When Myriam Ramsey visited the Permakultur Kalimantan Foundation in Indonesia last January, Frederika and her husband Jayadi were just completing the construction of a café they expected would provide a small amount of money to supplement their permaculture project. They had no idea of the consequences of this Café. Up to this point, their project … Read more
Building a better normal has been on the minds of many people who are trying to survive the widespread disruption. But how do we really build a more resilient future? We have been equating growth with success, but can we thrive while not expanding the economy? The idea of biomimetic design—using nature as a teacher—can … Read more
Gitai Architects used rammed earth and stones to build the Landroom observatory in Israel’s Negev desert. Landroom is intended to function both as a shelter from the sun and an observatory at night. It measures just 6 square meters (65 square feet) and has space for only two people. It was built where it is … Read more
It was in 1967 that the first Trombe wall was implemented in France. The system, named after engineer Felix Trombe, combines glass and a dark, heat-absorbing material to conduct heat slowly into the house. The standard Trombe wall places glass approximately 1 to 2 inches from a 4 to 16 inch thick dark masonry wall, … Read more
There has been a surge in interest in local food, grown using regenerative methods, resulting in more nutrient-dense tasty food that improves the environment in the long-term and this has been a positive outcome of the pandemic. Kate Egan and her partner Tom Carlin farm a total of 9ac in Westmeath, Ireland. “3ac are in … Read more
Adobe is one of the few materials whose production, lifespan, and disposal results in net-zero carbon emissions. In this article we will highlight the use of adobe in Araukaria Arquitectura’s project El Encuentro on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia which has a humid, rainy climate. Adobe block walls, unlike rammed earth, can be built rather … Read more