Building Styles

Living Walls

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I recently wrote an article about living walls for GreenHomeBuilding.com, and in doing the research for this I came upon an interesting approach to creating a kind of living wall or retaining wall using geotextile materials. Basically, loosely woven bags filled with a growing medium can be stacked to form walls that then support plant … Read more

Reciprocal Roofs

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Ziggy has the best info I’ve found on reciprocal roofs at his Year of Mud website. See: How to Build a Reciprocal Roof Frame A reciprocal roof is a simple self-supporting structure made of poles or dimensional lumber that are arranged in a spiral pattern. No center support is needed. They are perfect for round … Read more

Cold Climate Earthbag Yurts

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There’s great, untapped potential for superinsulated earthbag buildings in cold climates. Here’s a way to combine the best features of earthbags and yurts. The basic idea is to combine earthbag walls filled with lightweight insulation such as scoria (lava rock), with a traditional yurt roof frame that’s insulated with perlite or vermiculite. Yurts (ghers) have … Read more

Earthbag Privacy Walls

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In addition to many other uses, earthbags also make great privacy walls. Besides being beautiful, privacy walls help block wind and noise, and keep out stray dogs and prying eyes. You can greatly enhance your home using this dirt cheap building technique. Protected from excess wind, plants can thrive even in harsh climates like New … Read more

The Earthworks of Kikuma Watanabe

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Kikuma Watanabe is an associate professor of architecture at Kochi University of Technology in Japan and is responsible for the design of several wonderful earthbag projects around the world. He collaborated with Akio Inoue (a Japanese professor of philosophy) on designing an eco-village near Lake Victoria in Uganda, and they have helped the Africans build … Read more