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Building Without Borders
Sustainable Construction for the Global Village
Edited by Joseph F. Kennedy
In cities and countries around the world, billions of people live in slums and shanty towns, doomed by ongoing poverty to grossly inadequate shelter. Solving the global housing crisis has become one of the most urgent imperatives of our time, and it is a major challenge to do so in a way that empowers individuals and doesn't degrade the environment.
Building without Borders describes the pioneering effects of those who have taken up this challenge to great effect. It surveys numerous projects that are drawing upon local traditions to house the homeless without destroying natural habitats to do so. The book takes the reader from Africa and Latin America, through India, China, and Thailand--as well as Poland and the Southwest of the United States. It includes contributions from more than thirty experienced practitioners, with a focus upon locally sustainable building, covering aspects of international development, appropriate technology, technology transfer, and teacher training.
Building Without Borders includes a special focus on the use of natural building approaches for displaced populations, refugees and in disaster mitigation projects. Highly illustrated and popular in style, it includes case studies, technical information, and the latest thinking on truly sustainable construction. Topics covered include:
- bamboo, strawbale, and earthen construction
- the pallet truss--constructed from discarded wood
- straw-clay blocks, small diameter wood, and micro-concrete roofing tiles
- sustainable settlement design, and woodless construction in the desert
- the American Indian Housing Initiative
With an appendix that outlines the remarkable work of Builders Without Borders as well as a complete listing of further resources, Building Without Borders will find an eager readership among development professionals, affordable housing groups and appropriate technologists, as well as architects, designers, natural builders, and housing advocates. 288 pages. 2004. New Society Publishers. ISBN: 0-86571-481-9. $26.00
About the Author: Joseph F. Kennedy cofounded Builders Without Borders, an international consortium of natural builders and architects serving homeless and under-housed populations. He teaches ecological design and natural building at New College of California, and co-edited The Art of Natural Building.