Building codes require that buildings be designed and constructed to ensure minimum health and safety standards. These codes have developed over centuries with the primary goal of protecting against the spread of fire. But building codes may actually be contributing to the fragility of the built environment as a whole. According to architect and author … Read more
Jerome Osentowski, the founder of the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute is known the world over as a gardening guru. But now he is facing a challenge from a pest he never anticipated: zoning. Around Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, the legend is well-known: An eccentric old man living on Basalt Mountain had grown bananas at … Read more
A Cob Construction Appendix has recently been approved for inclusion in the International Residential Building codes in the United States and a number of other countries. The new code requires builders to test their cob mixes for shrinkage, compressive strength, and, in some cases, modulus of rupture. The shrinkage test is the most straightforward and … Read more
The United Nations has written a set of “principles for sustainable and inclusive urban design and architecture” for architects to sign up to called the San Marino Declaration, which architect Norman Foster is set to launch. Set to be ratified in the republic of San Marino, the declaration outlines a set of standards that architects … Read more
You hear a lot about mass timber these days. Mass timber consists of engineered and compressed layers of young wood that are glued together for strength to create larger panels and beams. You can create larger beams and have more flexibility with mass timber. Depending on the engineering technique used, mass timber can be called … Read more
Inspired by the church missions built in the 18th century in California, Dave Wills thought “If they can last that long, it must be a solid way to build,” explaining why he looked into rammed earth to build his dream home in Philomath, Oregon. The walls are made from earth from a nearby quarry, a … Read more