Preservationists are in a constant race against time to save historic places at risk of being lost not just to the wrecking ball, but also to neglect and the elements. Each year, Colorado’s Most Endangered Places, a program of Colorado Preservation, Inc., adds new sites to the list. “History is not just museums,” says Katie … Read more
On the heel of Italy’s boot, small stone huts with conical rock-covered roofs can be seen scattered among the olive trees. These are called trulli and can be found throughout the Itria Valley, where there are approximately 50,000 of them, especially in the town of Alberobello, where there are roughly 1,500 of them. Some trulli … Read more
Iain Ruadh MacMaster arrived on Cape Breton Island from Scotland in 1801. He climbed the slope of his land grant—approximately 200 acres from the shoreline up and over the rise—and built his house on the hillside. Legend has it that a driving rainstorm washed that first house down the hill. So he set to building … Read more
Michael Reynolds, the 77-year-old architect and founder of Biotecture Enterprise has been experimenting near Taos, New Mexico for more than 50 years with constructing Earthships, self-sufficient off-grid houses that harvest their own electricity, water and heat. “We build according to six principles,” Reynolds sums up his philosophy. “Passive thermal heating and cooling, power from the … Read more
Standard brick kilns use a diverse range of energy sources to fire bricks, all of which release noxious pollutants and particulate matter into the environment. Also the raw material for bricks comes from top soil and clay, depleting precious land resources, which could otherwise be used to grow food. Brick manufacturing innovators are exploring the … Read more
The site is private land of 8 acres with a dense forest of coconut, mango, Nutmeg, Teak, etc. They didn’t want to cut down any trees so the building was positioned with this in mind. They wanted no steel or concrete so they designed a timbrel, catenary-based vault structure. Twin Vault structures were made with … Read more