Description:
Biotecture Planet Earth cooperated with Earthship Biotecture to build an off-grid, self-sustained home for a family living on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, a First Nations Reservation in Canada, between 18 to 31 July of 2016. This particular family, headed by Flower, was in desperate need of a healthier and more cost effective shelter, as they have been living in a condemned trailer for years. [1]
Earthships are off-the-grid homes built from recycled material like tires, bottles and cans, reinforced with dirt and concrete. They are designed to be completely self-sustaining, with no need for hydro, gas or water connections.
“[Earthships] are more like a ship, a vessel," said Michael Reynolds, the American architect and environmentalist who built the first modern earthship in the 1970s. His company, Earthship Biotecture, will build Flower Doxtador’s $70,000 home in July, which is being funded jointly through donations and the company. [2]
An important part of this project will be the knowledge transfer that the team will be providing to members of the Six Nations community that will be participating in the build to acquire the skills to then be able to replicate the building in the future.
This project will be a workshop open to participants from all over the world who would like to learn how to build using Earthship techniques from Michael Reynolds and his experienced crew while at the same time supporting Flower and her project. The project will be funded through this workshop. [3]
References:
[1] “Six Nations Earthship BUILD, CANADA.” Earthship Biotecture, February 10, 2020. https://earthshipbiotecture.com/six-nations-earthship-build-canada/.
[2] “Six Nations Grandmother to Get Eco-Friendly Earthship Home Built from Tires | CBC News.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, June 9, 2016. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ecofriendly-earthship-home-sixnations-1.3623410.
[3] “Six Nations, Canada.” Biotecture Planet Earth. Accessed August 26, 2021. https://www.biotectureplanetearth.org/projects/6nations-canada/.
Additional information:
Earthship Canada First Nations Build 2016. YouTube. YouTube, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPFm4kWAs24.
Earthship Humanitarian Build in Six Nations, Canada. YouTube. YouTube, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dShFfI936cI.
Tribe, Jeff. “Six Nations Earthship Is ‘Radically Sustainable’ Living.” Brant News. August 11, 2016.
“‘Six Nations Earth Ship Construction Has Launched.’” vitacollections.ca. Accessed August 26, 2021. https://vitacollections.ca/sixnationsarchive/details.asp?ID=3286160.
Project Title: Six Nations Earthship
Artists: Biotecture
Year: 2016
Place: Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario
Activism, Architecture, Collaborative, Completed Projects, Functional, Indigenous, ON, ONT, Ontario, Passive House, Permanent, Private