Windcatchers are a great example of the marriage between architectural design and the environment to help keep your house cool. For more than a thousand years, windcatchers have existed in and around the Persian Gulf, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling. Keeping cool through the summer involves controlling how all the elements in the house … Read more
A Copenhagen-based design studio has presented plans for a residential development that will be part of the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennial, whose theme is ‘How will we live together?’ The plan is for a ‘nature village’ which will eventually see a field in Denmark transformed into a completely new forest-neighborhood district comprising more than 200 … Read more
TECLA (an acronym for “Technology and Clay”) is a prototype eco-house built near Ravenna, Italy. It is made entirely by 3D-printing a material based on locally-sourced clay and is a collaboration between architect Mario Cucinella and 3D-printer manufacturer WASP. TECLA is a habitat consisting of two interconnected housing units, each covered by a semi-spherical dome. … Read more
In the heart of the Thar Desert in the Indian state of Rajasthan, this girls school was a pro-bono project by New York–based architect Diana Kellogg commissioned by a non-profit group. The school will serve more than 400 girls from households below the poverty line in the region where female literacy is just 36 percent. … Read more
My friend Michael Judd lived in Nicaragua for many years and moved to Frederick, Maryland several years ago with his wife to establish a permaculture homestead. I recently got this email from him that is so enticing I thought I would pass it on too you.Spring has Sprung in full force at Long Creek Homestead … Read more
A group of homeless people and activists have built their own unsanctioned community center from the ground up — creating a kitchen, shower, toilet, health clinic, and free store in Oakland, California. The grassroots project is expanding the limits of what a homeless encampment can look like. The community center, located in the heart of … Read more