Trash to Fashion: 13 Chic & Crazy Upcycled Collections
November 28, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design. ]
Rescuing discarded materials like parachutes, military blankets, shower curtains, wood chips and festival tents from the dumpster, eco-minded designers create couture that ranges from the cute and totally wearable to the artistic and avant-garde. Whether it’s ready for the rack or meant for the runway only, these 13 collections of upcycled fashion definitely make surprising and innovative use of items others see only as trash.
Recycled Packaging by Karishma Shahani
(images via: arts.ac.uk)
Designer Karishma Shahani distills the colorful essence of her home country of India into a stunning collection of upcycled fashion. “Yatra” includes recycled plastic packaging mixed with natural fabrics like cotton, silk, linen and muslin that were dip-dyed using plants from a local market.
Dresses from Paraglider Sails by Valerie Pache
(images via: valeriepache.fr)
New life is breathed into old, retired paraglider sails by Valerie Pache, a French designer who creates colorful and quirky upcycled garments. Pache takes this material – which she gets for free – and crafts it into dresses, jackets, accessories and even wedding gowns. “People are very surprised to see dresses in this material, especially paragliders who have no idea what can be done to give a second life to their sails. And that seems to make them really happy.”
Festival Tents into Costumes and Rain Coats
(images via: madeinschool.dk)
Long after they have sheltered thousands of music lovers at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, event tents can shelter fashionistas from the rain in the form of highly unusual upcycled clothing. Designer Lisa Våglund was inspired to use the material after seeing how much trash is left behind each year.
Discarded Wood Chips into Scaled Couture
(images via: ecouterre)
In the hands of designer Stefanie Nieuwenhuys, wood chips rescued from the floor of a university workshop transform into reptilian scales in soft shades of beige. Nieuwenhuys used this inspiration to create a collection of fascinating ‘biomimetic’ corsets, evening dresses, pants and accessories, working with a bio-waste firm to obtain discarded pieces of plywood which she laser-cuts into shape. The designer told eco fashion website Ecouterre that the scales created a “simulacra of nature, without discarding nature’s inherent harmonies.”
Reclaimed Underwear into ‘Knickers Dress’
(images via: design.nl)
Would you wear a dress made of old panties? Designer Antoine Peters gathered up dozens of undergarments and sewed them all up into this kooky experiment in upcycled fashion. The panties are interwoven, and some of the tags are still showing; the designer tried to use every component so that it would be a zero-waste project.
Amour Sans Anguish Salvaged & Recycled Fashion
(images via: amoursansanguish.com)
Designer Tawny Holt of Amour Sans Anguish crafts salvaged and recycled materials into cute, feminine, highly wearable garments. Each piece is entirely one-of-a-kind. Check out all of the lovely designs – including custom-made bridesmaid dresses! – at the Amour Sans Anguish Etsy shop.
Parachute Netting into Camouflage Garments
(images via: ecouterre)
Who would have thought that parachute netting could be so pretty? British designer Debbi Little teamed up with AO Textiles to create a line of lovely dresses and accessories made from discarded Ministry of Defense parachute netting.
Recycled Trash Shoe – by Christian Louboutin
(images via: nmdaily)
Would you pay over $1,000 for trash? How about if that trash were recycled into signature red-soled pumps by Christian Louboutin? The famed shoe designer created the “Ecotrash” slingback heel that incorporates trash from the designer’s dumpster including sequins, fabric swatches, thread and postage stamps. Unfortunately the heels also include python skin (a huge eco no-no) and toxic PVC.
Intricate Gowns Made of Recycled Paper
(images via: papier couture)
Decked out in Lia Griffith’s incredibly intricate paper couture, you might feel like you’re in a fairy tale, an experience that would only be amplified if you were to be caught in the rain. But Paper Couture’s creations, made of recycled paper, are more wearable art for runways and photo shoots than a viable option for weddings and proms.
Totally Wearable Upcycled Fashion by Goodone
(images via: goodone)
Now this is upcycled fashion that the average woman would love to wear, for prices she can afford. British retailer Goodone released a “Basics” line made from reclaimed, deadstock and end-of-roll fabrics that would otherwise have been discarded. The collection includes casual garments with figure-flattering shapes made of jersey and lightweight knits.
Military Materials to Warm Winter Fashion
(images via: lost at e minor)
Looking at this collection by designer Christopher Raeburn, you’d never guess that it was crafted from unusual reclaimed military materials like wool blankets and parachutes. For his Fall/Winter 2011 collection, Raeburn rescued these materials and transformed them into outerwear that doesn’t scream ‘trash’.
Wacky Raincoats Made of Recycled Plastic
(images via: ecouterre)
Why yes, that is an old shower curtain on my head, thank you for noticing. Designer Jane Bowler created these rather unusual high-fashion raincoats out of recycled and reclaimed plastics using stitch-free processes like heat-forming.
