Handmade houses

Welcome to home design!

Ona Niubò

Welcome to home design!

Nowadays, the concept of handmade is very trendy, whether it is for making furniture,
clothes, decoration, etc. Not to mentioning the ecofriendly things, products, food, ma-
terials, ..., respectful to the environment and the world around us. But is it possible to
transfer these concepts to architecture? Can you really make handmade houses without
an architect? Create volumes without calculations? Could we consider this new trend a
step backwards through architecture?

In the last centuries, this concept of handmade was not even though. The vernacular ar-
chitecture was, as Paul Oliver’s says: “comprising the dwellings and all other buildings
of the people. Related to their environmental contexts and available resources they are
customarily owner- or community-built, utilizing traditional technologies. All forms
of vernacular architecture are built to meet specific needs, accommodating the values,
economies and ways of life of the cultures that produce them.” The ancient civilizations
built for need, so they did not think about calculations, architects, or engineers, they
were building because they had a demand.
Thinking about the past, we can extrapolate this ancient form of construct into the pre-
sent. It is possible to create handmade houses without the need of an architect?

We have a clear example in the pass. They

were building without architects, engi-
neers, or anyone that though about the
stabilization or calculus of the structure.
The ancient buildings were as impressi-
ve as are nowadays the skyscrapers. The
Egyptian pyramids, the Stonehenge, the
Machu Picchu, … (figure 1 and 2) All these
magnificent buildings were made without
an architect. Figure 1. Machu Picchu, Perú. Source: https://viajes.
nationalgeographic.com.es/z/machu-picchu
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 Ona Niubò

But nowadays, for us is impossible to conceive a building without one. To build the
impressive new buildings like: Louis Vuitton foundation, the Burj Khalifa, … This buil-
dings with crazy forms and volumes are impossible to conceive in our minds without an
architect or an engineer. (figure 3)

Figure 2. Egyptian Pyramids, Giza. Source: Figure 3. Louis Vuitton foundation, Paris. Source:
https://www.lavanguardia.com/internac- https://arqa.com/arquitectura/fondation-louis-vuitton.
ial/20190504/462028803503/egipto-tumbas-pir- html
amides-de-guiza.html

It is true that for the majority of the architects, building without an architect it is impos-
sible. But for John May and Richard Olsen is not. Richard Olsen with his book, “Hand-
made house: A century of Earth-friendly home design” explore the handmade houses
done nowadays around the world. There we can find impressive buildings like the fi-
gure 4.

The houses that are handmade are built

for the need, as the ancient civilizations.
The owners of this dwellings create a
symbiosis with the landscape that su-
rround them. This symbiosis is more pre-
sent inside the houses because the mate-
rials used are same that they find outside.
Figure 4. Muennig House, Big sur. Source: Richard
Creating a perfect integration with the Olsen: Handmade Houses: A century of Earth-Friendly

exterior. Home Design,

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Ona Niubò

Also, John May in his book: “vernacular

architecture & buildings without archi-
tects” explore the different types of hou-
sing and dwelling around the world crea-
ted by anonymous builders. These two
books show that vernacular, handmade
and ecofriendly housing exist, and that
can be as spectacular as it is the conven-
tional architecture. (figure 5).
The handmade architecture prove maybe
is not a step back for architecture, althou-
gh architects an engineers are really use-
ful for big constructions, maybe in local
and small buildings, like dwellings it is
possible to have a place for the handmade
Figure 5. John May: Vernacular architecture & buildings

without architects houses.

References
-Straube, J. (2006, October 24). BSD-007: Historical Development of Building Enclosure. Building Science Corporation.

https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd-007-historical-development-of-the-building-enclosure

-Richard Olsen (2019). Handmade Houses: A century of Earth-Friendly Home Design, Rizzoli International

publications.

-John May (2010). Vernacular architecture & buildings without architects, Rizzoli.

-ARQA (2015, November 4). Foundation Louis Vuitton, Frank Gehry. ARQA. https://arqa.com/arquitectura/fondation-

louis-vuitton.html

-EFE (2019, May 4). La Vanguardia: Egipto descubre tres nuevas tumbas bajo la sombra de las pirámides de Guiza. La

Vanguardia. https://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20190504/462028803503/egipto-tumbas-piramides-de-

guiza.html

-National Geographic. Machu Picchu. Viajes National Geographic. https://viajes.nationalgeographic.com.es/z/machu-

picchu