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
Refugee shelters are being developed in northern Kenya as part of an ambitious project by UN-habitat and the Voluntary Architects’ Network to realize four dwelling types dubbed ‘the Turkana houses’ for a pilot neighborhood. These shelters will house refugees who, because of perpetual conflict and civil war, can not return to their homes in Sudan. … Read more
Blending passive solar design with a contemporary flair, this four-bedroom home in Connecticut has earth sheltering, radiant floors and solar panels. It was designed by Charles Woods, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, and was featured on the cover of Popular Science Magazine in 1988. Charles has written 4 books including, Natural Architecture , The Complete … Read more
Terran’s 3D printing system emulates traditional adobe hand-building techniques to produce walls that are soundproof and fireproof. Using reinforcement learning, they are training custom-designed unmanned aerial drones to emulate traditional earthen building techniques. By leveraging the world’s most abundant building materials—clay, aggregate, and straw—Terran walls save 50% on construction costs versus conventional stick-built walls. Terran’s … Read more
We live in a small community on the north coast of Portugal. We have the main facilities (big kitchen, compost toilet, shower, etc) separate from our cabin. This is the little water mill ruin we want to build on. and a sketch of the structure we thought of… We are now working on the foundation … Read more
Architect Joris Verhoeven’s family home, Four Seasons, is a model of sustainable design. The house features self-healing siding sealant, negative carbon footprint and more. It is a modern-style home located in an old sheep grazing heather field. It is a prefabricated structure designed by the architect, built with wood framing cassettes filled with flax insulation. … Read more