“Plastic Fantastic” by Tomaas
(images via: the coolist)
Okay, so these ones aren’t exactly wearable, but they’re gorgeous all the same. Fashion photographer Tomaas has captured a series of images in which models are decked out in common plastic items like water bottles and forks. Because of the styling, the plastic somehow looks much more high-fashion than it really is.
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Cob Creations: 18 Natural Homes, Pizza Ovens & More
August 1, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Home & Garden. ]
Cob is a natural building material made using mud, straw and lime that has been in use for millennia. Fireproof, earthquake-resistant and very inexpensive to build with, cob can be used to make stunningly creative homes, sheds, benches and wood-fired bread ovens. These 18 examples of cob creations illustrate the material’s beauty and versatility.
Three Cob Hobbit Houses
(images via: simondale.net, yearofmud, cob cottage co)
For those familiar with cob construction, these three houses represent the most recognizable form achievable with the medium. Cob lends itself wonderfully to rounded structures like the Simondale ‘hobbit house’ (top two images), a green-roofed cob house at the Dancing Rabbit Eco Village (below left) and another at the Cob Cottage Company in Oregon.
Stunning Cob Interior
(images via: greenbuildingelements)
There’s no end to the customization that’s possible with cob. Because cob is so easy to work with, even beginners can create staircases, niches, built-in benches, bookcases and other cob features in home interiors. This home, built by Meka Bunch of Wolf Creek, Oregon, is an incredible example of just how creative cob builders can get.
Cute Cob Cottage
(image via: greenvillages.co)
Is this cob cottage adorable or what? Built in a somewhat more modern design, this home features a curving roof, a second-floor balcony and chains that act as gutters and are also an interesting design detail. Stone is visible along the foundation; this helps to protect the cob from water damage.
Two Indoor Cob Fireplaces
(images via: firespeaking.com, onelessbrickinthewall.com)
Niches, bookcases and stairways aren’t the only interior details that can be sculpted with cob. You can make your fireplace out of cob, two, as illustrated by these two examples.
Cob Building at the Anam Cara Collective
(image via: cultureartist.org)
This sustainable cob house at the Anam Cara Collective in Asheville, North Carolina features lots of windows, a large wooden deck and solar panels for power. Anam Cara holds regular cob building workshops that teach participants how to work with this natural, inexpensive building material.
Adorable Cob Garden Shed
(image via: cityfarmer.org)
Not ready to take the plunge with a cob house? You could give a shed a shot. This one, located in Vancouver, Cananda, has a green roof covered in local vegetation. Its exterior was plastered with clay.
Traditional Cob Houses of England
(images via: supermac1961, buildsomethignbeautiful)
Cob homes are not a new concept; clay bricks have been used to create human dwellings for thousands of years. Cob in particular has been used to build houses in Great Britain at least since the 13th century. Many of those homes, with traditional thatched roofs, still stand today, and the style is experiencing a revival with companies like Build Something Beautiful using it for new construction.
The Hand-Sculpted House
(image via: tinyhouseblog)
This beautiful structure is home to Ianto Evans and Linda Smiley, authors of The Hand Sculpted House and co-owners of the Cob Cottage Company in Oregon. Though cob houses are often round, they can be built in any shape, with or without a wooden frame.
Four Fun Sculptural Cob Ovens
(images via: natural building, designbuildlive.org, ilovecob.com, dayonedesign)
A great way to practice with cob building is to construct a pizza oven. The book Build Your Own Earth Oven by Kiko Denzer explains how with step-by-step instructions, including recipes for wood-fired bread once your oven is done. These four ovens are great examples of cob ovens that double as outdoor sculptures.
Two Combination Cob Oven/Benches
(images via: mudsunfun.org, our ecovillage)
Cob ovens can also be combined with benches into one large structure. The benefit of creating a cob oven/bench combo is that in cold months, the oven will heat up the benches, making them a cozy place to enjoy the outdoors.
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Sliding Skin Adapts to Sunlight in Egypt’s SLIDES House
July 29, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design. ]
There’s no shortage of sunlight in the wide open deserts of Egypt, and while that means lots of potential for solar energy, it also makes temperature regulation difficult. But new designs for sustainable architecture, like the SLIDES House, adapt and adjust in order to maximize solar power efficiency while keeping occupants cool.
Representing American University in Cairo’s entry for the 2012 European Solar Decathlon, the SLIDES House combines elements of traditional Egyptian architecture with modern features. Designed in the shape of a matchbox, the house includes a double layered facade of interlocking perforated pieces mimicking the patterns seen in Arabic buildings. The building is made from a recycled material developed by the students, which is a fiber-reinforced polymer made of plastic bags and wood waste.
The perforations control the amount of sunlight that enters the interior of the building, providing a cool, shaded haven from the heat without a need for air conditioning. Solar panels on the roof make use of all the sun while a grey water filter recycles water for irrigation and toilets.
