Ross and Kristin Ulibarri live in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Valverde Commons, a senior co-housing community within walking distance of historic Taos Plaza in New Mexico. Its sculpted adobe-style exterior makes it look like a traditional Southwestern dwelling. The house has triple-glazed windows and air-tight insulation, so it rarely needs any heating beyond the … Read more
Solar Adobe: Energy, Ecology & Earthen Architecture by Albert Narath was published this year by the University of Minnesota Press and would be a fine addition to any architectural library. The book focuses on the history of earthen building, mainly in the United States, and primarily during the Twentieth Century. Much attention is placed on … Read more
Wood is inherently imprecise. Its grain reverses and swirls. Trauma and disease manifest in scars and knots. Instead of viewing these natural tendencies as liabilities, Achim Menges, an architect and professor at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, sees them as wood’s greatest assets. Menges and his team at the Institute for Computational Design and … Read more
Italian construction company BIOmat Canapa has created a 100% natural and recyclable brick, crafted from a blend of lime and canapulo, with exceptional insulation properties while combating humidity. Canapulo is a specialized hemp variety cultivated specifically for construction. Lime acts as a vital binding agent, ensuring cohesion and bolstering the overall strength of hemp bricks. … Read more
The Di Linh House, designed by K59 Atelier in Vietnam uses local materials, such as timber and rammed earth. It is a 50 sm (538 sf) dwelling, constructed in 2022 for a family. With little rainfall during the dry season, a reservoir for harvesting water was created further up the valley. The soil from the … Read more
When the Watershed Conservation Center in Ontario, Canada was built in 2012, a 75 m2 (807 sf) live roof garden was installed on either side of the sidewalk leading up to the front doors. The live roof sits on top of part of the basement of the old office building, which was retained and renovated … Read more