“more than just a collection of
amazing photos” — The Last Straw Journal, December 1, 2003
From elaborate bamboo structures in Sumba, Indonesia, to houses carved out of volcanic rock in Cappadocia, Turkey, and homes made — Publishers Weekly, October 20, 2003
[Built by Hand] is the most comprehensive and groundbreaking documentation of hand-made architecture ever published. — Prarie Avenue Bookshop, Holiday Gift Guide 2003
About the Author
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.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Leaving modern architecture and its conventions far behind, Japanese photographer Yoshio Komatsu and his wife, Eiko, have traveled to some of the remotest regions on earth, compiling a stunning photographic collection of what are commonly referred to as traditional, vernacular, or indigenous buildings. Their pictures tell the story of a disappearing world of buildings that have been constructed by ordinary people who, as builders and homesteaders, have given artistic, modest, and sensible form to their daily needs and dreams. Sometimes accidental, often asymmetrical, and utilizing materials that are naturally close at hand, these buildings, with their molded curves and softened lines, convey a personal and human beauty. Quietly and almost without notice, they outwit the might of modern machinery with simple tools and materials that welcome, encourage, and amplify use of the human hand. They remind us that beauty and usefulness can come from simple things, and sometimes in ways not thought possible in today’s modern consumer world.
Wow! eBook
