Simone Withers Swan, who introduced Nubian vaulted adobe construction to the Chihuahuan desert of Texas and Mexico at the turn of the 21st century, died in Tucson, Arizona, on January 16, 2025. She was 96 years old. Simone Swan was a legendary personality: mercurial, seductive, cultivated, curious, determined, imperious. She was by turns an architectural … Read more
This old Vicarage in the UK is a 17th-century cob building built on tall sandstone footings with a Victorian limestone extension built in 1850, and a smaller brickwork extension believed to be from the late 1800s, that serves as the entrance. The building was bought by Great Western Railway in 1939 and converted into flats. … Read more
In October 2020, when a fire threatened Pasadena, California Kenjus Watson and his family temporarily relocated with loved ones across the country in Ohio. Between the fire, terrible air quality, and the ongoing COVID pandemic, they felt the acute fragility of their situation. This marked a turning point him for him. Instead of pursuing an … Read more
In Minto, Ontario, Chris Vander Hout and Christine Hoy live with their son on a 20-acre property “in harmony with nature.” The straw bale home features a green roof with drought-resistant vegetation, locally sourced materials, hot water heated by solar energy, a rain-harvesting system, a composting toilet, a central greenhouse, a dug well for their water … Read more
An international team of researchers has systematically compared green walls, bare walls, and natural cliffs, and come to the conclusion that plant-covered facades help cool urban areas and provide habitats for plants, birds, insects and other organisms. The research was led by Utrecht University ecologist Katharina Hecht, and published in the journal Building and Environment. … Read more
b-home Studio in Catskill, New York is a project that has been Matt Bua’s life’s work for close to two decades. The artist and his friends have cobbled together over 30 structures concentrated in a just one- or two-acre area of the 27 acres that he owns. He has dubbed it a “mythical repurposed city.” … Read more