London-based New Makers Bureau has built a new Kampala art center in Uganda from materials excavated from the site itself – earth, wood and reclaimed brick. “We took cues from the idea of archaeology and excavation, literally mining the site for material,” says founding director James Hampton. New Makers Bureau collaborated with Localworks on the … 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
Natural cork has been harvested sustainably since Roman times. Cork bark can be harvested every 9 years from long-lived cork oak trees. After punching out corks for wine stoppers, the leftover cork can be ground, placed into molds, and injected with steam to form blocks of insulation. Cork binds to itself, so no additional binding … Read more
A home is so much more than its physical manifestation in the world. It is a place of togetherness, of gathering, of sharing, and of connecting. The mission of inourhands.love is to leverage their building technique to support those in need by providing warmth, stability, economic opportunity, and hope. The act of building a home … Read more
Michael Reynolds, the 77-year-old architect and founder of Biotecture Enterprise has been experimenting near Taos, New Mexico for more than 50 years with constructing Earthships, self-sufficient off-grid houses that harvest their own electricity, water and heat. “We build according to six principles,” Reynolds sums up his philosophy. “Passive thermal heating and cooling, power from the … Read more
These hempcrete blocks are a green building material made with a hemp-lime insulation mixture packed around a biocomposite structural frame. They can be stacked like bricks to build walls up to 30 feet high and they become the insulation and the structure of the building. All you need to do after the walls are built … Read more