The work of Patrick O’Brien and his Salamander Group has spanned decades, with curiosity playing a role in leading him from conventional home building in urban Detroit to exploring alternative building in Taos, New Mexico. In 1995, he and his wife bought land near Taos and built the first of many straw bale homes that … Read more
Bamboo Living co-founder and chief architect David Sands is at the forefront of modern sustainable bamboo construction. His Hawaiian-based company specializes in creating bamboo homes. The giant bamboos are the fastest-growing woody plant on the planet. If you go to the Guinness Book of World Records, it was nearly three feet a day that they … Read more
Adobe is the humblest of building materials, for which earth, straw, and water are formed into bricks and then dried in the sun. It appears in arid places where dirt is the cheapest and most abundant natural resource. Adobe buildings have thick walls for structural integrity, and the earthen bricks can keep the interior cool. … Read more
In 2010, climatologists said Pakistan’s floods that year were “the worst natural disaster to date attributable to climate change”. Despite having less than 1% share in carbon emission, the country is ranked 8th in terms of exposure to climate hazards. Let’s stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change. Private homes are … Read more
Casa Ballena is an art center designed for Mexican and international artists in Los Cabos, Mexico. Its design takes advantage of the topography in order to play with different heights and create a natural buffer that allows both views and private space. The earth that was removed to create the platforms was reused to build … Read more
A root cellar is an underground or partially underground structure used to preserve vegetables and protect them from frost through the winter. Root cellars are often constructed into hillsides and make use of the existing geography. Generally, they are constructed by digging a hole in the earth and reinforcing with wood, rock, cement, and/or other … Read more