Gilberto Luna
was a Mexican pioneer farmer
who lived in an area of Texas
which is now Big Bend National Park
and Luna’s 130 year old Jacal (hut)
remains to be seen today.

Luna’s Jacal
is built with
walls of sandstones and limestones,
wooden poles as pillars supporting a roof
made from tree branches
weighed down with earth and stones.

Luna’s Jacal
like many other
pioneer huts
was built from materials
found in his environment:
We strive to build our happiness
from opportunities found
in our environment.

Today in Texas
people live in skyscrapers
built with concrete, steel, glass,
materials produced by years of
discovery, innovation, adaptation
of new ways of using materials
from our natural-environment
to improve our built-environment:
We strive to
discover new ways
to improve our environment
to improve our happiness.