looks like the fortifications and their underground parts from the previous centuries in my homecity that we were exploring as free-range children back in USSR when all those fortifications were sitting as is, unused/unattended and freely accessible.
Beautiful, but I bet those things cost a boatload.
Also, I don't know how much 'environmentalism' is the goal there, but most Americans' CO2 output on a personal level involves heating their homes and transportation, and building isolated housing where you have to drive a lot to get to anything doesn't help. You're better off with shared walls in a walkable city if you really want to lower your impact.
Still, that's a really beautiful part of the world and it looks well done.
The trees right up against the above-ground structures make me weep for defensible space. While the underground structures may be survivable in the event of a wildfire and the trees are beautiful I'd be happier seeing a property that feels more survivable in the types of fires we've been seeing in California.
natural question and way more complicated and interesting in its complexity here than the actual architecture - what about permits? Everybody can build, not everybody can manage getting permits for what they can build :)
Recovering America : A More Gentle Way to Build [0]
Also, Mike Oehler (1938—2016) and his “The $50 and Up Underground House Book”.
[0] https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/recovering-america--a-more-gen...
[1] https://undergroundhousing.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUKRPoQKynk
Also, I don't know how much 'environmentalism' is the goal there, but most Americans' CO2 output on a personal level involves heating their homes and transportation, and building isolated housing where you have to drive a lot to get to anything doesn't help. You're better off with shared walls in a walkable city if you really want to lower your impact.
Still, that's a really beautiful part of the world and it looks well done.
The trees right up against the above-ground structures make me weep for defensible space. While the underground structures may be survivable in the event of a wildfire and the trees are beautiful I'd be happier seeing a property that feels more survivable in the types of fires we've been seeing in California.