The Filipinos believe that man and woman first emerged from the nodes of a bamboo stalk. The Chinese view bamboo as a symbol of their culture and values; it is a symbol of prosperity in Japan and friendship in India. The plant is native to a wide range of ecosystems – from the hot tropical … Read more
Building with Mud for a More Compassionate World is a book about our inner and outer walls. It tells us how Homo sapiens became a WALL BUILDER, erecting more and more concrete and impermeable walls, thereby creating a world of division, separation, disconnection and alienation. The first part of the book Walls of Separation introduces … Read more
Over the past 10 years, Nigel Kermode on the Isle of Man has designed and built his art-deco-influenced house using hempcrete, made from the waste pith of the hemp plant stalk mixed with lime and water. A former art student with a background in architectural studies, Nigel decided he wanted to design and build his … Read more
This article describes simple, inexpensive way to make a recycled rainwater, solar-heated outdoor shower. Using materials found at a local hardware store, you first craft a rectangular rack to hold the shower head using 2x4s and 2x2s. Then screw eye hooks into the top to hang the rack wherever it’s convenient, or nail it to … Read more
Christopher Alexander, architect, academic and writer, died 17 March 2022; he was 85 years old. Christopher saw buildings and cities as living frameworks for human beings. He sought “to provide a complete working alternative to our present ideas about architecture, building and planning”. Like many critics of postwar reconstruction, he saw much that was destructive … Read more
The Matter. Space. Soul restaurant pavilion in Bangladesh is minimal in that entire elements constituting the mass of the structure are stripped away. What remains is a beacon of extreme utility related to vernacular construction and materials. The restaurant owner wished to extend his existing restaurant space, away from the metropolitan, wanting patrons to “breathe … Read more