Adaptive reuse fits the sustainability mantra of the “three Rs,” (reduce, reuse, recycle) but all too often we overlook the green side of architectural conservation. Whether it’s a Gothic Revival church, a modernist Centennial project, or a contemporary design in glass and steel, a completed structure has a huge carbon footprint. Demolishing an existing building, … Read more
This video is a journey following the sustainable harvesting and milling of trees, the forging of timber-frame chisels and the cutting of the joinery to build a timber-frame. This structure will soon be filled with earthen walls of adobe bricks, cob and wattle & daub. See www.caneloproject.com. You can watch the video at www.youtube.com
Uganda has a deficit of 2.1 million housing units, growing at a rate of 200,000 units a year; by 2030, the deficit is expected to reach three million units. The goal of the Kampala house project is to provide dwellings to middle to lower income families. The team behind the Kampala house project is Marc … Read more
On 50 scenic acres in Carson, New Mexico, sits the Veterans Off-Grid (VOG) property — a nonprofit organization founded by Ryan Timmermans, whose mission is to restore a sense of purpose, community, sustainability, and peace to veterans in need. The story of VOG began in 2017 when Timmermans realized his vision and bought the acreage … Read more
Under the gaze of southern Arizona’s cinnamon-hued Canelo Hills, a mother shares ancient building traditions with her three sons. In Puebloan creation stories, adobe structures, like people, emerge from the earth and return to the earth. For Athena Steen, it’s the family memories, skills, knowledge, love, laughter—and the clay itself—that endure. You can watch the … Read more
Humans have been living together in communities for a very long time, but modern communal living takes on distinct forms, necessitated by the different pressures and demands of our industrialized lives. Communal living can be an effective way to reduce your household rent and utility bills. This kind of communal living is often practiced by … Read more