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In a nutshell:
We build "substantially sustainable" small communities (less than 100 people, usually based around several core families and some guests and itinerant workers), using primarily site-sourced earthen materials for structural walls such as cob, rammed earth, adobe, stone such that structures BLEND with natural surroundings. Such underground developments will become all the more relevant and in demand as the world experiences heat waves with increasing frequency and severity, as well as threats (real or perceived) from other sources such as: radiation (nuclear, microwave,5G WiFi); Big Brother via satellites; nuisance drones; plus the added benefits of green space to minimize stormwater runoff in the area and increased wildlife habitat, plus naturally quieter places.
Some other elements may include:
parking at outer perimeter of community (where adult tricycles with baskets/trailers are taken from houses to parking lots)
perimeter artisinal craft shops (candles, soap, woodworks, metal shops, leather goods, dry goods, ...)
no "functionless so-called-art" - the craftsmanship and quality of practical goods are our artistry...
many elements shared with Amish, Menonnite, Bruderhof, Shaker, Plain Folk ways...
utiltarian farm animals and machinery
central gathering place (for worship, for meals, for celebrations)
quiet, dark, peaceful evenings (where you can see the stars, and hear the crickets)
celebrate Underground America Day every May 14! Pay a tribute to green architect Malcolm Wells!
also dba: New World Mound Builders (as derived from --> Ancient Cahokia Mound Builders )
talk to:
Louis Greisemer - Board of Directors, Show-Me Institute, Director, Springfield Underground
see also: Vivos xPoint (South Dakota) and Survival Condo (Glasco, Kansas)
see also: old Sicilian underground citrus tree grower in Fresno, CA (per Kristen Dirksen)
see also: Gaza (Hamas) underground; Mexican cartels underground tunnels; repurposed KC salt mines; old Lemp brewery in St Louis; Shanghai tunnels in Portland, OR
see also: http://www.erdhaus.ch/erdhaumluser--earth-houses.html - Germany
see underground survival shelter article by WSJ: underground living solution re: COVID-19
see Kirsten Dunsten's (FairCompanies.com) video: Ancient Italian Ghost Town
see Mike Oehler's Idaho version: $500 Underground House --- RIP Mike
4/16/20: read Bloomberg article on "eco-enclaves": Earth-Friendly Intentional Communities are the New Fancy Neighborhoods
Center for Active Design - where places are designed to be healthy (but not too healthy), and active (but not too active)...
Summit Series LLC - developer of Powder Mountain (UT)
Fitwel Certification - see Amy Gilbertson at Trivers Associates (St. Louis)
"Many radical ideas are met with resistance at first, often not gaining acceptance until after the death of the innovator,
but the world and its inhabitants are in such a mess now, we believe underground housing, with the 23 advantages
it has over conventional structures will be the housing of the future---if not before the earth cleansing cataclysms,
then certainly after." - Mike Oehler's family, Tiny Underground Homes & Mole Publishing Co (Missoula, MT)
* ESTABLISH ECOVILLAGES IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES (e.g. Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Madagascar) - EASIER TO DO, CLOSER TO END GOAL, AND REDEFINES "GOOD LIFE"...
* NOTE: off-grid communities will be important soon b/c media has created a generation of idots and there are many old people (incapable) and refugees (unfamiliar) such that to form a tight-knit community, off-grid (not subject to failures / week links of aging co-dependent infrastructure of $ utiliities), one will need to put together a small skilled group that can DIY - that means KISS, small, green, inexpensive, uncomplicated, local, pleasant, holistic, integrated, healthy, etc (--> ecovillages)
See also:
article on loneliness: loneliness worse than alcoholism, obesity, or smoking for health
Low-Tech Magazine's argument for a Luddite Revolution
Paul Wheaton's "ultimate eco-building" wofati design and a like-minded gentleman's underground blog
see also: Mark Shephard
Mike Oehler's "groundbreaking" site on underground housing - Woodland Oehler Freaky-cheap Annualized Thermal Inertia (WOFATI)
one of Paul Wheaton's blogs - also disciple of Sepp Holzer
see also Wheaton Labs Tour (similar to Marcin Jakubowski's Open Source Ecology)
Willie Smits Indonesian village
Marcin Jakubowski - Open Source Ecology
Zach Weiss and Cassie Langstraat w/ Elemental Ecosytems
read "How to Build an Underground House" by Malcolm Wells - American architect & underground pioneer exemplifying my philosophies
read this article (Third World Network, 1995) about economic non-development proposal to turn Cambodia into World National Park
build into Bethany Falls limestone formations (per Adam Joseph Rosenfelder, PG - NRCS Missouri - State Geologist)
create as REIT? see also REIT Boston / STL
and check out:
Green Bank, West Virginia - home of big national telescope where WiFi and loud noise is illegal... (and Abundant Life Homestead )
Culdesac Development - just developed first car-free devpt in US in Tempe, AZ and backed by Y Combinator & Khosla Ventures
National Assoc of Home Builders
Trident Lakes - upscale underground neighborhood near Dallas, TX (Jim O'Connor, developer)
Grey to Green Conference - Toronto 2020
Charlotte, NC "great unbuilding efforts" - tearing down houses, ripping up parking lots, uncovering waterways...
