Built By Hand [Hardcover]

Eiko Komatsu (Author), Athena Steen (Author), Bill Steen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2003

Shelter the Human Family is the most extensive documentation ever published of traditional ("vernacular") buildings throughout the world. With examples from nearly every continent, the book documents the diverse methods people have used to create shelter from locally available natural materials, and shows the impressively handmade finished products through this truly stunning compilation of photographs. Unlike modern buildings that rely on industrially produced materials and highly specialized electric tools and techniques, the shelters featured here represent a rapidly disappearing genre of handcrafted and beautifully composed structures. They are the work of simple and real people who, as builders and homesteaders, have integrated artistic beauty and practical form into their shelter needs. Shelter the Human Family offers insights into the world of vernacular building, along with potential solutions to many of the problems that plague modern architecture. It is a must-have collection that preserves and documents the rich cultural past of each structure and its community, and offers inspiration for those looking to build in a way that is motivated by something larger than speed, efficiency, and economic profit. Bill and Athena Steen are the authors of The Straw Bale House and The Beauty of Straw Bale. They are active in community building programs that teach low-income families how to build their own shelters, and known for their efforts to incorporate artistic techniques based on local and natural materials into the world of modern construction. They live in Elgin, Arizona. Yoshio Komatsu has been photographing buildings and people around the world for 25 years. His photographs were collected in the Japanese book Living on Earth, and his work is regularly published in books, magazines, and calendars throughout Japan. This is his first book in English. He and his wife, Eiko, live in Tokyo. (20031201)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A modern, full-color version of the Bernard Rudofsky classic 'Architecture without Architects', this book takes readers on a magnificent journey to distant corners of the earth in search of the world's most amazing vernacular architecture. It is the most comprehensive and groundbreaking documentation of hand-made architecture ever published. (Prarie Avenue Bookshop Holiday Gift Guide )

From elaborate bamboo structures in Sumba, Indonesia, to houses carved out of volcanic rock in Cappadocia, Turkey, and homes made from earth-block in Chipaya, Bolivia, Japanese photographer Yoshio Komatsu (assisted by spouse Eiko) has traveled the world photographing vernacular structures. The Steens (The Straw Bale House) provide captions and notes on construction techniques in stone, reeds and many other materials. With more than 700 full-color photos in an 8"X9" format, the book takes readers to Ethiopia, Iran, Japan, Spain, Venezuela and many other places. (Publishers Weekly )

"more than just a collection of amazing photos" (The Last Straw Journal )

From the Inside Flap

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Earth Stone Wood Bamboo, Grasses and Other Plants Thatch Materials Combined Into the Earth On the Water On the Move Natural Conditioning Grain Storage and Birds Communities, Villages and Towns Places of Worship Streets Entryways Windows Sculpted Details Embellishment (20031201)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith, Publisher; 1 edition (September 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158685237X
• ISBN-13: 978-1586852375
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 9.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #795,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on verancular architecture ever, February 5, 2004

By 

Kevin Kelly (Pacifica, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Built By Hand (Hardcover)

Without qualification, this is the greatest account of vernacular architecture, indigenous shelter, and traditional folk-built home images ever published. And it won't likely be surpassed, since fanatical photographer Yoshio Komatsu spent 25 years travelling the globe to document the full jaw-dropping variety of shelter on earth. He's been EVERYWHERE. I can't think of a remote region of Asia, Africa, South American and Europe that he missed; most of the styles are new and stimulating to me, and I've been around. While the classic small tome of Architecture Without Architects hints dreamily at this diversity, Built By Hand completes the thought by explicitly celebrating this abundance in vivid in-your-face technicolor. It's in a different league from all previous vernacular architecture books. This one is a stupendous 480-page cornucopic tome overflowing with 700 photographs, and thousands of details, hopes, and design ideas. Totally breathtaking, totally awesome! If this doesn't get you to grab a hammer, nothing will.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ultimate Book on Vernacular Architecture, January 22, 2004

By 

Lloyd Kahn (Bolinas, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Built By Hand (Hardcover)

There has never been a photographer of buildings like Yoshio Komatsu. He's been shooting photos around the world for 25 years now and this stunning book is the result. It's a spectacular photo journey, like a film, around the planet, giving you rare glimpses of shelter in every corner of the earth. The photos are absolutely wonderful. Text and editing are by straw bale gurus Bill and Athena Steen, and Eiko Komatsu. This is like an updated, expanded, technicolor, improved-upon Architecture Without Architects. Wow!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 Great Books List, August 20, 2005

By 

Carol J. Adam "lorac" (British Columbia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Built By Hand (Hardcover)

As books go this one makes it to my top ten. People are always using the word venacular out of context, this book puts it right back. The pictures in this book speak a thousand words. Use whats local, works with materials found around you. I live on an Island on the West coast, lots of rain. There are so many people on this Island building 'green houses' with straw bales. There are so many people who are going to have mouldy homes!!! Venacular learn the word. Live in a home made of the materials around you! Buy this book, and learn.