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Lloyd Kahn | |
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 Lloyd Kahn (2021) in his greenhouse | |
| Born | (1935-04-28)April 28, 1935 (age 89) U.S. |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation(s) | Publisher, editor, author, photographer, carpenter, self-taught architect |
| Known for | Green building,green architecture |
Lloyd Kahn (born April 28, 1935)[1][2] is an American publisher, editor, author, photographer, carpenter, and self-taught architect. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Shelter Publications, Inc., and is the former Shelter editor of theWhole Earth Catalog. He is a pioneer of thegreen building andgreen architecture movements. His bookShelter (1973) about DIY architecture, has sold more than 250,000 copies.[3][4]
He lives and works inBolinas,Marin County,California.[5]
Kahn became interested in construction at age 12 when working on his family's house inCentral Valley.[5] He earned a B.A. degree (1957) fromStanford University.[6]
During the late 1950s, while serving in theUnited States Air Force in Germany, Kahn ran the USAF newspaper for two years. He returned to California in 1960 to work as an insurance broker and in 1965 quit his insurance job and began work as a carpenter, eventually building four houses.[7]
Kahn's first project was a sod-roof studio inMill Valley, with succulents planted on the roof.[when?][citation needed] The second project was a used-wood, timber-frame Japanese andBernard Maybeck-influenced design: apost-and-beam frame, with several 10-foot (3.0 m)-high poured concrete walls.[when?][citation needed]
Before these two jobs, he'd had little building experience, but quickly learned on the job.[citation needed] This is where he discovered the owner/builder perspective in learning to build. He tried to maintain this outlook throughout his publishing career, so he could explain building techniques to novice builders. He next got a job inBig Sur as foreman building a large post and beam house out of bridge timbers from a dismantled bridge; the main structural members were 30' long, 8' X 22" redwood beams. He then built his own home out of used lumber and hand-split shakes in Big Sur, developed a water supply, and terraced a hillside for small-scale farming.
Influenced byBuckminster Fuller, in 1968 he started buildinggeodesic domes.[2] This resulted in a job coordinating withJay Baldwin the building of 17 domes at Pacific High School, analternative school in the Santa Cruz mountains.[8] Experimenting with geodesic domes made from plywood, aluminum, sprayed foam, and vinyl, the children built their own domes and lived in them.[8] Jay Baldwin built a dome covered with vinyl pillows. When Buckminster Fuller visited the school in 1970, he commissioned Baldwin to build a replica of the dome on his property in Maine. The school received media attention.
Kahn next worked forStewart Brand as Shelter editor for theWhole Earth Catalog. In 1970 Kahn published his first book,Domebook One, followed the next year withDomebook 2, which sold 165,000 copies. In 1971, he bought a half-acre lot inBolinas, California, and built a shake-covered geodesic dome (later featured inLife magazine). After living in his dome for a year, Kahn decided domes did not work well: he stopped the printing ofDomebook 2 and disassembled and sold his dome.[7] He then went in search of other (non-dome) ways to build – across the U.S.A., Ireland, and England, and the bookShelter (1973) was the result.[9]
During the next two decades, Shelter Publications produced a series of fitness books, including Bob Anderson'sStretching (which has sold three million copies and is in 31 languages),Galloway's Book on Running by OlympianJeff Galloway, andGetting Stronger by legendary bodybuilderBill Pearl. From 1997 to 2015, Shelter Publishing also produced StretchWare, software by Bob Anderson that reminds you to stretch at your computer.[10]
In 2004, Kahn publishedHome Work: Handbuilt Shelter.[4]Home Work summarizes the best of his work over the past 30 years photographing buildings and interviewing builders, and includes numerous buildings directly inspired by the bookShelter.[4]The Septic Systems Owner's Manual, first published in 2000, was extensively revised in 2007. In 2008 Shelter Publications published the first English translation of Brazilian architect Johan van Lengen'sThe Barefoot Architect: A Manual on Green Building. Also in 2008, Kahn authoredBuilders of the Pacific Coast. Kahn authored a photo book about tiny houses, titledTiny Homes: Simple Shelter published January 2012. Kahn's newest book isTiny Homes on the Move published in April, 2014.[11]
In keeping with his fitness theme, Kahn, at the age of 76, continued to surf, paddle board, and skateboard (longboard).[12]
In 2016, Kahn had a solo exhibition of his photography,Lloyd Kahn: Driftwood Shelters, curated by Jennifer Gately at the Bolinas Museum.[13]
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