DEATH VALLEY- CA A hot, hot place. Although it only reached 98 when I was there. The barren land was only spotted with green at resorts like this one where the palm trees huged their irrigated land closely and the ones who strayed to far died.

I hiked the sand dunes, splashed in the standing water on the salt flats, attempted to bake cookies on my dash board when I went off hiking and tried to avoid the Germans in their rented RVs.

Las Vegas, Nevada.- So I was going to divert all travels away from the beast they call Las Vegas, but others persuaded me to at least "see" it. And so I took my travels over the Hoover Dam, yes an impressive structure, but no I didn't get to see down the steep side of it because they wanted me to pay $5 to park. Then on to "The Strip" as was marked on the highway sign. One drive up, then one drive down, mouth gapping open the entire time, and hand out the window taking pictures to share with all of you who've never seen the beast for yourself. Then I kept on driving out of town.
So what I saw- A beast, a monster that is diverting power and water from the surrounding area to fuel an adult Disney World. A place where adults go for the thrill of gambling, the sights of topless women, and the taste of martinis. A place that replaces the childhood fantasies of thrills on rollercoasters, mickey mouse, and cotton candy. A strange destination to satisfy our un-real expectations of reality. I couldn't even bring myself to donate a nickel to fuel the fire of the beast, so I can still say I've never gambled and think I shall never set foot in that city again, UNTIL the day it becomes a ghost town being unable to support it's massive structures and wasteful use of water. That will be a sight to see.

Well until then, enrich your place, build your community, and hold strong against the dominant system to push our desires towards unreal realities.

John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, Cal Poly Pomona, CA. http://www.csupomona.edu/~crs/

A beautiful example of creating a sustainable center for classes, living, working, and being. It was a surprising oasis after the clogged and vast superhighways surrounding the Los Angeles area. CRS sits on a hill beyond the agricultural fields of Cal Poly's campus, and is a quiet yet energetic hub. The new Master's program was interesting and according to a few of the students I talked with something they were very excited about. You get to focus in whatever area you want, from environmental education to landscape architecture. A very self-directed study. The edible landscape intriqued me since I have no idea what half of those fruits are, but they were sweet tasting! Including the vine/cactus looking things in the picture below. Behind them on the "hill" are large tubes that are harvesting methane from the recently covered landfill, which is now the "hill". A good way to harvest what we've thrown away, but when can we use it before we consider it trash.

I also got to visit the Claremont Environmental Design Group that my uncle used to be a principal in. They are working on small projects, but also some community size developments. They get to work with their hands and their heads to work from within the development beast that has taken over our country and are trying to create places where humans and wild places can coexist.

Arcosanti, AZ-
an urban laboratory in the desert of central Arizona. A place where Paolo Soleri, an Italian architect, had visions of creating a community able to support 5,000 people on 25 acres, thus leaving the rest open and wild. www.arcosanti.org To date it is 5% complete because they do not hire outside contractors. All of the work is done by individuals in their 5-week courses, or those who wish to live and work there. Most of the structures are concrete, durable, but not wholely sustainable or affordable in these times. The apse design to the right creates a shady outdoor space in the summer and a sunny winter outdoor work space. It can also be used throughout the day as a meeting place, and a concert hall. Every built area has multiple functions and times of day to be used. A very inspirational idea, but at this rate, it is taking more to keep in functioning than able to expand it to really be a feasible alternative for urban sprawl. The tour consisted of mostly showing how their famous wind chims were made, since they are Arcosanti's main source of revenue. A strange little oasis with their own sparkling swimming pool. Luckily it is situated at the mouth of a very large aquifer otherwise since they "only get 12 inches of rain a year, that wouldn't be enough to run this place." That attitude won't get them very far in creating a place that treads lightly on the earth.

New Mexico State Fair-One small display is better than none! Educating about natural resources. I missed the Dollar Rodeo by a day, but got to taste some raspberry pie, and smell some roses.



Yes to the right a woman is selling Lemonade from a Lemon.

Dharma Living Systems-Taos, NM. www.livingmachines.com started as a wastewater treatment and are currently integrating the buildings into their projects to create more site based designs. A typical design firm 80% of the time, with an alternative focus on ecological principles.

El Monte Sagrado-Dharma's showcase ecological resort. A view of the constructed wetlands, that treats the runoff, a VERY top of the line resort, can this be accomplished on the small scale where economics do play a factor?

Angel's Nest-once was an earthship, now a wacked out retreat center. . .I'm not sure a hydrogen fueled stretch hummer is really the embodiment of sustainable living. According to the owner this is how 99% of Americans want to live. If that's true some how I've found myself in the 1% with grounded views on what it will take to "sustain" ourselves as a society. (this structure has 9 bathrooms! in the desert no less, and yes they catch their water, but at times have had to bring water in, no surprise there)

Adobe house, near Taos, NM. Adobe is inbetween being an insulator and a mass. So good for doing both jobs, but not great at doing just one of them. Coupled with other insulation and stone floors it can be appropriate for this dry and sunny climate. It seems that the rich and the poor are building with it, but the middle is building mostly with cement. Interesting. . . .

Here's the "new" adobe construction in Santa Fe, but really could be anywhere around the southwest.

Dream Tree-Taos, NM. A shelter for teens, this is a new residential unit with apartments to transition people from the main building to real apartments. The large gaps aren't doors, they will be Tram walls-glass in front of a cement wall to slowly store heat during the day and slowly release it at night. There is a natural air vent with the "stack" in the back fo the apartment. Also allows daylight to reach the interior. This project was possible through grants and instead of constructing a typical cement block square, the architect really created beautiful buildings that will be more comfortable to live in.

Hike to Williams Lake, with a view of Mt. Wheeler tallest peak in NM (right). A gorgeous day, and oh so much backcountry skiing possibilities. :)

Earthships-Biotecture. near Taos, NM. I volunteered for three days, constructing can walls, digging this huge hole for a blackwater system, and mud plastering some interior walls. These houses use rammed earth tires for retaining walls, and large glass windows seen here for passive solar gain. All the rainwater is collected and energy produced on site. Earth"ship" is fitting since it's self contained within itself.
The use of aluminum cans as structural components to the cement walls is a good way to use trash, but can they be recycled efficiently instead of taking these high embodied energy material out of the industrial stream? We used lots of cement, is there not a permanent alternative that isn't going to increase in cost 30%+ due to Katrina.

Sept 11- Earthships- The Greater World near Taos, New Mexico.

I voluteered for three days helping make can walls, frame the front of the earthship (alternative residential building that has a rammed tire back wall, and south glass wall) They capture all of their water into large cisterns, use a greywater system through planters to filter water from the sinks and shower, and a conventional septic tank then through a series of blackwater planters out front. It's an interesting concept, and the houses are very practical, but take lots of labor! rough figures are $165/ sf and 30% of that is labor costs. It was a fun crew to work on, this coming week I'll be meeting with others around Taos that are working on passive solar design and water reclaimation.