This 5,660-square-foot home in Hyderabad, India—named Aurva Illam—was built entirely by hand, with hand-poured and hand-rammed earth. The spaces are designed to work with the climate, shaping a home that’s almost monastic with thermal autonomy, and a way of living that makes air-conditioning unnecessary. “From the outset, the intention was to build an earth home … Read more
By using local resources and eliminating energy-heavy manufacturing, rammed earth aligns with global decarbonization goals. It has become a preferred choice among forward-thinking people committed to sustainability. Below are five projects utilizing rammed earth in a variety of ways. An Eco-Village in rural São Paulo includes three homes ranging from a 538-square-foot studio to a … Read more
Mark Young has been living a self-sufficient lifestyle on a remote off-grid island in British Columbia for the past 21 years. He has built 9 experimental buildings on his 20-acre property using local and natural materials like wood, stone and cob, including: a cabin for himself, utility buildings for his solar power systems, a sauna … Read more
The ancient Arabian city of AlUla had been uninhabited since the 1980s, abandoned when a new town center was established nearby. Here, hundreds of mud-brick houses, huddled around a tenth-century fortress. The old town is now being restored as a cultural district. A void, formed from the remnants of two former houses, was known locally … Read more
Ashish Shah and his wife, Nipa, always wanted to build a farmhouse in the countryside. The couple and their two daughters lived in Mumbai. Nipa owns a brand that produces and markets organic, farm-sourced food, so they sought to set up a farm within a two-hour drive from Mumbai. Eventually, they came across a two-acre … Read more
When you stand beneath Mizzi Studio’s mushroom-like pavilion at Carbon Garden in London on a sunny day, light filters through the flax and resin cap of this mysterious “fruiting body,” as founder Jonathan Mizzi describes it. “The material has this lovely translucent quality,” he says. “When you stand under it, you become held in this … Read more