Driftwood Shacks: Anonymous Architecture Along the California Coast - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lloyd Kahn started building more than 50 years ago and has lived in a self-built home ever since. If he’d been able to buy a wonderful, old, good-feeling house, he might have never started building. But it was always cheaper to build than to buy, and by building himself, he could design what he wanted and use materials that he wanted to live with.

Lloyd set off to learn the art of building in 1960. He liked the whole process immensely. Ideally he’d have worked with a master carpenter long enough to learn the basics, but there was never time. He learned from friends and books and by blundering his way into a process that required a certain amount of competence. His perspective was that of a novice, a homeowner, rather than a pro. As he learned, he felt that he could tell others how to build—or at least get them started on the path to creating their own homes.

Through the years, he’s personally gone from post and beam to geodesic domes to stud-frame construction. It’s been a constant learning process, and this has led him into investigating many methods of construction. For five years in the late ’60s to early ’70s, he built geodesic domes. He got into book publishing by producing Domebook One in 1970 and Domebook 2 in 1971.

He gave up on domes (as homes) and published his company’s namesake Shelter in 1973. Since then, Shelter Publications has produced books on a variety of subjects and returned to its roots with Home Work in 2004, The Barefoot Architect and Builders of the Pacific Coast in 2008, Tiny Homes in 2012, and more.

Building is Lloyd’s favorite subject. Even in this day and age, building a house with one’s own hands can save a ton of money and—if you follow it through—you can get what you want in a home.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

I’ve been beachcombing a lot in recent years, since I quit competitive running. It’s endlessly fascinating. Every beach day is different. You never know what it’ll be like until you get there.

Sometimes the wind is blowing, and it’s cold and uncomfortable. But other times, everything lines up—tide, swell, wind, sun, and it’s beautiful. The air is fresh and sweet-smelling. The negative ions boost your chi. There’s no need for clothes on remote beaches.

It’s always a delight to come upon something built out of driftwood. They’re anonymous: I don’t know who built any of these. They’re ephemeral: none of them last very long—victims of winter storms, high tides, or big surf. They’re designed by materials available: whatever happens to be laying on the beach. And almost all of them are built without nails. (All of these structures were gone by the time this book was printed.)

Every so often I camp on the beach, sleeping inside or alongside these shacks—cooking dinner over a fire, stargazing, watching sunsets and sunrises.

These photos were taken over many years of beachcombing. To shoot the last photos, I took a three-day backpacking trip along the Lost Coast in Humboldt County, California (see pages 124–147), and had the adventure of a lifetime.

You’ll notice that in addition to shacks, there are photos of waves, surfers, seashells, birds, seals, seaweed, bones, sculptures, and sunsets: an “... embarrassment of riches.”

***

This book is for beachcombers everywhere. We’re all alike: whatever country we live in, whatever the body of water, we all share a deep love for the ocean and its surroundings.