The coolest feature of the building (in more ways than one!) is hinted at in the name. The perforated panels can actually slide out to reveal an inner structure with glass walls. This allows occupants to open up the interior to the light in the winter months; the screen absorbs heat which is stored in thermal mass flooring.
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30 Eco-Chic Houses Made of 10 Types of Recycled Materials
July 11, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Home & Garden. ]
Waste materials that are reclaimed for new structures can be as simple as a bunch of stacked tires or a boat that’s no longer seaworthy, or as complex as old stone bricks re-sculpted to look like new. They can be roughly cobbled together into rustic cabins, or masterfully incorporated into stunning modern residences along with new materials. Sometimes they’re left as-is, their signs of age providing a sense of history, and sometimes they’re processed into something that leaves no hint of their origins. These 10 recycled building materials were saved from the landfill and transformed into the following 30 green homes, and many more around the world.
Bottles & Cans
(images via: treehugger, inhabitat, green upgrader, beercanhouse.org)
To some, they’re junk, but to others, discarded bottles and cans can be the main materials of a recycled home. Flattened tomato tins were turned into protective exterior tiles on a mountain home in Patagonia, and one million brown and green beer bottles were formed into an absolutely breathtaking Buddhist temple in Thailand. The ‘Beer Can House’ in Houston, Texas was was crafted over 18 years out of 39,000 cans of beer. The cans were cut up and applied to just about every surface, used as siding, decorative trim and fencing. Plastic bottles were used to build a schoolhouse in San Pablo, Philippines, resulting in a structure that’s three times stronger than concrete.
Ships & Boats
(images via: strangebuildings.com, sea-fever.org, mr38)
Decommissioned ships and boats can be brought on land and transformed into unusual residences that become the talk of the town. While it’s looking a little worse for the wear, ‘The Ship House’ of Dalmatia, Croatia is certainly a creative example of a recycled house. The sight of ‘The Ship Residence’, top right, might just cause you to run your own boat aground as you stare. Located on South Bass Island in Lake Eerie at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, the home consists of a former Great Lakes Shipping Boat that was built by Henry Ford and saw 50 years of service before it was moved onto the lot. Or, you could just craft recycled wood into an amazing house that just looks like a ship.
Glass Panels & Windows
(images via: plentyofcolour, design squish, inhabitat)
Recycled glass windows, plexiglass panels and even waste glass are transformed into light-filled homes. Kolonihavehus by artist Tom Fruin may not be a functioning house, but it’s certainly a source of inspiration for people looking to build green reclaimed houses; it’s made entirely out of used plexiglass panels, which the artist colored to create a stained glass effect. Another home in Freetown Christiania, a commune in Copenhagen, was built in the ’60s using reclaimed windows – bet they’ve never had to turn on a light in the daytime. And finally, though it might not be pretty, the bottom house is an inexpensive modular home with a build time of less than a week that was made from processed waste glass.
Barns
(images via: scdlp.net, trendir.com)
With cities expanding ever outward, farms are fewer and farther between – but that doesn’t mean that big beautiful barns should just be torn down. Many barns have been turned into stunning, spacious private homes, whether by simply insulating them and adding utilities or by completely disassembling the wood and crafting it into something new. Belgium’s reclaimed barn house, top, maintains the traditional shape of the barn it was made from, with lots of new glass and a fully functioning shutter facade for natural light and ventilation. Below, the heavy beams of a dairy barn were separated to form slats that protect rippled glass walls, making a formerly dense structure seem light and airy.
Shipping Containers
(images via: containercity, astorideponti.it, dornob)
Compact, stackable and found in great abundance all over the world, shipping containers are an ideal material for building homes and other structures. While they used to sit abandoned in shipyards once their short 5 years in use were over, now they’re configured into houses small and large. Individual shipping containers with pre-cut openings are simply lifted by crane and dropped onto each other in a pre-determined design. There are lots of DIY used shipping container house plans for those interested in giving this cheap, eco-friendly building material a shot.
Grain Bins
(images via: dornob, natural home magazine, gruenhomesteadinn.com)
Strong and sturdy, grain silos form the basis of round houses, left rustic or given a contemporary touch. Two silos were joined by a hallway to form a home in the rural American Midwest; another forms the main internal structure for a home in Greensburg, Kansas. The silo has been disguised in the latter home, so you would never even guess that it’s there. At the Gruene Homestead Inn in Texas, a front porch gives a silo used as guest chambers a homey feel.
