If it was presented as a scrappy bootstrapping story that would be one thing but the article's title is misleading in that it says it was only $5000 to build, which the actual cost was a lot more, the total expenditure was $5000 , but total coast of materials and labor puts it well above $5000. This is more what people were thinking.
Which all seem to follow the exact same pattern, ie. only counting the cost of materials that you have to buy. From that link:
The Soft Courtyard House
This design draws heavily on bamboo, which is readily available in China...
The Recycled Materials House
As the name implies, this two-story structure uses locally- and regionally-available recycled materials, both to reduce costs and to promote sustainable housing practices. For example, fly ash residue from local coal-burning factories supplements the concrete medium and replaces the more expensive cement component.
The composition of these L-shaped corner walls would be rammed earth and bamboo. In an innovative twist, the formwork that produces the rammed earth walls can be disassembled and then reassembled to create the roof.
Not saying that these aren't all excellent ideas, but if the original article is 'misleading', then yours is too.
http://web.mit.edu/cre/research/1k-house-project.html