“In rural Nigeria, a few creative visionaries have created something called bottle brick technology that allows them to build strong structures using water bottles and soil. After sourcing plastic water bottles from nearby streets and dumps, the builders pack them with soil. By stacking the bottles on top of one another and binding with mud and string, they’re able to create a functional house.
sustainable
The Architecture of Mud
Excellent documentary of adobe houses in Yemen. Highly recommended. This could be considered a must see video for serious natural builders and architects. The next time somebody asks me “Can you build more than one story with earthbags?” I should send them this link.
Bamboo: The Wise Man’s Timber
10 facts about Bamboo that make this unique plant so versatile.
‘Water Man of India’ Rajendra Singh
Stories like this give me so much hope that they’re starting to change my life. The ‘Water Man of India’ reminds me of the Miracle Water Village that we posted about last year and some other related ideas about Restoring Degraded Land. In every case, the ideas are very simple and yet surprisingly effective. Rajendra Singh rediscovered the ancient practice of building check dams to restore the aquifer. This simple method is turning wastelands into productive farmland and enabling rivers that were dry for decades to flow once again. The Guardian named him among its list of “50 people who could save the planet”.
Unlimited Roundhouse Possibilities
I’ve often said roundhouses are the easiest, quickest way to build small houses. I did a quick search of roundhouses built with sustainable materials and was pretty amazed at all the possibilities. For instance, here’s a site with roundhouse photos.