Garbage Warrior, Pt. 1

"Garbage Warrior", a documentary, follows the story of Michael Reynolds, a radically sustainable architect living and working in New Mexico, specifically the Taos area. Reynolds grew up in a strictly Baptist family, and as he grew up, as many of those who give up that conservative upbringing tend to do in my experience, he became radically liberal, dedicating his life's work to creating and building self-sustainable "Earthships". Reynolds "Earthships" were built over many years, with many failures along the way- including houses that he built to be too warm, even without any separate system designed to use gas or electricity to create heat (he packs old tires with soil to hold on to heat through 'thermal mass', this keeps the homes cold during the winter). Needless to say, his radical methods and his failures have led to ongoing battles with governmental officials and malpractice lawsuits (during the period when he still held his architect licenses). Reynolds is willing to give any piece of so-called trash a chance at becoming a building material; his structures are spotted with multi-colored glass bottles, beer can bricks, and old tires.

Needless to say, at first I was a bit skeptical- I understand that closed systems can be created, I have a friend who attended the Maine Maritime Academy for a year learning how to do just that- but could a house like this really be translated into an environment like Wisconsin, where I grew up, where we would be just as likely to have school canceled for being too cold outside as we were to have a snow day, if not more likely? Apparently, winters in Taos can get relatively cold, 0degrees at worst, and "Earthships" built in other climes have documented that the houses sustain a minimum 64degrees in -17degree weather. With my biggest worry about the "Earthships" allayed, I wondered how they could prevent becoming too hot in the summer. Apparently, it is possible to keep the houses cool through 'geothermal cooling'.

I thought that this documentary was much more interesting than the lecture with Jean Gang. While her work is important in terms of the aesthetic of an already-standing city, Reynolds work, I think is much more important in the long run. While I'm not quite ready yet to give up all of the things that I've had growing up, I recognize the importance of being able to take things seen as garbage, and to turn around and use them as is in the process of building something new, rather than use extensive amounts of energy to turn an old can into a new can, or to just throw that can away. While I understand that his work is very largely focused on building completely self-sustainable systems, I think it would be very cool to see some of his ideas and philosophies incorporated into new construction in cities or suburban areas.

"We haven't begun to think of the ideas, but we won't if we don't have some sort of forum for it."- Michael Reynolds, discussing his bill proposed to the New Mexico legislature allowing for an architectural testing site.