Robert Akerboom
Exit Strategy
During these hectic times, after watching the latest news for example, who hasn’t at least once fantasized about just leaving this rural area to leave in a tiny community somewhere in the middle of nowhere with just family and friends around you? Four couples in Texas have set the example for all these dreamers and created and designed, with the help of architect Matt Garcia, the Llano Exit Strategy. A micro housing project which includes only four modern private dwellings and one shared building, built for under $40.000 each. The most important though, is the sustainable approach they decided to focus on during design.
By the creation of a community space, many functions such as cooking, dining and group activities can be hosted in one central place rather than several individual ones. Apart from that, it houses enough room to accommodate guests from any of the family’s living there. In a world where the iPhone is usually a person’s best friend, the social sustainability provided by this project alone already seems extremely valuable to me. On top of that of course, the shared spaces are simply a cheaper and more eco-friendly solution by means of materials and volume to be climatized.
Some really simple but effective features were applied to mitigate the harsh Texan climate. Metal cladding reflects the sun, insulation keeps the cabins cool in summer and cozy in winter and via the roofs, rainwater can be collected in cisterns for the cabins to use. The cabins, with a footprint of only 35-square-meters, have an open floor plan to meet the owner’s wishes best and are fully naturally lit. Last of all, the interiors are fully made out of plywood to keep the costs low and give a warm feeling.
What is shows, is that sustainable living doesn’t necessarily need the usage of highly technological measures. All it really takes is some personal willingness to live in a conscious way and some small context related solutions. And since they live in the middle of the nature from now on, they will simply have to learn to live within that system in a durable way.
I might propose this idea to my family for Christmas this year, probably via the iPhone to make sure I’ve got everybody’s full attention.