A week long straw bale workshop near Ann Arbor, Michigan had 43 participants. “Building a straw bale home isn’t much different than a conventional home,” said Andrew Morrison, who created the workshop. “It uses regular foundations and floor frames, with posts and beams, and from there, workers stuff straw bales into the walls instead of … Read more
Elliston, a tiny town in Newfoundland, Canada’s most eastern province, was traditionally a fishing community. Cod was king, until in 1992, the Canadian government imposed a cod fishing moratorium. Overnight, thousands of livelihoods were wiped out. Many locals left for work in other provinces. Some enterprising residents decided to put some of the legendary Newfoundland … Read more
The pavilion at the Luum Zamá development in Tulum, Mexico, will host a variety of programs, such as yoga, meditations, workshops and other community gatherings. The open-air structure was created by CO-LAB Design Studio with bamboo chosen for its sustainability credentials as well as its ability to resist hurricane forces. “Due to the carbon bamboo sequesters … Read more
An article entitled “Typical wildfire recovery is ‘rebuilding to burn’, but there’s another way” makes the point that instead of rebuilding burned houses with the same mainstream concepts that continue to be vulnerable to fires, people should look toward more naturally fire-resistant methods, such as strawbale, cob, adobe, stone, etc. Not only are these methods … Read more
China is sometimes called the “Kingdom of Bamboo,” because it is the world’s largest producer of the woody grass. But modern architecture has relegated bamboo to the “poor man’s timber.” Now, however, bamboo is being recognized as a superior building material for sustainable reasons. As environmental issues climb to the top of headlines, bamboo is … Read more
“Permaculture uses systems thinking and design principles to consciously design ‘landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs’” (David Holmgren) but one might think it go beyond this definition. EDGE EFFECT is a feature length documentary by Ana Sany … Read more