The program begins with an overview of the basic tenets of sustainable architecture. Passive solar design and the use of natural, local, and/or recycled building materials are emphasized.

Building with earth is demonstrated by visits to an adobe block house, an Islamic cultural center made of vaults of adobe, a unique and artistic hut-like house made of piled adobe, and a rammed earth house under construction. The process of building and the nature of the material is described by the people who have done the work.

Various straw bale houses are shown. Both load-bearing and non load-bearing methods are described, with particular attention to the use of natural stucco materials and the need to keep the building skins breathable. A charming dome hermitage made of straw bales is described by both the builder/architect and the resident.

Techniques for earth-sheltering are demonstrated: there is a visit to an earthship under construction. Then a "gallery" of completed earthships accompanied by music provides a break from the technical discussion. A lovely cordwood/earth-sheltered home is described by the owner/builder. A dug-out kiva in the desert, and a unique technique for creating thin-shelled concrete domes with a rotating sectional mold, complete this section on earth-sheltering.

Papercrete, a new building material made with recycled paper and cement, is discussed by two different people who "invented" it. Homes and experimental buildings using this material are shown.

Earthbag (sandbag) building has been gaining popularity. The polypropylene bags can be filled with a variety of earthen materials and then stacked to form walls in the shape of domes or vertical walls. A visit to the dome house of a woman who built it with her grandson is fascinating. The beginning of a dome house created by the producer of this program shows one of these unique structures under construction.

The use of hybrid techniques is demonstrated by an owner/builder who made a round house with conventional wood framing and used straw bales for insulation.

The final section shows the use of existing containers as a shell for a house with the producer's wife taking the viewer on a tour of their bus conversion motorhome.

Included with the video is a resource guide to more information, including addresses and phones of most of the people in the video.

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Poitiers picked his own, original way, driven by futuristic and iconoclastic impetus. Technology and New Pop seem to have been the hardware and software of his path. The most recent goal on Poitiers' journey is Plasma, the liquid, organic and living material, liable to alter in relation to functional and environmental factors. Poitiers' unusual and individual approach to designing is reflected in the graphics and presentation of the book.

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Science and sociology have given modern architects the chance to express themselves in buildings that not only echo their artistic vision, but also stand out as works of art against a backdrop of less-than-extraordinary structures. As a result, the distinct outlines of Wright?s Guggenheim Museum, the Sydney Opera House, Pei?s National Gallery and Piano and Roger?s Centre Pompidou are recognizable as both sculpture and architecture. These and other works by architects such as Le Corbusier, Niemeyer, Libeskind, Watanabe, and Gehry are examined in light of their artistic qualities by critic Werner Sewing. An introductory essay highlights the historical basis of sculptural architecture, tracing a path from Ledoux to Le Corbusier, detecting echoes of eighteenth century England?s formal gardens in Expressionist and organic architecture, and linking Russian Constructivists with deconstructvism.

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