Ivan Illich called the study and sharing of technologies to improve subsistence (food, water, shelter, etc.) done outside the paradigms of industry and progress for "counterfoil research". For example, how to build homes good for both humans and planet without incurring debt.
In economies not yet fully lost to progress, on the edges, in the third world, or abandoned by progress (the rust belt, the ranch, the wetlands, the dead malls), counterfoil research is especially important in bringing a sense of resilience and optimism to ordinary people.
Counterfoil research is a way for un-industrialized countries to exponentially increase quality of life without falling into the traps of industrialization, and it is a way for us in Progressive societies to step outside of the commodity economy and reconnect with the real world.
So which way? A progressive future where everything is provided for us (no matter if we want it, or if it is even good for us), or a future where we take an active part in our own lives, outside of commodities and machines? In short: Homes, or Housing?

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More from @wrathofgnon

4 Dec
Always wanted a straw roof but couldn't afford it? Use the Northern Scandinavian (Sweden, Finland) technique: by far the cheapest and easiest method of thatching a roof. Ten men (beginners and one instructor) can gather and build a roof in a two room cottage in three days. ImageImageImageImage
Traditionally straw roofs around the northern Baltic were unbound: bunches of rye straw or reeds (both available for free, but rye must be grown first of course, and reed must be cut and gathered) 70cm thick on low pitched roofs kept down by spruce poles and sometimes stones. Image
Unbound roofs can't be too pitched, so you save on materials and it is easier to work with, but also doesn't last as long. However, even complete beginners can work on this so if you have friends or cousins or teenagers willing to help out, all the better. ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
30 Nov
Many are confused about what "survivor bias" in architecture and building is. We can tell empirically and show with evidence that certain walls constructions, cuts of timbers, joinery, roof materials, foundations etc., are more likely to last longer than others. That isn't bias.
What is more, style may or may not come into the equation. A steep roof is better at shedding water. A flat roof will require a lot more vigilance in construction and maintenance. Hence, a steep roof is more like to survive. That isn't bias. It is basic construction know-how.
A huge difference between old and new is that in the past we built with the idea that it should be easy to repair by low skilled or even DIY efforts, with cheap and readily available materials. This is obviously no longer the case. Again: that isn't bias. It is basic planning.
Read 4 tweets
24 Nov
Bedre Byggeskik was a Danish grassroots organization founded in 1915 to promote better buildings more suitable to the local climate and culture and a higher quality of craftsmanship. A neoclassical inspired vernacular form.
The architects of the organization created plans for all types of buildings, from farmsteads to suburban villas or large estate mansions and anyone could request copies of floor-plans which could then be given to local builders.
The founders were also active in building crafts schools and training of youth in how to build better. The proof of their success can be seen in the many of their buildings surviving in extremely good condition and fetching rather high prices in the Danish real-estate market.
Read 4 tweets
13 Nov
Everything suggested here is awful and self contradictory. There should be ample opportunity to make something better.
Here is a beautiful station in Stockholm, Sweden:
Here is a beautiful station in Maputo, Mozambique:
Read 10 tweets
5 Nov
A lot of the things that we now like to blame on climate change is really the result of local human actions. For example, the coastal erosion that is plaguing the beautiful Mersea Island (population 6,925) on the coast of Essex, England. Is all coastal erosion really inevitable?
For politicians, "climate change" is a godsend: nothing can be done, no blame can be laid, and no need to investigate further. If action is called for, it comes in the form of a concrete shield that doesn't work and only makes things worse. Meanwhile, the land is disappearing.
In reality, coastal erosion turned out to have human origins: "In the 1920s, Mersea was surrounded by vast, richly biodiverse marshlands. These mudbanks supported meadows of seagrass like eelgrass that played a vital role in reducing the impact of wave energy on the marshland."
Read 9 tweets
1 Nov
2000 years. The longest continually operated overland "railway" was the 6km long Diolkos, of ancient Greece, used to transfer ships from the Aegean to the Ionian, over the Isthmus of Patras, built around the 8th c. B.C. it was last used by the Byzantines in the 12th c. A.D. ImageImageImageImage
The trackway was built to let military and merchant vessels avoid the lengthy and dangerous detour around the Peloponnese peninsula. It would have taken 3 hours to transport a ship, and on several occasions entire military fleets were moved over a couple of days. ImageImage
There would have been local experts that helped the ships across for a fee but the main power was the muscle power of the human crews of the ships. A warship with hundreds of experienced rowers could probably have pulled their ships over in a matter of minutes. Image
Read 4 tweets

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