Why the Passiv House (Zero-E) isn't for me

My friend just procured the services of one of the world's foremost architects in Passive House design to design him an oasis in the desert. The two of them have worked for well over a year now to design and build the PERFECT house. It was tedious. The architect really had no concept of budget so my friend had to make compromises and deal with all manner of schedule upsets. The process was exacerbated by problematic required infrastructure improvements that were nigh on impossible to attain. My friend learned alot about the design process, good and bad. It was a joy to watch him overcome all these obstacles to his dreamhouse. They got through it, and produced what should prove to be a stellar design... as far as Passive Houses go.

Now that they are building it, He excitedly sends me updates of the building progress, and I want to be like "Aw, that's so cool!" because I am genuinely excited for him. He LOVES his house. But I find that I don't say much. Because, while I am excited for him and hope he loves his space, I hate the house. I really, really hate the house. 
It actually makes me mad.
How on earth, you may ask, does a house make me mad?
Because it's offensive to my sense of beauty. It's UGLY. Plain and Simple. U.G.L.Y.
And because I care about my friend's happiness. You see, my friend is a bit of a naturist, which by definition, means he loves the feel of air on his skin. I love this about him. It changed my paradigm of what comfort really is.
And the problem I can't get over... is in a Passive house, YOU CAN'T OPEN THE WINDOWS! You depend on mechanical systems to bring in air. Which means, if they break, or the power goes out, you die. OK not really, but, still. If the system doesn't work, for whatever reason, the house doesn't work. And it gets beyond stuffy - it'll be downright chokeworthy. I imagine myself living in the sealed room in the TV show Lie To Me. Put some comfy furniture in there and could I live in it? The short answer is NO. 

The Lie to Me interrogation room

But what about you?

New way to see Architecture

So we've started looking at the way ALL architecture responds to different forces –

time, space, views, community, family, ego, the environment...

Seeing how we have built before tells us about the values of the people.

All architecture responds to these forces.

The question is… how does it where you are?

And has that changed over time or are the old responses still valid?

Food for thought: Land Design and a common domain design critique

So many times, when people send me their community or domain design for review, they send something that looks like this little doodle:

and every time, I have to tell them that this design only works in these ways.

1. It is organized.
2. It is regular, and therefore fair to the people who might purchase a lot within it.
3. It would work okay for recovering farmland for a kin domain or ecosettlement.
4. It would work okay in a temperate zone, with little or no annual snow or ice.

Here's some thoughts about working with the land to make sure not only ours but the Earth mama's needs are met too. There are some subtle nuances that vernacular architects are trained to know about the location of buildings and the way the buildings work within the landscape that can really help you with design. Here are the ones that come to mind most immediately.

Learning from the Past Series #2: The Ten Books of Architecture by Vitruvius

In fact, the concept of a self-supporting farm is not a new idea at all. The concept of a agricultural Villa has been around for thousands of years, though once it was reserved for only the richest families. Anastasia's vision has made the opportunity much more feasible for everyone.

The Ten Books of Architecture was written in the first century BC by the Roman writer known as Vitruvius, whose real name was Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. In it he gives this guidance:

Learning from the Past Series #1: Sufis: Spiritual Architecture by Samuel L. Lewis

As a young Sufi mureed, I was gifted a copy of Spiritual Architecture by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis. The text is an unpublished work included in the archives of the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society, where the murshid discusses the subtle lessons contained within the architecture of the past which might be used to inform the land and architecture we are designing today.

First, allow me to introduce you to the Sufis, in case you are not already aware of their importance. They are the gentle, ultra-compassionate esoteric sect of Islam, much as the Kabbalists are to the Jewish tradition and the Gnostics are to the Christian tradition. They study the texts of all religions, not just Islam, and they teach about the wise counsel from all the great teachers, including Jesus, Mohammad, and Buddha, among many others. They see every breath and every moment of life as an opportunity to connect to Spirit. They sing their prayers, and spend a great deal of time reading and meditating. Because of their commitment to their practice, and years spent doing it (theirs could be described a culturally-integrated monastic existence) - they are very enlightened souls.

I honor the gift of this work, and in agreement with my initiator, will not post direct quotes from the work here. Rather, I will try and convey some of the lessons so that you might use them to benefit the spiritual essence of your Kin Domain. My own comments are included in parenthesis hereafter.