Barta Urban Earthship
Portland, Oregon | 2016

This 400 square foot, south facing garage has been transformed into something of an urban "Earthship". Based on the concept of a self-sufficient, "closed loop" design, this project also incorporates a south facing green house, and thickly insulated walls for great energy efficiency. In this case, rather than use old tires (as classic earthships do) we simply filled the existing garage walls with densely packed, zero-toxicity light straw clay insulation. In fact, this is the very first legal application of straw clay in any structure in Portland since we helped to legalize its use several years ago. This is an excellent example of how to adapt an idea that has been developed in rural circumstances to an urban setting.

Photos of light straw clay installation by Amit Ziman