Structural aspects

A Couple’s Hand Cranked Utopia

by

In 1978 the Howards were urban professionals. Wanting a simpler, more meaningful life on a smaller budget, the family-of-4 lived on $18K/year, reducing costs to $10K/year after moving to their “intentional” Colorado homestead. They moved into an abandoned double-wide trailer on their 35 acre property and began raising chickens and goats for milk, as well … Read more

Rammed Earth in Nepal

by

The 2015 quake that saw the collapse of predominantly brick, mud, and mortar buildings in Nepal, fed the public perception that concrete structures are more durable. But civil engineers and architects say technologies like rammed earth would be environmentally more sustainable and earthquake-resilient. Nepal’s domestic cement production more than tripled from 3 million tons to … Read more

Building a Survival Mini House in the Woods

by

This video made by Athos shows him building a completely natural small dream house with dead wood, pine needles, thorns, moss, rocks and clay. It took him over two weeks and there are still some finishing touches he plans. You can watch the video at www.youtube.com and you can find out more at his channel: … Read more

Using Tree Forks as Load-Bearing Joints

by

Wood provides a natural form of carbon sequestration, so there’s a move to use timber in place of industrial materials for building. Indeed, some countries are calling for public buildings to be made at least partly from timber, and large-scale timber buildings have been appearing around the world. As the timber industry seeks to produce … Read more

The Tabo Mud Monastery in India Has Endured Over 1,200 Years

by

The use of raw earth to build public and private structures has been practiced for thousands of years, with over 1.7 billion people across the globe living in earthen homes. But its integration in urban infrastructure and planning is something we ought to explore more. Raw earth with other materials left to dry and harden … Read more