Tires
(images via: globalgiving.com, earthship.net, makingthishome)
Tires are the main building component of ecological houses known as ‘earthships’. These homes, common in the deserts of the United States, are also ideal as low-cost housing in third world countries. Tires are plentiful and, when packed with mud, provide thermal mass to regulate the building’s internal temperature. They are often plastered over with a mud mixture that resembles adobe, though sometimes, they’re left visible. The top image shows a school in construction in Guatemala; the second depicts a wall in a Virginia earthship. The third image illustrates how tires have been used to make strong, inexpensive houses in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
Pallets
(images via: loftenberg, tinyfreehouse, inhabitat)
Did you know that shipping pallets are often made of hardwood? Once they’re used a few times to transport heavy loads, they’re cast aside, but this wood can make up the building blocks of a home. In Curacavi, Chile, a large modern home was given cladding made of pallets painted white, which provide natural cooling and ventilation, and let in light. Unmodified pallets could even be used to create quick and cheap disaster housing, used for everything from the front deck to the furniture inside. The modular Paletten Haus, designed by two students from the University of Vienna for a sustainable architecture competition, is modular and energy efficient; the students are working on smaller, similar designs that could be built for just $11 per square foot.
Reclaimed Wood
(images via: ethanhc, dornob, designmilk)
Reclaimed wood from various sources including demolished structures can add character and a sense of history to a home, whether it is used as an accent among more modern materials or as the main event. The ‘Treehouse of Hyeres’, top left, was made of wood and found objects and is clearly rustic in style; the reclaimed wood still retains the varying shades of tint and paint. Alternately, reclaimed wood makes up the core structure of a home which was finished with paler, newer wood for a beautiful contrast. The third home, also made of mixed new and used wood, achieves a similar effect.
Stone
(images via: feildenfowles.co.uk, dezeen, mauelribeiroarchitect.com)
Recycled scraps of slate from buildings no longer in use were reclaimed for both the roof and the north facade of the Ty Pren residence in South Wales (top). A crumbling stone villa in Portugal was rebuilt, the time-worn stone blocks juxtaposed with new wood and glass for a modern look, in a luxury country villa conversion by Manuel Ribeiro. The beauty of stone is that it can be carved back into new-looking bricks if an aged look is not desired. British architect John Pawson used reclaimed stone to create The House of Stone in Milan, which appears brand new.
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The Urban Jungle: Tiny Ecosystems Take Over Madrid
June 5, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Delana in Art & Design & Home & Garden & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
If you believe, as many of us do, that nature needs to be nurtured and protected in order to survive, then you may appreciate the small things that each of us can do every day to protect the Earth. Spanish artistic group Luzinterruptus, already known for literally shining a light on urban problems in Madrid, came up with a truly beautiful way of encouraging nature to gain a foothold – or roothold, rather – in the most unforgiving urban spots.
The Implanted Nature project was implemented in May 2011 by Luzinterruptus on an overnight journey from Malasaña to Lavapiés. The group created 50 tiny ecosystems, complete with plants, plastic animals, lovely lights and miniature greenhouses, and left them in the darkest and least plant-friendly parts of the city center.
Initially the project was going to be about preserving already-existing weeds and stubborn plants that always seem to poke their way through cracks in the sidewalk somehow. But in the busy city center where feet and cars constantly trample the ground, the group knew they would have a hard time finding even the most hardy of plant life.
They decided to bring their own plants, along with growing medium and a growth aid to help them survive. After creating the tiny ecosystems, the anonymous members of the group simply left all 50 of them there as a reminder to passers-by of the true beauty that nature can bring to even a city environment.
(all images via: Luzinterruptus)
The hope is that some (or ideally all) of the plants will take root and actually grow where they have been planted, bringing a semi-permanent splash of cheery green to the otherwise dull, grey streets of a busy urban community.
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Private Islands: Homeowners’ DIY Flood Deterrent
May 22, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Delana in Home & Garden & News & Politics & Tricks & Hacks. ]
As the waters of the Mississippi River continue to rise, thousands of homes are at risk of flooding. Past floods have taught us that dams, levees, spillways and other water diversion tactics can not always be counted upon to save towns or individual homes. As a result, some enterprising homeowners in the flood area are taking matters into their own hands with amazing DIY solutions for fending off the waters.
(all images via: Popular Science)
These incredible images, posted at Popular Science, show the inventive steps homeowners are taking to keep their homes out of harm’s way. Building up hills of earth around their homes, these residents are doing everything they can to keep their homes safe from perpetually worsening flood waters.
Some of the DIY dams are impressively effective, keeping the river well out of the yards and away from the homes. Others were unfortunately too short to hold back the swelling water.
The man-made islands create a strange sort of landscape – or river-scape, as it were. As the floods worsen and the water grows higher and higher, all signs of land are obscured all around the home islands.
While history has taught us that humans hardly ever triumph over nature – at least not in the long term – it seems that the homeowners who came up with the idea to build protective dirt walls have temporarily staved off disaster.
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Cheap Green Travel: 14 Eco + Budget-Friendly Hostels
March 14, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Geography & Travel. ]
Somewhere between luxurious (and pricey) eco-resorts and the most basic of dirt-cheap beds-for-rent are eco-hostels: inexpensive lodgings that are also environmentally friendly and often offer a relaxing place to commune with nature, even in big cities like Berlin and Barcelona. These 14 green hostels around the world range from modern European bunk rooms to incredibly rustic nomad tents in Mongolia.
