Michael E. Reynolds (born 1945) is an American architect based in New Mexico, known for the design and construction of "earthship" passive solar houses. He is a proponent of "radically sustainable living". He has been a critic of the profession of architecture for its adherence to conventional theory and practice, and he advocates the reuse of unconventional building materials from waste streams, such as automobile tires, and is known for designs that test the limits of building codes. Career Reynolds grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. He has said that his father's habit of hoarding and reusing materials was an early inspiration for utilizing recycled items. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 1969, Reynolds immediately began producing his provocative work. His thesis was published in Architectural Record in 1971 and the following year he built his first house from recycled materials. The structures built under his direction utilize everyday trash items like aluminum beverage cans, plastic bottles and used tires. Instead of using conventional, energy-consuming, recycling methods, however, Reynolds takes the discarded items and recycles them as-is. His Thumb House, built in 1972, used beer cans wired together into "bricks", which were mortared together and then plastered over. The brick design was patented in 1973. Reynolds calls this practice "Earthship Biotecture". He cites as an epiphany the moment he realized that any object could be utilized—an old tire could become a powerful and durable thermal mass when it was filled with soil, or a pop bottle could be used for insulation. The packed soil stores and releases heat from the earth and sun. Each earthship home takes about 800 to 900 automobile tires. He has written five books on the subject. Soon he was building and selling his experimental homes while continuing to use trial-and-error to improve them. Two of his early self-sufficient communities include the Rural Earthship Alternative Community Habitat (REACH) and the 1,100 acre Social Transformation Alternative Republic (STAR), both in northern New Mexico. Over time, the earthships incorporated features designed to make them comfortable to inhabit while existing off-the-grid. Solar panels and geothermal cooling were added. The unusual homes caught the attention of celebrities and environmental activists. Actors Dennis Weaver and Keith Carradine each commissioned Reynolds to build high-end Earthships for them. Though Reynolds always stressed the experimental nature of his homes, disillusioned buyers filed lawsuits and complaints over defects, such as leaky roofs and inadequate