Tag: Architecture

People with disabilities can find tailored physical exercise. Meanwhile, a Dutch charity is installing multi-functional clubhouses at sports areas inside refugee camps. The buildings were designed by an architecture firm and are housed inside transportable shipping containers. Inside are shelves with sports equipment, alongside WiFi hubs, power outlets and a fridge. Electricity comes through solar panels on the roof....

An add-on makes wind turbines safer for passing birds. Decommissioned wind turbines offer shelter too. A design studio has converted a former machine cabin into a tiny house. The nacelle, which once stood at 100 metres and housed the power generator, is 10 metres long and 4 metres wide, offering 35㎡ of living space. Its glass-fibre reinforced interior was...

Hemispherical solar cells catch the light at multiple angles to generate power. Similarly, a Swiss startup is taking the sun’s position as its starting point, and its system comprises movable solar modules. They are attached to buildings by a framework, and angled by individual engines towards the sun. Installed outside windows, the modules provide shade and produce electricity at...

Pick up or convertible? An electric vehicle concept gives consumers the opportunity to change. Not so easy with a house or a flat design, though. At least, until now. Thanks to a Cambridge-based research team, residents could soon alter the layout of their houses to meet their changing needs. No need to knock through interior walls when they are...

Sawdust makes for stylish furniture, while flags embedded with seeds have a blossoming afterlife. Now, a research team from the University of Virginia is creating building elements from soil impregnated with stonecrop seeds. The 3D printed, one-metre high walls are soon ablaze with lush green. These reusable structures are not only low in emissions but also store CO2, while...

New beaches are being made from old glass bottles, while egg shells morph into tiles for home. Now an LA startup is using recycled plastic to create houses with up to 80㎡ of living space. Polymers, 60% of which come from plastic bottles and food packaging, are processed to form a mass which is 3D-printed into a simple shape....

Cocoa plants aren’t just used to make chocolate and buildings become more flexible. Now, an international research team has developed a design concept from which humans, animals, plants and organisms such as microbes could all benefit. The idea is to cover houses in several layers. Each of them is tailored to the needs of the organisms within. Humans, for...

Flexible building design is good for the environment. Traditional cement production is not as it's responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. A statistic that an American startup is striving to change. Inspired by marine ecosystems, the female founder experimented with bacteria that produce calcium carbonate. One of the company’s first products are stone tiles, manufactured in a patented process...