Jetpak Eco Lodge, Berlin
(image via: jetpak.de)
Berlin is one of Europe’s most modern cities, but just minutes from all of the steel architecture and bustling nightlife is a hostel hidden in the woods, powered with 100% renewable energy. With its large outdoor recreation area and access to trails, Jetpak Eco Lodge is the perfect place for people who love a balance between the frenetic action of the city and the quiet calm of the country. It features a modern CO2-neutral heating system, solar hot water, composting and bike rentals.
Deepdale Backpacker’s Hostel, England
(images via: deepdalefarm.co.uk)
The Deepdale Backpacker’s Hostel offers beautiful, eco-friendly lodgings on the Norfolk Coast – the perfect home base when exploring the region’s beaches and historic sites. Located on a farm, the award-winning hostel plants thousands of trees every year, provides havens for wildlife on the property and gets most of its power from the sun. The 17th century buildings have been restored back to traditional Norfolk style, but insulated to meet modern energy-efficiency standards. Groups of up to six can rent their own private multi-bed rooms.
Hedonisia Hawaii Eco Hostel, United States
(image via: hedonisiahawaii.com)
Who can say no to a sustainable rainforest retreat in Hawaii? Choose from rustic huts, tents or campers, with ocean views or in the woods, at the Hedonisia Hawaii Eco Hostel. 10 lodgings are spread out on 3.71 acres, and part of your room fee pays for all the produce you can pick from the gardens. There’s even a ‘pee garden’, which is exactly what it sounds like (an outdoor restroom). The land has been restored from past use as a junkyard and the owners go out of their way to reuse things as creatively as possible, like cutting up old tents and sewing them into new living structures.
Gyreum Eco-Lodge, Ireland
(images via: gyreum.com)
In the wilds of Northwest Ireland, there’s a 100-foot green wooden structure rising out of a valley that the owners describe as ‘plum pudding-shaped’. Serving as a venue for music, workshops, weddings and art residencies, The Gyreum also offers eco-friendly accommodations in the form of dorms and capsule-like tents and boasts geothermal heat, wind turbines, greywater filtering and an organic garden.
Cabinas Tina’s Casitas, Costa Rica
(images via: tinascasitas.de)
For many travelers, Costa Rica is already an incredibly affordable destination – but the hostel lodgings at Tina’s Casitas make it even easier on the pocket. A five minute walk from the center of Santa Elena in the Monteverde area, Tina’s offers four houses with 9 rustic lodgings in all including dorms and private rooms with your choice of shared or private bath. The wildlife-loving owners are in the midst of a reforestation project on the grounds of the hostel, hoping to give back as much habitat as possible after many acres were lost to deforestation.
Krumlov House, Czech Republic
(images via: krumlovhostel.com)
In a 17th-century building on the Vltava River, visitors to the medieval town of Cesky Krumlov find a charming artist’s haven with as much character as the town itself. Krumlov House has private lodgings for 25 (no dorms), is powered with solar energy and has a renovated interior partially built with reclaimed wood. Energy-saving appliances, air-dried laundry, compost bins and secondhand furnishings are just a few green features.
Reykjavik City Hostel, Iceland
(images via: hostels.com)
Right beside the geothermal swimming pools in Iceland’s capital city is the Reykjavik City Hostel, dorm-style lodgings just 10 minutes outside the downtown area. Fun and youthful with games, movie nights and special events, this hostel offers local and organic food and fair trade coffee and is also environmentally sensitive with energy monitoring and recycling programs.
Mellow Eco-Hostel Barcelona, Spain
(images via: hostelworld.com)
With stellar reviews across the board and beds starting at just 16 bucks a night, the Mellow Eco-Hostel is definitely an option to consider when staying in Barcelona, Spain. Fifteen minutes outside the city center, the Mellow Eco-Hostel lives up to its name, providing bright but relaxing rooms, colorful common areas, solar-heated water, natural ventilation and recycling facilities. The 24-hour front desk makes it easy to check in and out at odd hours for maximum convenience.
Kulturgarden Guest House, Sweden
(images via: kulturgarden.com)
Stay in a former children’s camp overlooking Lake Björkasjö in Southern Sweden, with private bedrooms, a traditional earth house shower, a large self-catering kitchen and a breakfast buffet brimming with local and organic foods. The Kulturgården Björkekullen hostel in Bråtadal Svartrå avoids disposable products whenever possible, recycles waste, uses a variety of renewable energy sources and fosters closeness with the environment through activities like swimming.
Centre Ecologic Llemena Hostel, Spain
(images via: cel.org.es)
“If it is only a bed you are looking for, don’t come,” say the owners of the CEL Hostel in the Girona area of Spain. Because what makes this hostel different from so many others is that it’s like a resort experience – at a serious discount. Whether you bunk or camp in the woods, you can enjoy “a calm place close to nature”, with organic products and a natural swimming pool, not to mention learning about sustainable permaculture projects.
