Manisha Lath Gupta and her family wanted to live in an environment where they grow their produce, and living with nature meant living in a home built using natural materials. Aanandaa house is built using sustainable materials like rammed earth, stone, lime, brick, and traditional roofing systems. These materials were sourced locally and they hired … Read more
www.motherearthnews.com interviewed Sigi Koko for a podcast that you can hear at that link. Below are some of her comments: I have a graduate degree in architecture and I then had worked for a construction company doing just conventional housing construction to get some experience building so that I could talk to builders better and … Read more
Straw Bales for Shelter: a guide for building emergency shelters with bales is available for download now. This new guide is free to download and share courtesy of Matts Myhrman, David Eisenberg and Robert Cook. It offers clear explanations and excellent details for straw bale shelter construction. Table of ContentsIntroduction 3Site preparation and moisture barrier … Read more
Chukum is an ancient stucco technique that fits in with modern design trends that highlight nature and simplicity. The material comes from Chukum trees, native to the Yucatan Peninsula. They are characterized by a thorny bark that is resin-rich in tannins, giving it a reddish hue similar to wine. Chukum has been widely adopted in … Read more
Iain Ruadh MacMaster arrived on Cape Breton Island from Scotland in 1801. He climbed the slope of his land grant—approximately 200 acres from the shoreline up and over the rise—and built his house on the hillside. Legend has it that a driving rainstorm washed that first house down the hill. So he set to building … Read more
The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center has produced a prototype 3D printed house made entirely of bio-based materials. The 600-sq.-ft. structure is composed of wood fibers and what the Composites Center described as bio-resins, making the building fully recyclable. All the components of the house—roof, walls, and floors—were printed on what the … Read more