyle
is that it forces you to connect with the community around you when it's on the road,
online or in a town. Not every van will fit every need so finding from people what you
need outside of your space is key and that connection will make you thrive.

A big part of van life is the self conversion. Although there are some van lifers who
design and/or build vans for a career. Knowing the ins and outs of every inch of your
tiny home helps to be able to maintain it and understand how to fix a problem if
something goes wrong. This also adds emotional value that isn’t just embedded in
money which is important in a sustainable lifestyle.

A common question asked to van dwellers is how do you work. A lot of learning
about van life come from YouTube where there are countless vloggers, to name a few
of my favourites we have: kitevanman (Alex), wildweroam (Dana and Lou), Trent and
Allie, Eamon and Bec as well as Elsa Rhae. These videos can definitely idealise van
life because it’s their job to make interesting content and not show hours of dull foot-
age like finding a place to go to the toilet. While some van lifers manage to live part
time in the city to go to their place of work like Sean who lives in San Diego and
works in an office part time. He uses his weekends to study his masters in business
and his free time to go on wild active adventures with his mates. He said ‘The house
is the most expensive storage unit in the world’ which for him was true because he
rarely spent any time there that wasn’t sleeping.

Van life isn’t for everyone but anyone can do it if they are willing. For some it's a
stepping stone to a tiny house, for others it's a trip around the world and for quite a
few in these profit driven cities its the only affordable option. It doesn’t have to be a
massive downgrade but it always will be an adventure.
Referances (there were hundereds more but I
just linked a few key sites):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Y3czfixeE
- sean https://www.youtube.com/chan-
nel/UCZpSVIFxNV_p62fkuucmtnA https://w-
ww.youtube.com/channel/UC4laAHbk8VSgm-
vB47tsd2XQ https://www.youtube.com/chan-
nel/UCwh2SF7McSUf1GVFVk0nP8w

12
House in a box
I was inspired by the many forms of alternative homes that explore the ideas of inten-
tional and sustainble living to create my own experiment. I wanted to push myself out-
side of my comfort zone by not relying on modern tools and espcially not camping
gadgets that remove alot of the hardships of spending a night out in nature. This
‘house in a box’ was collated from items around the house almost as if I were told to
carry everything I needed in this box to survive. I solved some problems like stuffing
my duvet into bin bags tied togther to make a sleeping bag which surprisingly worked
well. I removed all tecnology apart from my camera to document the process. This
experiment lasted 12 hours and proved my survival skills to be adaquate but in need of
some practice.
In a couple of months I will begin the next experiment in this project which is to move
into a van on a very small remodel budget and exsist (hopefully happily) with the van
for two years. It will test my practice of intentional living and focus me to respect my
space, the enviroment andmmy resources more than I already do. This is a step
towards living more sustainably and my next adventure, what will yours be?

one tin of baked metal

beans and one prongs
can heinz soup
flask
saucepan Jar of
bin bags water
wooden
pen knife spoon

deoderant
matches
chisel
plant pot
for vegtables
containment
n o t e
b o o k
and pen
reading book

umbrella
tin of tea for shelter
duvet in pillow
case
This is the Youtube link to my video: https://youtu.be/ol7m9bRpDJI

13
 Other refernces:
Tiny house nation / netflix / TV series
Under an arctic sky / netflix / film
Expedition happiness / netflix / film
Peddle the world / netflix / film
How to live mortgage free with sarah
beeny / netflix / tv series
Cabins in the wild with nick strawbridge /
netflix / tv series
Minimalism / netflix / documentary
Amazing interiors / netflix / tv series
Consumed / netflix / tv series
A simpler way: crisis as opportunity /
Amazon / Documentary
Living Small / Amazon / Documentary
Garbage warrior / Vimeo / Documentary
Abstract - interior design with isla craw-
ford/ netflix / tv episode

Written and designed by Hannah Johnston

14