Ianto Evans is a Welsh-American applied ecologist, landscape architect, inventor, writer, social critic, and teacher.[1] He is known for his work building, writing and teaching about natural building, cob and high-efficiency solid-fuel stoves, ovens and heaters.
Career
Originally from Wales, Evans attended architecture school in the 1960s.[2] With Linda Smiley, Evans built what may have been the first cob house in North America after researching cob structures in the British Isles.[3] They moved into the cottage in 1989. They joined with Michael Smith to establish the Cob Cottage Company in 1993.[4] They also founded the North American School of Natural Building and innovated a distinctive "Oregon Cob" method, hosting numerous workshops on the technique.[3][5][6]
In the 1970s, Evans worked in Guatemala and Costa Rica, developing the Lorena cook stove, an efficient contra-flow cooking stove made from the same materials as unfired brick (sand bound together by claysubsoil).
As a back-to-the-lander and natural builder, Evans is critical of industrial civilization, corporate media, technology, and modern construction methods.
Evans, Ianto; Smiley, Linda; Smith, Michael (2002). The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Pub. Co. ISBN978-1-890132-34-7.
Evans, Ianto; Jackson, Leslie (2006). Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient Woodstoves You Can Build. Coquille, OR: Cob Cottage Co. ISBN978-0-9663738-3-7.