Cabin Porn Maintains Allure – Book Review

snow-white
Tone Deaf. A level of privilege that should shame Todd Saunders, architect

Books, articles and TV shows about beautifully-styled off-grid cabins ,continue to attract large audiences, showing our love affair with off-grid escapism continues and is even intensifying.

Off The Grid – Houses for Escape even has that escapist word in the title – and is selling well as a result. Wallpaper magazine calls it “a richly illustrated chronicle of new residential design in far-flung locations across North America.” Emphasis on “Richly.”

The “author, “Dominic Bradbury glosses over the stories of how innovative architects fleeced their clients to make everyday living in the most wild and remote locations of the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia not only expensive, but also a self-sustaining status symbol – something to crow about in terms of energy, water, and in some cases location.

From snowbound cabins in the far Northern Hemisphere to coastal retreats that can only be accessed by boat, this fully illustrated overview explains the diverse ways in which architects are tackling extreme climates, remoteness, and sustainability challenges to enable a new way of life that is both liberating and responsible, wherever on Earth you happen to be.

It is expensive for what it is a – featuring just 42 elite and priviledged homes across the USA and the world. Contemporary projects, designed by foreign firms as well as North American architects from across the continent. Divided into three broad categories (Countryside & Forest, Waterside & Coast, and Hillside & Mountain), viewThe only real unifying factor is location; these are houses without access to traditional services or facilities, and are said to have a special and intense relationship with their surroundings.

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When you buy a “cabin”, do you also own the view?

Although you would be forgiven to think that many of them turn their back on the surroundings and simply serv to inflate the ego of the architects, the likes of Brillhart or Cohesion studio,, whose creation could have appeared literally anywhere in the US, but happens to be in the iconic Joshia Tree area – where passing LA journalists  might choose to puff the firm up a little.

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Inconspicuous consumption

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