While vacationing, Nicole and Gav decided they “might as well” view some smallholdings for sale to simply indulge in a dream they had long carried. They were attracted to a 13-acre smallholding in west Wales, with a crumbling farmhouse and a yard full of derelict outbuildings. The couple immediately fell in love with it and … 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
When you stand beneath Mizzi Studio’s mushroom-like pavilion at Carbon Garden in London on a sunny day, light filters through the flax and resin cap of this mysterious “fruiting body,” as founder Jonathan Mizzi describes it. “The material has this lovely translucent quality,” he says. “When you stand under it, you become held in this … Read more
The Platform Hill pavilion, completed between 2022 and 2025, sits among the hills south of Chengdu and functions as a visitor destination and event space that capitalizes on scenic panoramas. The structure uses a series of interlocking timber arches clad with an earth berm that allows the building to blend into the landscape and echo … Read more
Rammed Earth House in England is a residence designed by Tuckey Design Studio, that combines renovated brick buildings with new rammed earth structures, using the clay soil on the site. The client wanted some run-down buildings on site to be demolished—but rather than this rubble being wasted, they used it as the aggregate for the … 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