Xialapu Village is responding to the Chinese national poverty alleviation and relocation policy. The pattern of the new village has changed from random growth to a deliberately planned fan-shaped belt layout. The local government wanted to build an amalgamated dwelling to improve and solve the housing needs of the lonely elderly people in the village. … Read more
Jaya Thursfield and his Japanese-born wife, Chihiro, moved to Japan from London in 2017 with their two young sons and a dream of buying a home with a big yard. What they found was a house that had been abandoned about seven years earlier — one of the millions of vacant houses known as akiya, … Read more
The four houses shown above are completely different in size and style, but they are all environmentally friendly, cheap, and fast to construct because they are made with earthbags. The four earthbag dwellings above are, clockwise from top left, in Veracruz, Mexico, Capetown, South Africa, Ahwaz, Iran and Durban, South Africa. Many countries with urgent … Read more
Straw Bales for Shelter: a guide for building emergency shelters with bales is available for download now. This new guide is free to download and share courtesy of Matts Myhrman, David Eisenberg and Robert Cook. It offers clear explanations and excellent details for straw bale shelter construction. Table of ContentsIntroduction 3Site preparation and moisture barrier … Read more
Natural cork has been harvested sustainably since Roman times. Cork bark can be harvested every 9 years from long-lived cork oak trees. After punching out corks for wine stoppers, the leftover cork can be ground, placed into molds, and injected with steam to form blocks of insulation. Cork binds to itself, so no additional binding … Read more
A team of architects has won The Rammed Earth Pavilion competition with their greenhouse, which was built in the UK. Organized by Buildner, a leading architecture competition platform, participants were tasked with designing a temporary or permanent pavilion structure constructed of rammed earth material in a location of their choice. Hooke Garden was created by … Read more