5 ms·

Not surprisingly, underground house wasn't such a great idea, our predecessors learned this lesson when they abandoned caves, burrows and mud huts ages ago.

dalbasal 6y ago
Wooden houses are a mistake. They burn. Unless... Unless you're good at making wooden houses that aren't likely to burn. A failure isn't generally a proof that the main idea is wrong. Most failure are execution failures. I imagine that if they built this house again, they'de solve those problems. In any case, the "ancestor" of mine that abandoned the mud hut he was born in was my grandfather, Tom... who (incidentally) was a builder. That specific style of mud hut (dob walls, thatched roof) is now making a comeback, with modern conveniences like floors. It's funny how a 20th century house, a hobbit hole and Denisova cave all fall into the same "ancestral" bucket.
- lostlogin 6y ago
  > Wooden houses are a mistake Every house in NZ is wooden. They work fine when built right, though we have built them with too little insulation for too long.
  - jbay808 6y ago
    I think that's actually the parent's point. The quoted sentence is rhetorical.
sbierwagen 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1556_Shaanxi_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1556_Shaanxi_earthquake >The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake is the deadliest earthquake in recorded history. According to imperial records, approximately 830,000 people lost their lives.[4] >It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, during the Ming dynasty. More than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui were affected. Buildings were damaged slightly in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai.[5] An 840-kilometre-wide (520 mi) area was destroyed,[6] and in some counties as much as 60% of the population was killed.[7] Most of the population in the area at the time lived in yaodongs, artificial caves in loess cliffs; these collapsed in great numbers, causing many casualties.
- kyuudou 6y ago
  I think this is one of the reasons that homes are usually of lighter wood construction in Japan, they tend not to collapse and smoosh their occupants. Big drawback is fire, obviously.

dalbasal 6y ago

Wooden houses are a mistake. They burn. Unless... Unless you're good at making wooden houses that aren't likely to burn. A failure isn't generally a proof that the main idea is wrong. Most failure are execution failures. I imagine that if they built this house again, they'de solve those problems. In any case, the "ancestor" of mine that abandoned the mud hut he was born in was my grandfather, Tom... who (incidentally) was a builder. That specific style of mud hut (dob walls, thatched roof) is now making a comeback, with modern conveniences like floors. It's funny how a 20th century house, a hobbit hole and Denisova cave all fall into the same "ancestral" bucket.

lostlogin 6y ago
> Wooden houses are a mistake Every house in NZ is wooden. They work fine when built right, though we have built them with too little insulation for too long.
- jbay808 6y ago
  I think that's actually the parent's point. The quoted sentence is rhetorical.

sbierwagen 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1556_Shaanxi_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1556_Shaanxi_earthquake >The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake is the deadliest earthquake in recorded history. According to imperial records, approximately 830,000 people lost their lives.[4] >It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, during the Ming dynasty. More than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui were affected. Buildings were damaged slightly in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai.[5] An 840-kilometre-wide (520 mi) area was destroyed,[6] and in some counties as much as 60% of the population was killed.[7] Most of the population in the area at the time lived in yaodongs, artificial caves in loess cliffs; these collapsed in great numbers, causing many casualties.

kyuudou 6y ago
I think this is one of the reasons that homes are usually of lighter wood construction in Japan, they tend not to collapse and smoosh their occupants. Big drawback is fire, obviously.