Enigmata Treehouse Eco-Lodge, Philippines
(images via: camiguinecolodge.com)
Artists, travelers, environmentalists and nature lovers flock to the Enigmata Treehouse Eco-Lodge in Camiguin Island, Philippines. A hostel, cafe, gallery and sculpture garden, Enigmata’s main treehouse structure is built around a 100-year-old Mother Acacia tree and is full of relaxing spaces open to the fresh air. Dorms start at under U.S. $10, quite a steal for a tropical getaway 600 miles from the nearest highway.
Grampians YHA Eco-Hostel, Australia
(images via: yha.com)
Get a bed in a dorm or your own private room at this youth hostel in the heart of Australia’s Grampians National park. Standout green features include solar energy, solar hot water, rainwater collection, recycled greywater and waste recycling. Ogle kangaroos on the hostel lawn or venture further afield for some rock climbing, picnicking, bushwalking, bike riding or fishing.
Bigfoot Hostel, Nicaragua
(images via: bigfootnicaragua.com)
You’re in the middle of a lush tropical paradise, going on amazing adventures (volcano boarding!) and enjoying all that Nicaragua has to offer – and the $6 a night hostel you’re staying at will even do your laundry for you. Bigfoot Hostel has a pool, a bar, free internet, a guest kitchen and a hammock area in a renovated colonial home. The Pure Earth Cafe offers all-vegetarian organic and local foods, and the hostel donates $1 from every guest to the Pure Earth project, which works on conservation, reforestation and other local sustainability projects.
Anak Ranch, Mongolia
(images via: anakranch.com)
Rustic? Check. Culturally rich? Double check. Unique? Absolutely no doubt about it. Anak Ranch is a working family ranch in the steppe-taiga country of north-central Mongolia, hosting ‘adventurous guests’ who want to ride horses on the Mongolian range and experience what it’s really like to live on the edge of Siberia. The owners will escort you in a horse cart to your lodgings in a multi-bedded ‘ger’, or traditional nomad’s tent. For about $40 a night, you can take part in Buddhist rituals, practice archery, relax in the sauna, hike up the mountains, make Mongolian cheese and take part in dozens of other activities that you might never be able to do anywhere else.
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Design (for) Disaster: 14 Emergency Shelter Concepts
September 17, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Home & Garden. ]
Emergency settlements made up of flimsy, impersonal white tents could be a thing of the past as architects offer up incredible designs for disaster shelters that are portable, easy to assemble, durable, comfortable, adaptable and made of eco-friendly materials. Ranging from an improbable pop-up skyscraper on an amphibious vehicle base to quick & cheap pallet houses, these 14 designs prove you don’t have to live like a refugee when hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters strike.
MASTODON Pop-Up Mobile Skyscraper
(images via: evolo.us)
How do you house as many people as possible, but with a small footprint? Look around any city and you’ll see that the answer is in a skyscraper – but such high-rises are hardly portable. Except for the MASTODON ‘Transiet Response System’. Designed by Adrian Ariosa and Doy Laufer, the mobile skyscraper is on an all-terrain amphibious vehicle base that transports the pop-up tower structure to the emergency site. The concept – which includes solar panels, wind turbines and a rain catchment system – may seem unachievable at the moment, but it’s an interesting idea to work from.
Modular Housing for Humanity
(images via: metropolis mag)
It starts out as a small triangle, but unfolds into a four-by-eight-foot room that can not only withstand years of use, but can be used as a basis for more permanent housing. Architects Deborah Gans and Matthew Jelacic created this compact concept for the Architecture for Humanity competition after studying both immediate and long-term disaster housing and realizing that permanent homes are often constructed around emergency settlements. The unit, made of scaffolding, is easy even for elderly people to assemble and the beams are strong enough to be used as structural support in long-term construction.
Instant ‘BiniShelter’ Pops Up in Minutes
(images via: binisystems)
Disaster housing needs to be mobile, low-cost and easy to erect – and all of those qualities certainly apply to the ‘BiniShelter’, which resembles a more permanent dwelling but assembles in just 30 minutes. Designed by Dante Bini, the house can be made from whatever materials are on hand, can be customized into larger structures like schools, and even floats in floodwaters.
Sandbag Structures by Nader Khalili
(images via: archnet)
“To build simple emergency and safe structures in our backyards, to give us maximum safety with minimum environmental impact, we must choose natural materials and, like nature itself, build with minimum materials to create maximum space, like a beehive or a sea shell,” says Nader Khalili, the creator of the emergency sandbag shelter that has since evolved into low-cost, eco-friendly permanent housing called Superadobe.
Adaptable Metaplate Disaster Shelter
(images via: the design blog)
A long way from disposable, flimsy tents, the ‘Metaplate’ disaster shelter by Singapore designer Kelvin Yong is made from durable but inexpensive materials like cardboard impregnated with resin and can accommodate piping, drainage and other necessary domestic facilities. The prefab housing simply folds up into a rectangular structure, making it very easy to transport and assemble.
