The Crestone Eagle • March, 2013 • Page 15
Who We Are
Michael Bertin; from monkeywrench to master architect
tions in Boulder he was introduced to Hanne Strong and began visiting Crestone. “Hanne was the first person who connected some dots for me to realize that a sustainable future can only happen in respect of the sanctity of nature,” he says. “That was very influential for me—the fusion of sustainable and sacred.” After moving to Crestone in 1982, he did design work for the Carmelite’s Nada Hermitage, including a couple of its first retreat houses. Over the years his firm, Architectural Harmonics, designed retreat centers for Vajra Vidya and Dharma Ocean, La Capilla de Todos Santos (Chapel of All Saints) in San Luis, and commercial and residential projects in Crestone and the Boulder area. In 1992 the Manitou Foundation commissioned Michael to design a self-sufficient affordable housing community and educational center
chael explains. It takes into account and makes use of all the natural forces acting on the site, including sun, water, air patterns, landforms and subtle energies. Incorporating the use of low-impact, regionally available resources, the biome approach sees the built environment as a living entity whose needs—and Michael Bertin (pronounced Bertine). those of its inhabitants—for energy, nourishment, waste processing and ing high school, Michael found himthe spiritual qualities of beauty and self drawn to a display touting the arcomfort are all encompassed within chitectural field. He went on to earn its harmonious an architecture degree from the New design. York Institute of TechnolOut of ogy, where a visionary the marshes, professor introduced him into the goldto the use of sacred geomen mean etry and the golden mean. All of this Manifesting magcame later, of ic course. Back Architecture took a on Long Island, backseat in Michael’s life square houses during the 1970s. LivDharma Ocean House, which inspired spiritual teacher Reggie Ray went up. Mito ask Michael to design the Dharma Ocean Retreat Center. ing in Maine and helpchael was sur photo by Michael Bertin ing his brother develop a rounded, for business, he lived with a the first time, group of friends exploring by neighborhoods filled with kids his look-alike houses rising from what metaphysics, the occult Vajra Vidya Retreat Center. Michael blends elements of age. “All of a sudden I had a social had been marshland and woods. Misustainability and the sacred in his design of residential, and what they called “op- commercial or sacred spaces. photo by Lori Nagel life,” he grins. “I dragged myself out chael quietly listened and feigned erative magic.” The leader of the swamps, got a transistor radio shock. Then he went to his room and challenged them by deon land in the Grants, to be known and had lots of friends.” He also beplanned his next move. claring: “The nature of reality is not as High Altitude Solar Adobe Vilcame fascinated by drawing houses, “I became, in my own mind anywhat you think it is. It’s Silly Putty; lage. The design included innovative discovering that along with musiway, an infamous saboteur,” he says, what are you going to do with it?” plans for producing all its own energy, cal facility, his artistically talented smiling at the memory. “I put my The group’s response was an intense, growing its own food, processing its creative genius to rather destructive own waste and providing an economends. I was singlehandedly trying fuic base for its residents. (See architilely to stop the development.” tecturalharmonics.com for details on Of course it didn’t stop. And this project and biome design.) Michael didn’t get caught. But the Toward self-reliance seemingly sudden and senseless While a lack of funding has destruction of forests and tidal thus far prevented the project’s remarshland where he’d virtually alization and its original site was lived outdoors throughout his boygranted to other groups, Michael conhood made a profound impact on tinues to passionately believe in the his sense of right and wrong in the concept and would love to see it beworld. It also pointed him in the dicome reality. Meanwhile he envisions rection of his future career—as an ever-increasing self-reliance for the architect dedicated to building in greater Crestone/Baca community, harmony with, rather than displacespecially through local production ing, the natural world. of energy and food. He believes that This deeply felt, ahead-of-itswith cooperation, support and shared time notion gradually developed into resources, the abundance of quietly what Michael now calls biome design. brilliant innovators and inventors Based on the example of complex, Michael is passionate about a project that hasn’t happened yet, but he hopes it will. The here could spur development of such High Altitude Solar Adobe Village (or Solar Village) would combine affordable housing delicately balanced and self-sustainadvances as point-of-use power genwith state-of-the-art biome design elements to provide its own power, water, waste ing pristine ecosystems and the living processing, food growing and economic opportunities in a sustainable, site-specific eration. Based on the ideas of Nikola earth itself, the biome model envisions community on Crestone-area land. photo and drawing by Michael Bertin Tesla and others, these could involve the built environment as a highly inharnessing free energy from sources tentional melding of the sacred and esoteric blend of ancient rituals and including the earth’s magnetic field. grandfather had passed on a natural sustainable. A biome-designed strucEastern spiritual practices that led Michael also wants to reach ability to incorporate perspective in ture or community functions as an to “amazing experiences,” Michael back to the proven, ancient technoldrawing. At a career night event durintegral part of its local ecology, Mirelates. Among them, manifesting a ogy of the water wheel for local power mansion on the Maine coast where generation at sites such as Cottonthe 16 friends lived for six months wood Creek. In 2012 he presented virtually for free. Synchronicity consuch a plan to the Baca Grande Water tinued to operate in his life after he and Sanitation District. It was enthuleft the group. He lived in another siastically received but then was sideMaine coast mansion, used the tide MICHAEL BERTIN, ARCHITECT lined during the controversy over adto generate electricity, pursued a pas25 years, designing in Crestone ditives in the district’s water system. sion for gardening and met his future He hopes to reopen the discussion in Crestone: (719) 256-4854 (now ex-) wife Pamela, who like him when funding from a future grant cyphone: (303) 415-1618 had long, flaming red hair. In 1980 cle might allow it to move forward. “I they and two other couples and kids do see our potential here as a 100% email: michael@architecturalharmonics.com moved to Boulder after being invited self-sustaining community with a to help start an intentional communegative carbon footprint,” Michael nity there. reflects. “None of this is new. It’s just website: Harmonic design a compilation of ideas already there.” The community didn’t matewww.architecturalharmonics.com Michael can be reached at 719rialize, and Michael joined a small 256-4854 or architecturalharmonics. architectural firm. Through conneccom. by Gussie Fauntleroy Early on summer mornings in 1958, just as construction crews were starting work in a rural, wooded, soon-to-be-suburban area of Long Island, New York, 12-year-old Michael Bertin could sometimes hear the earsplitting screech of a bulldozer engine whose gas tank had received the extra ingredient of sand. He secretly smiled. At the dinner table, his parents talked of a wave of vandalism sweeping through the blocks of