Peace & Quiet in Communities - published by Thompson Reuters Foundation & PLACE - Oct 18, 2019 (abstract: "Slow down & shut up!")
insights from intentional communities: Communitarian Notes
https://www.silencity.com/category/the-quiet-coalition/
Noise Free America - strategically targets multiple sources (motorcycles, leaf blowers,... AND loud car audio) - this is an understandable strategy (and would result in universal community benefits), but is fundamentally flawed in concept as it should "speak truth / rebuke a brother with love, with 2-3 other witnesses present" per the Bible on how to rebuke a brother with love.
Chaos Map - in ten years, resource shortfalls will cause chaos in many places
article about negative effects from "smartphones"
see also American Redoubt (between Spokane and Coeur D'Alene), the proposed "Liberty State", and John Shea - Bronze Star vet and state rep...
what we are NOT: tacky so-called "Smart Cities" (actually suburb subdivisions) - we prefer subterranean suburbs!
(photo courtesy of Canopy Camping Escapes)
take example photos / create scenes at Shaw Nature Reserve to show how "Hobbit-style" mound homes would be oriented naturally in tall blue stem grasses native prairie type environs, with walkways cut with scythes to eachother's homes, and round oaken Front Doors to each cottage that wheel along C-channel tracks. Also show aerial plan view, such that people can see how the native / natural green roofs would serve as camouflage such that these "natural developments" would largely disappear from aerial / satellite / drone views... (and not create a lot of impermeable surfaces or artificial light). Also show in plan view where peripheral parking would be located, as well as perimeter community resource library / commons / fellowship hall. Plus community food gardens
* also suggest how sustainable communities will likely need to be somewhat mobile, and could maybe serve as "demonstration communities" of good Christian lifestyles around the world, maybe in less desirable / post-disaster areas, serving in similar capacity as Christian missions do...
* also emphasize that natural communities would be near-Zero Waste, and could be "landfilled" / plowed under / "removed & replanted" at end of useful lives...
* "Flip the Town" article - in line with my idea to Flip whole neighborhoods instead of just "flipping houses"
* also in the same vein as the Slow Food movement, showcase how good values, and good design, can create a "Slow Life" community (with much less anxiety, hassle, headaches, stress, &c compared to modern developments - b/c lack of immediately locally available resources causes even LATENT anxiety, and when you see a lot of traffic on the roads, that's an indication of poor planning / design (b/c most folks would stay in home community if good stuff were available (including beauty, health, entertainment, culture, nature, peace, friends, jobs, &c)
YouTube videos:
"Talasbuan" - Swedish Off-Grid Couple
Global Village Institute for Appropriate Technologies - Summertown, TN
See also:
"agrihoods" - see Detroit - consider changing Princeton Heights (StL) to "Hildesheim Ecovillage"
Cloughjordan Ecovillage - Tipperary, Ireland
Permaculture Research Institute - community development
PermaTree Ecuador - Mike's favorite (combining values of Masanobu Fukuoka, Sepp Holzer, Marcin Jakubowski, Bill Mollison, and more...!)
Habitat First Group - same basic values, but, um, a "Cotswold's" interpretation... (-;
Gaia Sagrada - in the foothills of the Andean mountains in Ecuador!
Village Homes Permaculture Community - Davis, CA (or Permaculture Research Institute article here )
Transition Town Network - post-petroleum & off-grid
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