It is suggested that architecture be earth friendly and that it flows with nature. Try using natural products like wood, rock, adobe, straw, etc. Consider smaller but smart. Many people think larger is a sign of something - like money, progress, or savvy. Or they just get used to more space and think that it is important. Some people get older and want to shed the feeling of “hard years” when they were younger by stepping up to something more pronounced to reflect all their years of work. Just think about how the larger homes take up a lot of land that could otherwise be used as kept natural areas or lovely gardens.

Consider creativity and elegance with an eye on enchantment, mystery or sacredness. Think about raw earthiness or timelessness. Imagine if you sent someone 200 years into the future to your property: what would it look and feel like then? Have you noticed how some of the most enduring properties seem to get better with age? If you have ever stepped up to an old lovely temple in the middle of a forest, along a rugged seacoast, or off to itself by the side of a road this gives something of the idea. In many cases we have settled for less in modern architecture by going for a certain look. We have lost taking care of the small details in richly meaningful ways - like a handmade rocky alcove tucked away at the back of a small garden. In some ways we have literally packed our properties with lovely embellishments which, when you add it all up, somehow end up being more of an advertising statement or collection of smart objects than something that gets you in your soul or gut.

Seeking Sacred Spaces, Soulful Delights, Not Too Much Splash, Bang or Collectivity - Quiet Elegance

Smart Things With Small Spaces or Structures Syncronos Design, Inc. PO Box 1833 Corrales, NM 87048 Very helpful and detailed DVD shows how to build your own hybrid straw bale and adobe home and have it be small but aesthetically pleasing. http://buildingwithawareness.com/ Interesting Architectural Ideas Stick Art Work/Architecture Patrick Dougherty Although generally not structurally useful but more visual, these stick structures add a dimension to our awareness by showing what is possible. The artistically placed forms of the sticks and related materials seem to work on our awareness in a number of different ways - they seem to take on a visual language of their own when incorporated into art form. They give the feeling of motion, flow, twist and language in often earthy and preternatural ways. It’s like we are being invited to something at once familiar but outside the normal in sensing the dance of the sticks, but it is hard to say exactly what the feeling is. http://www.stickwork.net/ Arcosanti, Cosanti - Arizona Paolo Soleri From hand-made bells to social eco-architecture, Paolo has been exploring the connection between people and smart community spaces for many years. Some of the ideas incorporate closed community systems for survival much like a spaceship but lived in on earth. These ideas might be useful in the advent of global destruction of our air and atmosphere as people might be forced to move into artificially contained environments. Studying these systems could also potentially teach us about a number of other things, including the power and effectiveness of natural ecosystems versus those that are artificially induced by man, the ability of people to live and cooperate together in small contained spaces, and the dangers possible in controlled environments (like the rapid development and spread of bacteria or viruses.) http://arcosanti.org/ Sand Bag Homes Nader Khalili (1936-2008) Nader was a professional and successful architect who wanted to create a system for making homes that anyone could do or afford. He started with the concept of the stable arch in reference to bags filled with sand as they are incorporated into the structure of man-made dwellings. In exploring this form, he developed a series of ways to build houses without expensive tools or know-how, and created a school in California. https://calearth.org/ Creative Architectural Design Various Sources A number of different links here, the photos demonstrate clearly many ways to explore the bridge between architecture, art and nature. Some of these ideas are a delight to the soul; it is worth one’s time to spend a few minutes just flipping through the pictures to get a feeling for things. http://www.pinterest.com/lovedesigncreat/creative-architecture-design/ Tiny homes making big inroads in inner city Portland http://www.treehugger.com/tiny-houses/tiny-homes-making-big-inroads-inner-city-portland.html Land Use Precarious Alliance 2015 symposium http://www.precariousalliance.org/