Mud and recycled materials make up this sustainable Kerala home

person walking in front of wood and rammed earth home

When Ramanujan Basha decided to build a modern, eco-friendly home in Kerala, he turned to Wallmakers, a local design practice with a decade’s worth of experience designing sustainable architecture. Unlike its more conventional neighbors, the house, dubbed Chirath, is built primarily of mud, recycled elements and natural materials. Passive solar principles were also applied to the design to let in light and much-needed natural ventilation for relief from Kerala’s tropical climate.

On the left, wood and mud home with pointed roof. On the right, indoor garden and pond.

In addition to wanting a sustainable home, the client told the architects that he wanted to steer clear of the traditional Kerala home system. To combat the heat and the monsoon rain, most conventional homes feature sloped roofs with thick overhangs that protect against the elements but also lead to an undesirably dark interior. Moreover, the client felt that the traditional architectural systems’ delineation of space promoted gender inequality.

kitchen in room with mud walls

floors rise up into a bed shape

“Thus during the early days of the project, the client had made a point that the house should be a symbol of a new light, or a new outlook to our age-old systems and beliefs,” the architects said. “‘Chirath,’ which denotes a traditional lamp in Malayalam, is the name given by Mr. Ramanujan Basha for his house at Pala, Kerala. The client thus asked for a solution by throwing away the bad and utilizing the good. We decided to break the roof, split it open and let the light flow in, all while using waste and mud to build the house. This is the concept of Chirath.”

room with indoor pond

person walking outside home with soil walls

Clad in locally sourced earth, Chirath’s structural walls were constructed with a mix of cement, soil and recycled coarse aggregate for strength, while ferrocement was used for the roof and partition walls. Other recycled materials include waste wood repurposed to make furnishings, such as the beds and kitchen cabinets, as well as unwanted steel given new life as beautiful window grills and ventilators. Locally sourced tiles were assembled into the terracotta tile jali that lets in cooling breezes and light. For added passive cooling, the architects installed a pool in the living area that connects to a rainwater harvesting tank, which collects runoff for reuse in the home.

+ Wallmakers

Photography by Anand Jaju, Jino and Midhu via Wallmakers

home made from rammed earth

from INHABITAT http://bit.ly/2GPJoXh
via IFTTT

Comentarios

imagenes del medio ambiente para dibujar

5 Benefits of Drip Irrigation Systems

If you want a stunning yard and a low water bill, a drip irrigation system could be for you. Image: Jacky Parker Photography/Getty Images If you live in one of the parts of the country that’s been struggling with drought (or you just don’t want to spend a fortune on your water bill), you’ve probably felt that you face a choice with your outdoor areas. You can either be water conscious or have a beautiful, lush yard, right? When you’ve opted for traditional irrigation systems like sprinkler heads, that’s often true. But, good news, that’s not your only option as far as types of irrigation systems go. If you want a beautiful yard without the high water usage — and resulting bill! — a drip irrigation system could be just what you need. What is a drip irrigation system? This way to water your plants uses dripped water. A drip irrigation system runs either a perforated hose or drip emitters (connected by a hose) under the soil throughout your planting bed. Water drips through sma...

New riverside development in China will be an urban renewal

Architects VenhoevenCS have won a major riverside redevelopment in Shenzhen, China . They hope to protect large areas of land from flooding while also creating a vibrant new urban identity for the Bao’an district. The Pailao River Blueway Project constitutes a new biodiverse landscape along the central Pailoa River, an area under rapid urban development where rainfall intensity is increasing. Architects are using this project to design with the water instead of against it. It includes elements such as ponds, green roofs, urban farming plots, wetlands and soft banks, contributing to a natural sponge effect to absorb excess water from the river . Related: 100-year-old railway yard turned into a green space VenhoevenCS also has their sights set on integrating urban regeneration in the area. They have planned cultural and social spaces, including pavilions and parks for cyclists and pedestrians. The design illustrates their nature-inclusive approach, reshaping how human...