Recyclable Translucent Recovery Huts
(images via: recoveryhuts.com)
Not only is the Recovery Hut a quick-assembling modular structure made from four stackable sections that weigh no more than 60 pounds each – it’s also fully recyclable, eliminating the waste that can come from a disassembled emergency settlement. Recovery Huts are also translucent, letting in lots of natural light, and if one 85-square-foot hut isn’t big enough, they can be connected into larger homes.
MyHab Disaster Shelter
(images via: myhab)
They may be small and squat, but MyHab shelters offer respite from the elements – and they’re multi-purpose. The recycled plastic and waterproof cardboard MyHab is often seen at festivals in the UK (rented for a pretty penny) in little mud-proof villages complete with clean bathroom privileges. And since MyHab is biodegradable, it eliminates all of the tent detritus usually left behind at such gatherings.
Expanding, Food-Producing Airdrop Houses
(images via: inhabitat)
What if disaster response teams could just toss magic balls out of their aircraft, which would grow into food-producing, water-filtering temporary shelters? As crazy as it sounds, this concept might just work – someday. Loaded into standard military aircraft, ‘Airdrop Houses’ are 3-foot diameter spheres made from a sponge-like material that expand up to 7 meters in diameter once they hit floodwaters. All the water that’s absorbed by the house is filtered into potable water. Once they set, seeds embedded in the walls start to sprout and provide food. It’s not viable yet, but like so many other design concepts, it could provide the basis for something that really does work.
Shipping Container Pop-Up Village for Haiti
(images via: inhabitat)
Shipping containers sit in port cities around the world, empty and unneeded. So it’s no surprise that imaginative designers are coming up with creative ways to put them to use, including this pop-up village for earthquake survivors in Haiti. Designed by Montreal organization Vilaj Vilaj, the community of 900 shipping containers would house 5,000 people and would provide open spaces, parks, and playing fields. Each 320-square-foot shipping container home would come complete with running water and bathroom facilities.
Sphere Emergency Response Shelter
(images via: tuvie)
After a disaster, members of a community – especially family units – feel a strong need to band together and communicate. Designs that emphasize socialization, like the Sphere, help meet this need. The Sphere is simply a circular configuration of connected tents with a courtyard in the center. Family groups get shelter from the elements and privacy but also companionship; a sense of community remains intact despite all they may have lost.
Almost Free Pallet House
(images via: i-beam design)
Making use of materials that are free and readily available locally is perhaps the best plan possible for emergency shelters, which makes pallets a great choice. I-Beam created this emergency shelter using pallets for the walls, ceiling, floors and even some built-in furniture inside. Local materials can be used to finish the building like straw for insulation and cob or plywood for the exterior sheathing.
Paper Houses by Shigeru Ban
(images via: shigeru ban)
Giving victims of natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes paper houses may seem like a cruel joke, but paper-centric architect Shigeru Ban has proven that paper tubes are a strong, durable, cheap and simple way to build emergency shelters. Ban’s disaster housing has been used everywhere from Rwanda to Kobe, Japan.
Accordion-Like ReCover Shelter
(images via: coroflot)
Sturdy, inexpensive and surprisingly cool-looking, the accordion-like ReCover Shelter by Mathew Malone is made from food-grade recyclable polypropylene that is folded and stacked for easy transport and is quickly and easily erected by just one person. It can be tied down to protect against the wind and simply zip-tied to additional units to form larger structures as needed.
Fold-Out UberShelter
(image via: tuvie)
Here’s an emergency shelter that looks more like high-class camping or a candidate for the ever-growing tiny house movement: the UberShelter by Rafael Smith. It’s constructed using recyclable and reusable materials and all of the walls fold up and lock into place. The units, which feature fabric canopies for shade, can be connected side-by-side or stacked into multi-story dwellings.
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Literal Lawn Chairs: Grass Sofas Brighten up British Summer
July 30, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Delana in Art & Design, Home & Garden, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Summer means more time spent outdoors in the sun, but the National Trust of Great Britain found that British families are spending an average of 43 hours per week inside and on the sofa. That’s a grand (or not-so-grand) total of 13 weeks per year. To get people out of the house and into nature, the National Trust has unveiled ten huge grass sofas in locations all across the UK. There are no TVs, no laptops – just unique spaces for quality outdoor family time.
The massive furniture was grown in about a month using all natural materials: straw bases covered with blankets of green, growing grass. These peculiar outdoor living rooms all consist of a sofa and a coffee table, letting British families get out of their homes but still spend time together in a familiar setting.
The growing living rooms were placed in a handful of picturesque natural locations, with some even making appearances in town centers. The National Trust endeavor uses humor rather than stern authority to coax families out into the beautiful British landscape this summer.
