Cob building is a method in which clay, sand, and plant fibers (usually straw) are mixed manually and molded directly in place. Unlike bricks, blocks, or concrete walls, cob doesn’t use forms, doesn’t require molding and allows for the creation of curved walls, niches, arches, built-in benches, round windows, and sculpted details. There are cob … Read more
Housing NOW is a modular bamboo housing system that provides rapid, affordable homes in Myanmar’s conflict- and disaster-affected regions. They use small-diameter bamboo bundled into structural frames that interlock to form the backbone of each house. This method uses abundant, low-value bamboo culms from local sources and transforms them into load-bearing construction elements through bundling, … Read more
Scientists at the University of Maryland have turned ordinary wood into a material that rivals steel in strength and weighs far less—and it’s already heading to market. What emerged is now called Superwood, a material created by altering natural wood’s internal structure to boost its strength, reduce weight, and improve resilience. The process, developed and tested … Read more
“We all grew up with the Three Little Pigs,” Greg Bossie says. “So people have a lot of misconceptions about the viability of straw as a building component.” But no one’s huffing, puffing, and blowing houses down that are constructed or renovated by Rare Forms, a unique construction company that Bossie founded in 2020. “We … Read more
A group of researchers at RMIT University in Australia has been looking at discarded cardboard and wondering if it could do something useful. Their experiments led to a mix of cardboard, soil, and water that behaves like a building material, not packaging. Early trials point to real potential, especially for builders who are trying to … Read more
Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site near La Junta, Colorado has been closed to the public due to safety issues with the structure. The current fort building was constructed in 1976 on the footprint of the original mid-1800s trading post that was a meeting place and major settlement along the Santa Fe Trail for trappers, … Read more