A research team from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered that sandcastle worms, marine creatures about two inches in length, construct intricate, honeycombed, reef-like structures by binding sand grains together. The composite adhesive they secrete contains both cationic and anionic proteins, enabling them to firmly unite … Read more
Freya’s House is an off-grid green building that showcases multiple natural building techniques from straw bale, cob, and rammed earth walls, to earthen floors, a green roof, and reclaimed, salvaged and locally sourced materials. It uses solar power for electricity, a legal composting toilet, and on-site greywater filtration. The house is located at O.U.R Ecovillage … Read more
Reset Materials is an exhibition in Copenhagen that features architectural fragments made from 10 different low-carbon materials, including earth, biocement, mycelium, silicon and straw, hempcrete, aerated concrete, recycled plastic, waste wood and plant fibers. The exhibition is the result of 10 collaborations between artists and architects to explore how these materials might be used in … Read more
There are three groups of stone used for construction: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary stones. Igneous rock, such as granite, is mainly composed of volcanic material. Magma beneath the earth’s surface hardens as it combines with mineral vapors and liquids to form a variety of geological formations. This coarse-grained stone is predominantly composed of quartz and … Read more
At www.permies.com there is a “beautiful cob” forum where people are encouraged to post pretty cob pictures. Not only are there some really beautiful photos, but also a number of videos about cob. This is a fun forum to browse, and I’ll post a few of the pictures to whet your appetite.
The hub for the Moravian Church in the Americas was Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Historic Moravian Bethlehem District encompasses the community’s oldest surviving buildings and preserves what was once the center of Moravian religious activity. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 and is now being nominated for the UNESCO … Read more