Sod House, Green Roof

by Eric Bjorn Boyce

  • Essay
  • Multimedia
decorative header image from Volume VII Issue 2 · Spring 2021

“Sod House, Green Roof ” is a fifteen-minute video presentation I created for Rootstalk that traces the history and evolution of natural and organic architecture in the North American prairie. The short film draws inspiration from documentaries, video essays and personal narratives used to educate audiences about an often overlooked and underappreciated part of North American history. If you’re interested in knowing about old (or even ancient) building practices and what we can learn from them to improve construction today, this short video could change the way you think about architecture and our relationship with the land. Rootstalk leaf-bug icon marking the end of the article's text.

To link to the video on YouTube, click the hyperlink here.

Photos in this montage (clockwise from top left) are by Alexander Johansson, I-sustain, Dru! and Ms-Barrows, all via Flickr

Photos in this montage (clockwise from top left) are by Alexander Johansson, I-sustain, Dru! and Ms-Barrows, all via Flickr

Screenshot from Eric Boyce's video created using images from Flickr by Denisben (left) and Douglar Sprott (right)

Screenshot from Eric Boyce’s video created using images from Flickr by Denisben (left) and Douglar Sprott (right)

Screenshot from Eric Boyce's video created using images from the Boyce-Vjornevik Personal Collection

Screenshot from Eric Boyce’s video created using images from the Boyce-Vjornevik Personal Collection

Screenshot from Eric Boyce's video created using images via Google Maps

Screenshot from Eric Boyce’s video created using images via Google Maps

About Author Eric Bjorn Boyce
Portrait image of author Eric Bjorn Boyce.
Eric Bjorn Boyce, who is from St. Paul, Minnesota, is a fourth-year Spanish major with a Latin American studies concentration. His major academic interests include human rights in Latin America and teaching English to non-native speakers. At Grinnell he enjoys weekly Film Club meetings, playing in the Zimbabwean Mbira Ensemble, squirrel watching and napping around campus in his hammock.