The Barefoot Architect is a book dedicated to helping economically-challenged tropical builders learn how to provide shelter, clean water, electrical energy, and sanitation by using indigenous, low-cost, sustainable building materials.

The Barefoot Architect is author Johan van Lengen's gift to the under-priveleged, ill-housed of the tropical world. As a former UN worker and successful architect, van Lengen saw the need for a book explaining in simple language, well-illustrated with lucid graphics, the process of building housing and providing a healthful environment. The theme of the book is that it is always best to search for the simplest solution with what one has on hand.