This rustic cabin was built almost entirely with materials found in the forest environment itself. The project demonstrates how traditional techniques, when properly applied, result in a stable, durable shelter that is fully integrated into the landscape. The structure has an efficient indoor microclimate, balancing temperature, natural ventilation and thermal comfort throughout the day. The construction … 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
This project was commissioned by a Waldorf school in Nairobi. The buildings needed to be constructed quickly, cost-effectively (achieving a cost of $250/m² or $23/sf), and with a temporary lifespan, as the plot lease was set to expire in 10 years. The concept was to create a small village for children nestled within the woods, … Read more
If you break open a chicken bone, you won’t find a solid mass of white material inside. Instead, you will see a complex, spongelike network of tiny struts and pillars, and a lot of empty space. It looks fragile, yet that internal structure allows a bird’s wing to withstand high winds while remaining light enough … Read more
The Great Mosque of Djenné, located in Mali, exists thanks to a delicate balance between mass, geometry and continuous human intervention. Rebuilt in its current form in 1907 on older foundations, the mosque occupies a roughly square floor plan, approximately 75 meters (246 ft.) on each side, forming a compact volume that dominates the flat … Read more
In 2021, Mathieu Munsch walked away from the “normal” script— rent, bills, loans, a regular job— and headed for a sloping meadow in northeast France to build something radically simple: a small home made from the earth under his feet, wood from nearby, and straw bales from local farmers. He kept it to 50 m² … Read more