(all images via: Inhabitat)
Relaxing on a sofa in the sun, in some of the UK’s most beautiful outdoor spots, might be the best way we can think of to spend the summer. With a mug of tea and a plate of biscuits, a family outing to one of these living rooms would make for a splendid afternoon.
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Eco Homes from the Earth: 7 Ways to DIY
March 15, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Home & Garden. ]
Wouldn’t it be nice to own your own green dream home, made with recycled and natural materials and packed with custom features? Whether you’re an experienced builder or have never picked up a power tool in your life, you can build a natural eco-friendly home with user-friendly, low-cost materials like cob, cordwood, straw and the dirt and wood from your own land. These 7 natural building techniques produce beautiful homes with a small ecological footprint and tons of personality.
Earthships and Hobbit Houses
(images via dominicspics, ECOnscious, Earthship Biotecture)
They seem to be a living part of the very earth itself, often with nothing but a façade and some windows to betray the presence of a home in the hillside. And earth-sheltered homes built partially into the ground come with some incredible benefits, like the ability to absorb and regulate heat from the sun for comfort in all seasons. Earth-sheltered homes can be built entirely underground, bermed (covered with earth on one to three sides) or built into a larger hill with just one side open. Earthships and ‘hobbit houses’ are common forms of earth-sheltered homes.
(images via: simondale.net)
Among the most famous examples of a ‘hobbit house’ is “A Low Impact Woodland Home”, self-built in Wales for about 1000-1500 man-hours (over four months) and £3000. Creator Simon Dale used stone and wood from the property, straw bales covered in plaster for the walls, and lots of reclaimed and salvaged materials like hardwood flooring, doors and windows. The reciprocal roof, covered in plastic sheeting and mud/turf, is surprisingly easy to build and looks incredible.
Cob
(images via: ziggy fresh)
How can a house made of mud last 500 years? The short answer is, the combination of clay, sand and straw – known as cob – is extremely strong and durable once it dries, and can withstand fire and severe weather as well as practically any other material. This ancient building technique is among the easiest and least expensive ways to build your own sustainable, healthy green home.
Just ask “Ziggy”, a resident of the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Missouri who built his own cob cottage for just $3,000. Ziggy breaks down the costs, all materials used, time frame and the entire process including lots of photos at his website, “The Year of Mud”.
(images via: eco-sense)
These hand-sculpted homes give the builder practically endless creative opportunities for organic forms, built-ins like bookcases and benches, and even artistic details. But cob houses don’t all have to be free-flowing and eccentric. Take a gander at the Eco Sense house, located in Canada, which wouldn’t look out of place in a suburban neighborhood.
Cordwood
(images via: daycreek, cordwood masonry)
From far away, it looks like stone masonry – but get up close and you’ll see that cordwood buildings are actually made from wood stacked firewood-style, and mortar. Debarked logs ranging from 12 to 36 inches can be arranged into walls either in load-bearing round structures or in combination with post-and-beam framing. Soft woods like cedar and pine are used because they are more stable, with less expansion and contraction. These walls offer both insulation and thermal mass. As with any natural building technique, it’s labor-intensive, but easy enough that practically anyone can do it.
(images via: home-n-stead)
While the mortar typically used for cordwood construction is made from Portland cement, lime and water, some people are beginning to combine cordwood building with cob in place of mortar, as in the owner-built cordwood home above.
Straw Bale
(images via: building with awareness)
“I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” It seems like straw would be the worst possible material to depend upon for stable shelter, but in fact, straw bale building produces thick walls with excellent insulative qualities and surprising strength. As with cordwood and cob, straw bale walls can be load-bearing or can be combined with post and beam framework as needed to gain building permits.
(images via: solarhaven.org)
The straw bales are stacked on top of a masonry foundation, anchored to each other with wood stakes or bamboo poles, and finished with a breathable earthen or lime stucco that allows the walls to breathe, preventing moisture accumulation in the straw. Straw bale structures have been found to be remarkably fire- and pest-resistant.
Rammed Earth
(images via: rogers rammed earth)
Fireproof, termite-proof, storm resistant, extremely low-maintenance and literally dirt-cheap: all of these qualities make rammed earth an attractive natural DIY option for owner-builders. Popular in hot, dry places like Australia and the American Southwest, rammed earth uses compressed dirt blocks as building bricks. The dirt is often from the home site, typically packed into a wood wall former, and the results are stunning and well suited for modern home designs.
(images via: rammed earth)
While tamping of the earth into bricks can be made easier by a pneumatically-powered tamper, it’s entirely possible – and much cheaper – to get the job done manually. Rammed earth buildings last indefinitely and results in energy-efficient buildings that keep temperature fluctuations to a minimum.
Earthbag Building
(images via: dornob)
(images via: mother earth news, tiny house design)
Earthbags can be an ideal alternative to cob in areas where the soil has a low percentage of clay, and they also make it easy to construct domes and other rounded structures. Earthbag buildings can be bermed with earth to create an “underground” structure that looks like a seamless part of the landscape.
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