Five technologies.
Five experiences.
The Living section is about putting thought and theory into action. Whether it be small scale creation experiments or outdoor immersive experiences these activities will help inspire the imagination and uncover new ways of thinking and engaging with nature at the forefront.
The living section also offers the opportunity to create change in your community—whether it be a neighborhood, a school, an organization or your home—and reimagine the future of technological advancements.
Waffle Gardens
Adobe Brick-Making
Aqueducts
Backyard Aqueduct
Floating Islands
Mycelium Bricks
Living Root Bridges
Living Fences
Corrals
Companion Species
WAFFLE GARDENS
Adobe Brick-Making
Earthen architecture has a rich history spanning thousands of years, dating back to ancient civilizations. Adobe, one of the earliest forms of earthen construction, involves sun-drying cob bricks made from a mixture of clay, sand, straw, and sometimes even animal dung. This technique originated in the Middle East and North Africa, spreading to other parts of the world, including the Americas and Asia. In regions like Egypt and Mesopotamia, adobe structures were integral to the development of early urban centers. Over time, advancements in techniques such as rammed earth and mud brick vaulting led to more sophisticated earthen structures, like the iconic earthen mosques and palaces of Mali's Djenné.
Today, earthen architecture stands at the intersection of tradition and innovation, embodying sustainable practices and contemporary design. Rammed earth, a technique dating back centuries, sees a resurgence as a durable, energy-efficient construction method. Builders compact layers of earth within formwork to create strong, thermally efficient walls.
Compressed earth bricks, or CEBs, offer a modular approach, using a mixture of earth and stabilizers to create uniform blocks. These bricks are gaining popularity for their affordability, low environmental impact, and ease of construction. As awareness grows about sustainable building practices, earthen architecture continues to evolve, offering a compelling blend of heritage and modernity in construction.
Below you will see two videos that guide you through the process of making Adobe Bricks. One is from an indigenous farmer in Northeast Thailand and provides a visual process for starting an adobe build, the other is from a historic site in New Mexico and provides a manageable practice opportunity for those who don't have access to a natural building site. Both allow participants to imagine the possibilities natural building offers.
Jon Jandai is a farmer from northeastern Thailand. He founded the Pun Pun Center for Self-reliance, an organic farm outside Chiang Mai, with his wife Peggy Reents in 2003. Pun Pun doubles as a center for sustainable living and seed production, aiming to bring indigenous and rare seeds back into use. It regularly hosts training on simple techniques to live more sustainably. Outside of Pun Pun, Jon is a leader in bringing the natural building movement to Thailand, appearing as a spokesperson on dozens of publications and TV programs for the past 10 years. He continually strives to find easier ways for people to fulfill their basic needs.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is a part of the National Park Service since 1916 and has been entrusted with the care of our national parks. With the help of volunteers and partners, they safeguard these special places and share their stories with more than 318 million visitors every year. But their work doesn't stop there.They are proud that tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individual citizens ask for their help in revitalizing their communities, preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, and creating close-to-home opportunities for kids and families to get outside, be active, and have fun.
AQUEDUCTS
Backyard Aqueduct
Aqueducts have been used for thousands of years in various life changing capacities. It is important to note the Aztecs place in the unique use of aqueduct infrastructures. Founded in 1325, Tenochtitlan was a hub of architectural and agricultural innovation, allowing the Aztecs to develop technological advancements unseen in other civilizations. After the fall of the city, modern-day Mexico City was built atop the ruins of Tenochtitlan, sealing away the Aztec aqueduct system below the earth. From floating gardens atop broad lakes to aqueducts that carried plague-free freshwater to homes and buildings, Tenochtitlan architecture utilized a range of innovative technologies that supported its staggering population growth and separates it from any other major civilization in the Western Hemisphere.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: RAIN GARDEN, AQUEDUCT, AND CONSERVATION LANDSCAPING PROJECT
The Harn Aqueduct Rain Garden and Conservation Landscaping project eliminated standing water on a walk-out patio and potential basement flooding through use of an aqueduct to passively convey roof drainage to the uphill rain garden. The solution treats a substantial portion of runoff from the property, provides water quality and habitat benefits by using conservation landscaping with native plants, and creates beautiful sounds and visual effects of cascading water. View the complete project file here.
The following videos will help guide you through the process of creating your own backyard aqueduct. If you want to take the challenge further create an aqueduct for a garden space like our spotlight community did!
In the spring of 2017, Oneida Nation citizens Steve and Becky Webster purchased 10 acres of land on the Oneida Reservation. The following year, with the help of friends and family, they built a home. They currently grow traditional, heirloom foods with an emphasis on Haudenosaunee varieties of corn, beans, and squash. Their long term goal for this property is to serve as a place to host events where the community comes to learn about planting, growing, harvesting, seed keeping, food preparation, food storage, as well as making traditional tools and crafts. The philosophy is that every time an indigenous person plants a seed, that is an act of resistance and an assertion of sovereignty. With these goals in mind, an Oneida faithkeeper named their property Ukwakhwa: Tsinu Niyukwayay^thoslu (Our foods: Where we plant things). This video is one of their many projects documented to help guide others.
FLOATING ISLANDS
Mycelium Bricks
“The indigenous people of the United States and Canada long have used forest fungi for food, tinder, medicine, paint and many other cultural uses. New information about fungi continues to be discovered from museums as accessions of fungi and objects made from fungi collected over the last 150+ years are examined and identified. Two textiles thought to be made from fungal mats are located in the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College and the Oakland Museum of California.”
- Scientific American, Century Old Textiles Woven from Fascinating Fungus (2021)
It is important to note that Indigenous Knowledge Systems are living systems and new information can be added to engage with the systems in unique ways. Mycelium blocks are birthed directly from Indigenous Knowledge Systems and as a living entity are becoming popular as a possible building material in spaces experimenting with nature based technologies. So, how do we engage with Mycelium materials and begin to imagine building/creating with mushrooms.
