For thousands of years survival in Norway’s countryside, where farms were miles from each other, meant complete self-sufficiency. Farmsteads were like small villages with several families living together and building their homes from logs and turf. At Oslo’s Norwegian Folk Museum, entire farmsteads have been transplanted log-by-log by master carpenters who use traditional joinery techniques … Read more
Cempedak is an island hotel built in Indonesia entirely of bamboo, recycled teak and rubber wood and topped with grass-thatched roofs. There are no walls, not even in the second-floor bedroom and shower, in order to catch the sea breezes and be lulled to sleep by the lapping sea. The architects converted the conceptual drawings … Read more
Students at the University of Stuttgart in Germany have developed a hybrid flax fibre/cross-laminated timber (CLT) roof for a prototype pavilion in Germany which enables column-free spans and demonstrates the structural application of a bio-based alternative to timber. This system forms the wave-like roof of an experimental building designed for a garden show on the … Read more
Biophilic design is characterized by an intrinsic connection to nature, whether that be lush walls of plants, open-air space, or organic, flowing forms. This farmhouse in India draws on these harmonizing principles by wrapping around a small mango grove. The Mumbai-based architects designed a curved building made of stone and brick that seems to hug … Read more
The United Nations Development Program is planning to utilize advanced 3D printing equipment from WASP (World’s Advanced Saving Project) in Colombia, to help address housing shortages. They will use the Crane WASP that can print directly using natural resources like agricultural waste and nearby dirt instead of requiring concrete. This equipment is versatile and mobile, … Read more
On the coast of British Columbia, Ryan Leech and Krysta Powers are building their two-story post-and-beam family home using light straw/clay for insulation. They are hoping to inspire change in the construction community, to build as ecologically ethically as they can. They have used as much recycled and reclaimed material as possible. The owners have … Read more