At Home in an Earthship

Amid the endless plains of sagebrush and yellow stonecrop northwest of Taos, New Mexico, Solar Survival Architecture builds Earthships. They look like tilted wedges half stuck in the ground, or rooftops without floors, but they are designed to function more simply then conventional houses by using the natural insulation of the ground and the power of the sun. They also fulfull architect Michael Reynolds’ goal of a build-it-yourself, self-sufficient house that’s like a log cabin for a new kind of pioneer – people who want homes that tread more lightly on the Earth. “We are facing crises in energy, water, air, and food quality,” he says. The ideal home must “heat and cool itself, produce its own power, catch its own water, deal with its own waste and grow on its own food.” An Earthship might even be suited to fly into space.