#theroamingarchitects

Mangla Lake 2/2 Whereabouts: An off-roading trip to the Mangla Lake bed. Season: Spring 2019 History: When the Mangla Lake the 2nd largest earth filled lake in the world at its time was built in 1960s, whole villages on the Jhelum Basin drowned. Tidings: Our seasonal lake trips had already introduced me to the rise and fall of water levels, visible on vibrant range in the hues of green on the rocks that held the water behind their embankment, but it was a great grandmother of ours that introduced me to the unfathomable depths of this lake. This ancient woman once lived with her children in the old river basin, when the dam had not yet been constructed. When the tide dropped in the winters we would accompany her on her annual trips to her son's grave near an ancient temple’s ruins, that she somehow always managed to spot at once even on the marshes that once held this town. Our seasonal trips had already acquainted us with the structures that drowned, but she introduced us to the many sentiments that drowned with the stones and the branches and the minarets to every season. I had allready been introduced to the fact that one of waters greatest powers was to gradually erode history. But never before had I been struck with the power of a mothers heart that can travel even over a space-time continuum to keep revisiting memories, no matter how many times water tries to drown them. #theroamingarchitects #backinpakistan #manglalake https://www.instagram.com/p/BvJTv6InXCW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cgd3m1whctlf

#ourgreatamericanroadtrip #theroamingarchitects Whereabouts: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs Tidings: When you first read this name it makes you fearfully wonder if the Gods kept such an Eden only for themselves or whether they would allow us earthly beings to wander around in it, a bit as well. The name makes you imagine either Greek Gods roaming about in the Gardens of Babylon or Pandavas enjoying Eden through the inside out design of Maya's Glass Palace for the Gods. Even the Rocks hold their arms up to the sky as if to confirm this place's transcendental nature. But although these boulders are majestic, gullies are carved between them on a human scale. Maybe the Gods want us to take a walk through mother nature from their eyes after all. So they created an inside-out version of their world for us to visit. Maybe this is how they show us the world through their perceptive but from our scale. Maybe this is how they make us understand their power over nature, and draw out our fear for such power. So that the next time we try to create havoc in the natural world, we would be aware, that if such majesty strikes back, the effect would be equally monumental. (at Garden of the Gods)

Whereabouts: Earthships 4/4 Tidings: Some final shots from this amazing place. A picture is worth a thousand words.... #earthships #ourgreatamericanroadtrip #theroamingarchitects

Whereabouts: Earthships 4/4 Tidings: Some final shots from this amazing place. A picture is worth a thousand words...

#earthshipliving #theroamingarchitects #continued #ourgreatamericanroadtrip #organicliving #tumblrtravelogue Earthships 2/4: The first thing you notice when you enter is the warmth that an earthship greets you with. Coming in from -7 C degrees outside it feels as warm as when we had our central heating set to 22 C, that coming from no active energy use is achieved by using heavy and insulated thermal mass on the north and layers of greenhouse sunrooms with ventilators on the south. The next host that greats you after the warmth is the indoor gardens dug 1 to 3 feet deep inside the sunrooms. These bucolic gardens also serve a greater purpose in the water usage scheme. Not a drop of water goes waste here. The rain water collected is either filtered for separate drinking water, or is sent for washing and showering is basins without being filtered. This water is then channeled through three separate botanical garden pods of varying depths. This way not only does this water the plants but is filtered once more, enough to be used in toilets as flush water. The black water drained from the flush is then again separated from solid waste and sent under outdoor gardens to fertilize and water them. Water is heated either through solar water heaters or instant geysers that only ignite when warm water is needed. The one thing we noticed as we took a day to settle in was how such energy conscious living makes your sleep and work routine follow the sun as it should. We all try to conserve energy, although not necessary but out of care for each other during the darker night hours. Therefore, it is much easier to set your routine such that you sleep early and rise early too. A habit that I’ve been trying to get myself into for years, just seeped into me itself a day after visiting this place. This place makes you feel as if you know your roots here. You’re not disconnected with the earth that sustains you because of unknown industrial processes that its resources have to go through to reach you. Even the sense of community is more evident in this house, since everyone tries to gather at the hearth instead to retreating to equally heated nooks of the house. (at Earthship Biotecture)

#theroamingarchitects #ourgreatamericanroadtrip #tumblrtravelogue #offthebeatentrack #nomoreinterstatehighway Whereabouts: Enroute Taos, New Mexico. Tidings: We discovered after a few hundred miles that you should always explore alternate routes that the gps tried to divert you from. For a few more minutes they let you discover much more scenic roads off the beaten track. P.S. It seems like the magnanimous American Sunsets carry the vastness of this country in their last bits of twilight. You feel the horizons of the expanse in front of you expand as the lights dim. (at El Prado, New Mexico)