Here’s another Haiti project in the works. Text below is from their website. TYIN haiti is a TYIN tegnestue– initiative, comprised of a group of six students and two architects, all studying/ graduated from NTNU. TYIN tegnestue is a non-profit organisation working humanitarian through architecture. We aim to build strategic projects that can improve the … Read more
Tim Merritt is working to provide emergency earthbag shelter in Haiti. He’s currently at the Haitian Academy, the site of the only full-time medical school in Haiti, not far from Port-au-Prince. The directors of the academy have offered land and are enthusiastic about building with earthbags. At this point, he’s getting set up with tools, … Read more
I’ve been caught up in the tiny house movement lately, in large part because of Michael Janzen’s excellent Tiny House Design and Tiny House Living websites. These sites really are a gold mine of information. This line of thought has helped inspire me to think of smaller, simpler house designs. What do we really need … Read more
Here’s another project taking off to help Haiti. Text quoted from their website. We are an interdisciplinary research and design team from the University of Cincinnati. We were formed to provide a long term growth plan for the Good Shepherd Orphanage in Carrefour, Haiti. However, our ambitions do not stop there. We hope to use … Read more
[Most text quoted from the referenced article shown below.] Vernacular earthen houses located in seismic areas are at risk because of their inherent structural vulnerability. Adobe houses, for instance, are strong in compression but weak in tension. Earthquakes pull adobe houses apart, causing great loss of life and property. However, due to economic reasons, earth … Read more
Woodchip/light clay is a traditional building material in Germany and other European countries. It’s typically used as infill between timbers in post and beam construction. I’ve been told that bags of pre-mixed materials are standard items in building supply centers, and blocks can be made to order. The drying time, shrinkage and labor are less … Read more