Form Follows Love: Building by Intuition

Anna Heringer’s book Form Follows Love: Building by Intuition – from Bangladesh to Europe and beyond is a different approach to architecture where human relationships, local materials and knowledge, inform the creative process. Photographs depict buildings animated by everyday life, where human presence and social interaction take center stage, and the architecture gently recedes into … Read more

Preserving Dry Stone Walls in Cyprus

“Preserving dry stone walls in buildings is an opportunity to promote Cyprus as a model of sustainable development, strengthen the local economy through the creation of new jobs and keep the island’s cultural heritage alive,” interior ministry secretary Ellikos Elia said. “The technique embodies ingenuity, endurance and harmony with the natural environment.” “In Cyprus, dry … Read more

A Framework For Evaluating Sustainablility

When we talk about sustainable housing, we rarely talk about how to prove that. The construction industry is one of the most polluting sectors on the planet. While both expensive and inefficient, it is responsible for up to 40% of global solid waste. Despite widespread talk of “green building,” real data is often hard to … Read more

Senegalese Company Champions Natural Materials

Elementerre is a Senegalese company founded with the mission of revolutionizing the construction sector using sustainable, locally sourced materials. Established in 2010, the company has made rammed earth its primary material, offering it as an ecological and long-lasting alternative to conventional building materials. Using compressed earth blocks, produced by mixing local soil with a small … Read more

Rice Hulls Used to Make Wood-Like Products

I recently got this email from Connor McKenzie who works with Modern Mill: “I enjoyed your recent article on using rice husks for compressed earth blocks and thought you’d be interested in another innovation: a Mississippi company that’s turning rice hulls into tree-free siding, trim, decking, millwork and more. Modern Mill  has developed a building … Read more

New Bio-Based Building Materials

“Biomaterials” are materials made using biological matter, and some engineers and designers are turning to them for their “visual richness”, alongside their eco-credentials. A growing number of people around the world are exploring ways living organisms and their products can be integrated into our built environment – from algae-based bricks to straw or fungi wall … Read more