We at Must TV are real suckers for an architecture show – give us a bespectacled, musing interior designer, a weird bit of land out in the bush, and some good pano shots of a completed project, and by Jove do we get excited.
There’s just something so satisfying about watching it all come together. If, like us, you go bonkers for builds, this YouTube channel will be right up your perfectly designed street. Primitive Survival Tool is essentially like a stripped back Grand Designs, where we replace huge timber frames with modest bamboo ones, and Kevin McCloud with a silent pair of Cambodians… Ok, it’s nothing like Grand Designs. But it is equally as rewarding. We sit and spectate as these two seemingly inexhaustible chaps somehow turn a barren looking piece of land into a mini pool house, water park, or even a hidden bunker. Using the tools and materials of the land, they somehow create properties that wouldn’t look out of place amongst Airbnb’s superhost offerings. And whilst mind-blowing, their videos are also perfectly peaceful, as unlike most YouTubers they’ve ditched the crappy rights-free music and instead leave us with the tranquil sounds of the Cambodian jungle, and the tapping of bamboo tools against clay. It’s minimalism with maximum impact.
Their account on YouTube currently sits shy of 5 million followers, and their most viewed video, titled, Build Swimming Pool Around Underground House, has an eye-watering 137 million views. For reference, the viral ‘Fenton!’ video that everyone in Britain has seen only reached 22. And it’s not just on YouTube that they’re enjoying fame, the compressed videos have been going viral on TikTok, too. So clearly, they’ve tapped into something here, and we don’t just mean the red clay ground they build on.
First shown January 2018. You can watch one of their videos by pressing play on the show image, or by clicking here.
