The Festo - Humans Living in a Hobbit's World

Close your eyes. Imagine we're all Hobbits, the halfling creatures created by J.R.R. Tolkien for the Lord of the Rings series, among other things. They walk barefoot and have hardened feet, transformed through a millennium of stomping through the mud and grass and rock of the Shire. They like to drink heavy ales and lagers. And boy, they like to smoke the good stuff, because in the Shire there really isn't much else to do. Hobbits live amongst the trees and the hills of the shire and generally bother no one but themselves. Living in their hillside abodes, dug out of the ground, they've learned to keep to themselves for the most part, a virtue that is generally respected through the various lands of their world. In fact, many of the different cultures and/or species living in Middle Earth couldn't even tell you what a Hobbit was. If that's not proof of their fondness of some good ol' fashioned privacy, then I don't know what is. Anyhow, their living quarters are largely exquisite for beings of their size, with long, circular halls and vaulted ceilings that wind and weave their way directly into the countryside. While our properties here may range from a lowly trailer in a trailer park to an acre with a raised ranch and a backyard and on up, theirs may range from a mound to a larger hill. Where we would say, "I own that parcel of land," they'd make sure to retort, "Well, that's my hill." Nowadays, actually living inside a hill would either disgust the rich and privileged or elicit chuckles of absurdity from the rest of the bunch, but whether or not you're ready for such a move doesn't change the fact that the move may happen.

I've recently come across a little something that would almost certainly improve the Hobbits' living conditions in Middle Earth and potentially improve ours here on Mother Earth. It's called eco-architecture, and it's science is truly mind-blowing. Engineers and botanists alike have discovered another way to live as one with the greenery around us, specifically inside the comfort of a tree or two. Experiments commence when scientists in Tel Aviv began looking for a way to better shelter those in earthquake and tsunami stricken areas. What they found was a specific type of tree that, when grown in air instead of soil and water, developed a soft enough root for shaping. The roots are then molded around metal structures that have already been shaped into a specific object. Finished projects include multiple park benches that even include their own natural form of shade. Future projects include streetlamps and an entire playground, and within the decade, a prototype home is expected to be finished.

Think of the positive ramifications for such a project. First off, and quite obviously, instead of chopping down the trees to build homes, we'd be living in and under the shade of them. Secondly, they would completely protect inhabitants from earthquakes and other natural disasters as stated earlier. Trees are generally the only things standing in the wake of said disasters. Third, these "eco-structures" would cut costs, strenuous manual labor hours, and would aid in the fight to go "green" by contributing to a more eco-friendly and eco-safe environment. And these are just a few of the benefits that eco-architecture would provide.

Surely, not many of us who have watched Lord of the Rings once or even upwards of fifty times could've imagined living a day in the life of a Hobbit, but perhaps, we should've. We could certainly learn a thing or two from them. They're a jolly people. Maybe this stems from their oneness with the land. Who am I kidding? It may have something to do with that, but their affection for the hash probably takes the cake there. All kidding aside, a world with eco-architecture, not that dissimilar from a Hobbit abode, is a better world. Period. Sign me up for the first prototype right now. You'll all soon follow. Give it ten years, and we'll all realize that it is a Hobbit's world, and we're just living in it.

Check out the article and the pictures. The house looks amazing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26438939/