The success of suburbia in America represents a widespread desire to re-create the country in the city (or vice versa), fostered by both the nostalgic view of America’s agrarian past, and its abundance of land and natural resources. But why does this desire to live in some image of the past exist? Why are so many city-dwellers taken with the idyllic imagery of the countryside? Perhaps the way ‘they used to live’ represents a more holistic approach to life, one in which the human being understood his connection to the earth and his fellow human beings.

Alternatives exist to modern urban and suburban lifestyles. Among these, the model of the eco-village stands out as a particularly interesting combination of low-tech organic farming, high-tech energy systems, and the desire to live in community.
 

 The project consists of a prototype housing/multipurpose development that fosters community and ecological connectedness by responding to three tenets of holistic living: personal satisfaction, social satisfaction, and ecological soundness. The goal was that in the authenticity of architectural expression, a holistic truth will be revealed about human nature that encompasses physical, mental, spiritual, vocational and ecological dimensions. Located in the southern part of Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, KS, on the cusp of suburban development and near patches of rural remnants, the ecovillage makes a statement about the status quo of modern suburbanites verses the possibilities of quality of life and sustainability.