Garbage Warrior
I thought Michael Reynolds, the architect behind the earthships, was going to be a cranky, anti-establishment, radical, given the tone of the earthship books, so was pleasantly surprised to see, in this film, that he is an old softie and humanitarian who started out as a traditionally trained architect.
This Australian film directed by Oliver Hodge actually has a story beyond just the techniques used in building the earthships. There is the idea of self-sustaining, energy generating, food producing houses and the ecotopia self-built, earthship community that sprung up around this dream. There is the government to contend with and onerous building codes, so the long haired Mr. Reynolds ties back his grey locks, dons a suit and fights city hall. There's also a beautiful, dark haired, heroine inside the system who goes to bat with him to attempt to pass a new law that will allow experimental housing in New Mexico fully illustrating what we're up against in attempting to bring innovative change through government. Michael Reynolds makes the point that New Mexico was a test site for the bomb so why can't it be a test site for housing too.
He makes the poignant comment that would apply universally to artists, regarding the building codes that were created to insure that houses were fullproof. "I had lost my freedom to fail."
He wanted real people to be able to discover for themselves how to make better shelter. The government representatives wanted to know what he meant by real people. Government regulations require state certified contractors and inspectors. They wanted to know what he meant by independent. They wanted to know what ideas he thought were out there that hadn't already been incorporated into current building practices. One can't know that until one is allowed to find out. That's the point.
And like so many leaders and innovators before him, he makes the point that outside of the law is where the information lies. And that's why real people must be allowed to discover this information as they live it.
He was advised to watch his language and not mention global warming or oil shortages for fear of sounding like a crazed radical.
The films turning point is the inspiring 14 day build out, when six white guys go to India to build a house for poor brown people on the coast after the tsunami. It was a sustainable house built of plastic and glass bottles, bamboo and cement as a demonstration of how ordinary people can help themselves with locally available materials. The local engineers lapped it up. Not to mention that the building looked beautiful as did all the earthship buildings. So here we have disaster innovation to illustrate how people can evolve enormously when they've lost everything and not just become fodder for disaster capitalists to exploit them and enslave them.
Garbage Warrior
I thought Michael Reynolds, the architect behind the earthships, was going to be a cranky, anti-establishment, radical, given the tone of the earthship books, so was pleasantly surprised to see, in this film, that he is an old softie and humanitarian who started out as a traditionally trained architect.
This Australian film directed by Oliver Hodge actually has a story beyond just the techniques used in building the earthships. There is the idea of self-sustaining, energy generating, food producing houses and the ecotopia self-built, earthship community that sprung up around this dream. There is the government to contend with and onerous building codes, so the long haired Mr. Reynolds ties back his grey locks, dons a suit and fights city hall. There's also a beautiful, dark haired, heroine inside the system who goes to bat with him to attempt to pass a new law that will allow experimental housing in New Mexico fully illustrating what we're up against in attempting to bring innovative change through government. Michael Reynolds makes the point that New Mexico was a test site for the bomb so why can't it be a test site for housing too.
He makes the poignant comment that would apply universally to artists, regarding the building codes that were created to insure that houses were fullproof. "I had lost my freedom to fail."
He wanted real people to be able to discover for themselves how to make better shelter. The government representatives wanted to know what he meant by real people. Government regulations require state certified contractors and inspectors. They wanted to know what he meant by independent. They wanted to know what ideas he thought were out there that hadn't already been incorporated into current building practices. One can't know that until one is allowed to find out. That's the point.
And like so many leaders and innovators before him, he makes the point that outside of the law is where the information lies. And that's why real people must be allowed to discover this information as they live it.
He was advised to watch his language and not mention global warming or oil shortages for fear of sounding like a crazed radical.
The films turning point is the inspiring 14 day build out, when six white guys go to India to build a house for poor brown people on the coast after the tsunami. It was a sustainable house built of plastic and glass bottles, bamboo and cement as a demonstration of how ordinary people can help themselves with locally available materials. The local engineers lapped it up. Not to mention that the building looked beautiful as did all the earthship buildings. So here we have disaster innovation to illustrate how people can evolve enormously when they've lost everything and not just become fodder for disaster capitalists to exploit them and enslave them.