New Chapter

Newest Chapter - Studio Photo, Feb. 5, 2001

you are right
Alex Conn <aconn@austin.rr.com> wrote:

having known you for as long as i can remember, and having met some other very smart people (Bucky Fuller), i think that you are the smartest person i have met. if for no other reason than your willingness to honestly see your mistakes. your ability to extrapolate from 2D to 3D is a skill that you must have learned as a small child. few others have it so naturally.

what really sets you apart is the believe that your inventions can change the face of the earth. driving back and forth to houston and dallas i see many geo. domes (Bucky would be proud), however i also see many more mobile homes, shacks and trailers -- even tents! real families of all races are living in these. you do not want this to continue and are doing your best to change it.

so far i have been able to gather some facts about the situation in the 3rd world (harder to find real no. for the US). we can get actual letters from leaders in several countries demanding the following:

Mr. Mandela will write that South Africa needs 1,000,000 units NOW!!
The Governor of the State of Veracruz in Mexico will write that he needs 40,000 units a year for as many years as he can project.
A representative of the Philippines will state that they have a critical waiting list of 100,000 units.
The list could go on (the slums in Brazil, the Palestine refugee camps, the migrant farm workers all across the US...)
The UN has stated that the minimum unit is 28 square meters or about 20' across.

if built conventionally (hand packed blocks) it would require 15 square yards of concrete for the walls and some roof areas (no concrete slab for the floor). the cost of the concrete and the metal reinforcing bars (rebar) would cost alone almost $2000. this does not include a roof, floor, windows, doors, or vents for the simplest of kitchens or bathrooms.

this is way beyond the infrastructure of any international funding agency, not to mention the skill of most people to construct. the construction time is also too long for emergency housing.

your solution solves all of these problems for a fraction of the cost.

CHAPTER 1