The following videos will help guide you through the process of creating your own raised "mounded" bed. Or, as you will learn, a three sisters Hugelkultur bed. --
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: THE MYCELIUM HEALING PROJECT
"Spirit of the Sun, Inc. is an incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the state of Colorado. For over a decade, we have partnered with Native American communities across the nation to develop new opportunities for tribes and Native American individuals. Spirit of the Sun is founded on the belief that effective and sustainable development work recognizes the intersections of culture, community, economy, and health, and that true success is only possible through collaboration. We maintain open and ongoing dialogues with all of our partners to ensure that every project or initiative reflects the unique needs and goals of the Native communities we serve. We reside on the land of the Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, as well as 48+ other tribes with ties to this land."
To learn more about the Mycelium Project, click here.
The following videos require you to order your own substrate but you can do some research to figure out how to prepare your own as well. We also highly suggest researching if and where mycelium materials might be experimented with in your area. There could be knowledge holders—indigenous or otherwise—who can share other methodologies. The internet is merely a starting point for learning and imagining. Local ecologists, natural builders, wisdom holders will most definitely know more.
LIVING BRIDGES
Living Fences
Natural and living fences provide us with a micro-ecosystem, unlike conventional fences that eventually rust or rot. Growing and living plants used in the fence are referred to as living fences. Dried plants and other by-products used in the fence are referred to as natural fences. Both these types of fences can be done in multiple, simple ways, with easily available materials.
Natural and living fences have many benefits. They act towards the prevention of grazing, prevention of vision, windbreakers, economic providers and even ornamentation. Also, fences are very important to conserve water and prevent soil erosion within a site. They create a micro-climate and help prevent water evaporation. Many such factors contribute to the choosing of the plant species to be used in the fence.
- Thannal
The following videos will help guide you through the process of creating your own raised "mounded" bed. Or, as you will learn, a three sisters Hugelkultur bed. --
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: THANNAL SCHOOL INDIA
Born in Kerala, India, from a farmer’s family, Biju Bhaskar stopped his studies at a conventional architecture college and travelled extensively in different parts of Indian villages. For one and a half years he worked under a tribal master making driftwood sculptures in Khajuraho. In his journey, he met and worked with master sculptors, painters, spiritual teachers and photographers to uplift his knowledge in making shelters. In 2009 he was granted a degree in architecture from the Indian Institute of Architecture. During this period, he reversed migrated to a village in Tiruvannamalai, under the foothills of Arunachala. He founded Thannal Natural Homes in 2011, a Natural building awareness group and is still continuing his inner-journey in the self-study and earthen shelter movement in India. In the last decade, he has spent full of his time in Research & Documentation about Indian indigenous shelters, spreading awareness through taking classes, workshops and publishing articles, books and videos about Indian natural buildings.
To learn more about the program, click here.
The first video shows
See how to make a Natural Fence using bamboo for your land using bamboo (if locally available). We have used discarded branches of Bamboo harvested for our Earth-bag home constructed in our Campus in Tiruvannamalai. It can be further converted into a living fence, by having specific creepers grown onto it.
This is only one type of fence portrayed in this video, you can read the article for more types of Natural Fence & plants which can be used for fencing at:
http://thannal.com/natural-and-living...
In this video I show you two living willow projects I have been working on. I am a full-time basket maker and artist living in Tipperary, Ireland with my family. Off-grid in the forest on a mountain. My website: http://hannavanaelst.com/
FREE Online course BASKET MAKING FOR BEGINNERS:
https://www.hannavanaelst.com/online-
CORRALS
Companion Species
Companion species help to build more biodiverse natural spaces and create balance within those spaces. Stay tuned for more information and history in the coming days!
The following videos will help guide you through the process of creating your own raised "mounded" bed. Or, as you will learn, a three sisters Hugelkultur bed. --
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: WILDSEED
WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village is a space to actively experience the change we devote our lives to. We are a collective of Black Indigenous and other People of Color working in collaboration with our ancestors to steward 181 acres in the Mid-Hudson Valley. We are co-creating a healing sanctuary, ecological farm, and political and creative home rooted in dignity, interdependence, transformative justice, connection to nature and intergenerational love.
To learn more about the program, click here.
Both videos below offer possibilities for creating a more biodiverse garden, backyard or natural space. In these actions you will learn about different companion species that propel that endeavor. We will be looking to update these videos with more relevant content created within our community but as of now these are a great start!
Gardening for Biodiversity: Creating Habitats for a Variety of Species Gardening for biodiversity is an excellent way to support and enhance the local ecosystem. By creating a garden that attracts a variety of species, you can contribute to a healthier environment. Gardening for beginners can start with simple steps like planting native plants, which form the backbone of any native habitat and are crucial for supporting local wildlife.
Gardening for wildlife involves creating habitats that cater to different animals, including birds, insects, and small mammals. Incorporating a pond transformation for wildlife can attract amphibians and provide a water source for various species. Gardening for invertebrates, such as bees and butterflies, is essential for pollination and can be achieved by planting diverse flowering plants. For those interested in educational projects, a biodiversity model for a science exhibition or a forest model for a science exhibition can showcase how gardens can mimic natural ecosystems. Animal habitats for kids and habitats for kids projects can be both fun and informative, teaching them how to make a garden for nature. Following practical gardening advice and gardening tips will help you maintain a thriving and diverse garden. By focusing on the biodiversity of plants and incorporating elements of forest conservation models for school projects, you can create a garden that serves as a mini-reserve, supporting various species and contributing to global biodiversity efforts.