Eco-Friendly Alternative Housing

Here is a list compiled by The Edge of Malaysia of eco-friendly alternative housing, Finished off with plaster a straw bale house is airtight, pest-proof and fireproof, making it sturdy and impossible to be blown down. It provides great insulation and can easily keep heat in or out. Straw is easily sourced, being a by-product … Read more

An Ancient Adobe Fortress in Iran to be Rehabilitated

The Izadkhast fortress, a Sassanid era (224–651) fortification in southern province of Fars, Iran, will undergo some rehabilitation work soon. A budget of about $50,000 has been allocated to the project, which includes reinforcement of the foundation and exterior walls and covering parts of the fortress with cob material. This fortress was built on the … Read more

Ricecrete

Michael G. Smith has been the expert on cob and light straw/clay use at greenhomebuilding.com for nearly two decades, and has answered innumerable questions on these topics, most of which are posted on the website.  In response to a question about using light straw/clay for a particular application, he wrote: Another possible solution, that I … Read more

Ancient Roundhouses of Wales

In this pilot episode of Tiny Homes Of The Ancient World series, we travel 2000 years back in time to the Celtic iron-age fort and roundhouses of Castell Henllys in Pembrokeshire, Wales. These large roundhouses have been recently reconstructed based on archeological evidence. In this video we learn how they were constructed and imagine the … Read more

Recycled Materials Form New School Rooms in Nepal

After the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, Supertecture was invited to design a school extension in the Himalaya mountain village of Dhoksan. The project embraced the idea of using donated materials from the buildings that were left devastated by the earthquake. The project involved the construction of four new rooms: three classrooms and a multi-functional library, and … Read more