Rural Australian Health Clinic is Sensitive to the Community

The ‘Puntukurnu Aboriginal Medical Services Clinic’  was built using rammed earth sourced exclusively from the site. It is built around a sheltered courtyard, where Australian hardwoods are used to minimize the heat effect. Built in Newman, a remote town located 1200 km north of Perth, the clinic places wellness at the center of the community … Read more

The Off-Grid Ecocapsule Transportable Pod

The Ecocapsule is self-contained egg-shaped, mobile dwelling with solar and wind energy. Sona Pohlova and Tomáš Žáček created the original design in 2014 for an American client “who had a big ranch where he didn’t have any infrastructure and he needed some living units for visitors”. They spent 5 years turning their plans into a … Read more

A Tour of a New Model Earthship

With walls made from old tires packed with earth, as well as upcycled glass bottles and cans, Earthships have always been built with mainly found materials. The home provides its own energy (with photovoltaics, passive solar and geothermal tubes), water (rainwater and even dew-water capture) and grows food in the greenhouse (necessary for temperature regulation … Read more

What’s a Colloquium?

I recently received the email quoted below from Matt Anderson. He writes about the new documentary that he has just released titled What’s a Colloquium? I watched the film and can heartily recommend that you watch it as well. Most of the video was shot during the last Natural Building Colloquium that I attended at … Read more

Welcome to the Jungle House

Welcome to the Jungle House was designed by one of Australia’s champions of sustainable architecture, Clinton Cole. It generates its own electricity, warms and cools itself, provides its own water and food – including fish, vegetables, eggs and honey – powers its own car, is smothered in greenery and is in the middle of inner-city … Read more

A Fun Underground BioDome in New Zealand

On the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, in the small village of Peka Peka, there are a series of hillocks that have windows and small white towers that rise above the landscape like periscopes. It turns out that this is the underground home of Friedrich (“Fritz”) and Helen Eisenhofer. Fritz is an architect … Read more