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 Ruled by Lines (Published in New Organic architecture – The breaking wave) In general, mainstream architecture is primarily concerned with physical structures and building styles, whether classical, modern, or organic. In contrast, a building designed with the explicit intention of developing human faculties only reveals its final form through the inner experiences of the inhabitants. The building is the medium to catalyse this ongoing living art work. Article by Keith Struthers in the book ‘New Organic Architecture’ by David Pearson Published by Gaia books in 2001, also featuring work of 30 architects worldwide
This article published in Architecture SA in 1997, examines 6 state-of-the-art sustainable buildings in South Africa. Two of these are by Natural Architecture. They are evaluated according to an overall view encompassing sustainable building practice principles.
Standing inside the belly of the rolling foothills of the Langerberg Mountains gives one a sense of being held in the warmth and safety of Mother Earth’s womb. The gentle vaulting roof of the Towerland Retreat, shaped like an inverted basket woven from arching poles and thatch, and resting on the curved rock walls half dug into the hillside, and then covered with earth and plants, silences the sweeping winds as they billow the clouds across the towering mountain peaks.  Sustaining the Beating Heart (Published in Design Indaba Magazine) Like a travelling milestone tracking a growing biographical timeline, a manifesto characterises the leading edge of our progress. It transforms, ripens and bears fruit as we do. It qualifies our values and actions in relation to our inner and outer worlds at a particular moment, an ever changing moment, and an ever changing relationship.
Over one third of the world’s population live in clay buildings. This article outlines some of the remarkable properties of raw earth construction and a broad summary of construction methods.  The Art of Conversation (Published in Greenprint Magazine) The validity of my outlook is not discredited through its subjective nature; rather it is this very quality which provides the immediate experiential reality and context from which personal development can begin. However, so long as I remain unconscious of the background and uniqueness of my habitual way of looking at, feeling about and acting upon the world around me, I cannot consciously embrace a differing point of view. For a conversation to get beyond simply an exchange of information, in our information age, I need to create space in myself for another influence to enter, a different way of seeing.
Conversation relies as much on silence as on voicing; as much on listening as on articulating; as much on active-receptivity as on honest expression.  The form of things to come (Published in Odyssey Magazine) Have you ever walked into an old building, maybe a chapel or an ancient shrine, and immediately felt awestruck and ennobled at the same time. Through the influence of the colours, textures, and acoustics, forms and the quality of the light, you may have felt touched in the depths of your innermost being. While absorbed in this noble and purifying influence, a sense of eternal silence and homecoming may have welled up inside you for a moment, as the universe spoke to you through this masterpiece. How, you might have asked yourself, could a building have such a profound influence on me? Could that which worked so powerfully, through the hands of the craftsmen and master builders of that time, express itself again in modern structures? Is there perhaps something fundamental which we are overlooking?
Published in 1992, this philosophical article shows how the world-view implicit in the methods of almost all current architectural practise is that held by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). So despite what history books tell us about old Immanuel being a little more than 5ft tall, deformed in his right shoulder, his chest almost concave and suffering from a weak constitution, he has regained his health and presently enjoys a very robust constitution, travels widely and has innumerable town planning and architectural awards to his name. However, constructing the world in the image of schematic diagrams, as is vogue today in architectural squares, has left us in a serious state of cultural impoverishment
The pristine proteas and fynbos countryside surrounded Allan and me as we waited for the bulldozer. We were sitting on one of the rolling foothills just below the cliffs of the Langerberg mountains, about 100 km inland from the bottom of Africa. The plants and insect life, the plethora of colours and textures were a tapestry of untouchable living beauty. A splendid blanket of nature’s creative brilliance exposed and unharmed for aeons.
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