https://archidose.blogspot.com/2019/05/shelter.html ( )

Oversize book on uniques architecture of the world-no palaces, pyramids, temples, cathedrals, skyscrapers...rather a book of habitations for human beings in all their infinite variety. Organic, free form, domes, etc.with lavish illustrations.

van Helen van Ruiten

Got this from the library a few years ago, and still feel inspired by it. Shelter takes one back to the feel of the early 70's, of the back-to-the-land movement of the time, that perhaps some of us missed, and some older hippies still carry on; when dome houses, yurts, dwellings of found materials, and more were confidently built by anyone with a dream to house people in various communal agreements, or solitary hermits. Many forms of indigenous housing from around the world are also profiled.

Perusing the inspired projects of the time also brought me a sense of melancholy because the disparity between the wonderful creativity and idealism of the late 60's and early 70's and the dark forces of corporatization that have become an accepted part of existence today is here brought into stark relief. On the other hand, those of us who have grown up within the walls of dead, square, cookie cutter homes are awakened in these pages to a new world of possibility, a new sense of the fundamental importance of consciously choosing the form of one's dwelling. Anyone casually interested in astrology knows that 90 degree angles are not harmonious--and we are caged in them for most of our lives in our culture. There are so many other options! This book is such a beautiful homage to the human spirit. ( )

A classic, this book touches on many varieties of housing, from nomadic homes to early sustainable homes.