apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I hope they have some rebar in there - unreinforced brick performs pretty poorly in earthquakes, and this is right smack in the middle of an area with pretty high seismic hazard.

I've been reading "3 Cups of Tea" which is just an amazing book about an american mountaineer building schools for both boys and girls in remote corners of Pakistan and Afghanistan. With the terrorist attacks in Mumbai seeming to have come from extremists based out of Pakistan, it's a very timely read. I highly recommend it!!

Visit his organization, the Central Asia Institute at https://www.ikat.org/

While I'll all for helping those who need it, I'd say that Mexican vernacular architecture has been doing just fine for centuries, without the help of architecture students. From the piece:

"When Casita Linda started seven years ago, the focus was on speed and cost. The first dozen homes were poured-in-place concrete slabs, walls that could be put up and joined like Legos in a few weeks for a 12-by-14-foot structure that cost slightly more than $2,000. The buildings were unpopular, though, because they were hot in summer, cold in winter and prone to mildew during the rainy season. Some families moved out, using the new structures as storage units."

Read the whole piece, as it's interesting.

What a cute little house! I used to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, a fantastic organization; none of the houses I worked on were anywhere near as adorable.

Nesser, I read "3 Cups of Tea" and I second your recommendation wholeheartedly. Would make a great holiday gift, and just might change the world if enough people read it.

"Habitat for Humanity, whose motto "building hope, one house at a time," closely echoes the AT credo, "saving the world, one room at a time."

This is one of the most disgusting quotes I have ever seen here on AT. AT exists solely for personal profit. It is purely a decorating site, aimed at mostly at younger people who want to beautify their existing homes. Habitat for humanity is for people who have no homes. They could not be further apart. You should be ashamed of trying to link yourself to this organization through those two quotes.

I agree with peachpie. Thanks for pointing this out. First off, Habitat for Humanity's motto does not echo Apartment Therapy's. You have that exactly reversed. Secondly, saving the world is the last priority of this site. The mission goes largely ignored in favor of pointing out ridiculous unfiltered pre-waste. Would even go so far as to call "The Cure" an overstatement of ego.

Thank you, peachpie and KTG for stating my thoughts, probably better than I could have.

Really, AT. That wasn't even low class. It was NO class.

Ugh. So glad I wasn't the only one retching onto my keyboard after reading that. Abby, you should be ashamed of yourself.

how can buying a cushion with a peace sign of it for home use, be promoting the peace message in any way?

you certainly wouldn't think buying a pillow with a grenade or a bomberman etched on it is a call to blow up some buildings?

nauseating to pretend self-gratuitous materialism is promoting some greater good!

come on!

so abby you deleted all the negative messages?

feel too ashamed?