Say hello to the new Toyota electric vehicle, the bZ4X

Toyota is trying to win the electric vehicle game with a stylish new SUV loaded with techy features. The all-electric bZ4X will be rolling onto the lots of U.S. auto dealers this spring. If the name doesn’t immediately strike you as catchy, it might help to understand that “bZ” stands for “beyond zero.” The bZ4X is the first of seven in Toyota’s new line of bZ vehicles. That’s seven out of 15 BEVs, to throw another acronym at you. BEVs are battery electric vehicles, as opposed to HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles) or PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles). Related: Consider these factors before buying an electric vehicle All these Vs will help speed Toyota toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Already, Toyota has more than 20 million models on the world’s roads. The company has pledged to invest another $70+ billion in EVs over the next nine years. So, back to the bZ4X. According to Toyota, the new “BEV-dedicated platform, a first for Toyota, was developed wi...

NASA to test the world's first electric airplane

NASA has shared details of its new all-electric plane that is set to take off to the sky this fall. The plane is designed to run fully on electric batteries , departing from the tradition of fuel-powered planes. If all goes well, this will be the first step toward achieving a cleaner, cheaper, and quieter future for aviation. Known as the X-57, the plane is lightweight compared to traditional planes . Its weight helps it use less power over the same distance compared to its equal fuel-powered planes. Further, the plane produces less noise as compared to fuel-powered options. According to NASA, the plane is currently being prepared for initial tests, which will be conducted in the desert east of Los Angeles. Related: Rolls-Royce unveils prototype for world’s fastest electric plane The plane borrows its design from a four-seater plane constructed by the Italian Tecnam corporation. The main reason for this is to help in comparison of the two models of the design. The experts at NA...

Biomimicry house hints at a solution to the climate crisis

Houses separate us from nature. At least, that’s the idea we’ve had until now. Architecture that uses biomimicry , permaculture and related practices to keep nature in our building spaces offers a green alternative. B+H Architects Director of Biomimicry Jamie Miller is an advocate of sustainable building practices like biomimicry to help with the climate crisis. Biomimicry creates an architectural option that keeps us connected to nature, without removing the biodiversity from the spaces where we live and work. Now the B+H Architects’ newest residential project shows us how a home can blend right into nature itself. Related: It looks like a shark fin and helps urban river flooding A house that disappears into the landscape “Imagine stepping inside a house that disappears into a forest all without ever leaving the city,” B+H said. A landowner in Bengaluru, India wanted to achieve just that, connecting his home to nature within a dense urban area. He didn’t ju...

What are stellar earthquakes that make stars move?

What are stellar earthquakes that make stars move? The Gaia mission of the European Space Agency revealed the earthquakes that occur thousands of light years away. Argentine astronomers explain the scope of this space telescope and its discoveries. In 2013 the European Space Agency (ESA), launched a unique space mission: the Gaia space observatory, a spacecraft designed specifically for astrometry: the science that measures the positions, distances and motions of stars with a precision never seen before. Scientists say the mission aims to build the largest and most accurate 3D space catalog ever made of the observable universe, with a total of approximately two billion astronomical objects, mainly stars, but also planets, comets, asteroids and quasars, among other fascinating objects in the vastness of space. This week, ESA released a new update of data collected by Gaia in the last three years, after having observed 10 million stars and space objects, which led to the publication of s...

Bananatex launches a sustainable material revolution at Milan Design Week

A party of three has collaborated to create a multi-purpose material sourced entirely from banana leaves. Swiss bag brand QWSTION, a yarn specialist from Taiwan, and a Taiwanese weaving partner spent four years developing the new material, which is being revealed at the 2019 Milan Design Week. The strong, flexible material, called Banantex, offers a new universal option in the search for sustainable materials . Beginning at the source, the banana leaves come from a natural ecosystem of sustainable forestry in the Philippines. The banana trees grow naturally without the use of pesticides or other chemicals. Plus, they do not require any additional water. The banana plants are a boon to an area previously eroded by palm plantations, bringing back vegetation and a livelihood for local farmers. Related: See how banana trees are recycled into vegan “leather” wallets in Micronesia With a long history of creating materials from sustainable resources, QWSTION saw the strength and ...

Dibujos de como cuidar el medio ambiente

Dibujos de como cuidar el medio ambiente Hola a todos, ¡bienvenidos a mi vlog! En este episodio, quiero hablar sobre algo muy importante para mí y para nuestro planeta: el cuidado del medio ambiente. Como muchos de ustedes saben, la situación actual del medio ambiente es crítica, y es necesario que todos hagamos nuestra parte para protegerlo. Una de las formas más divertidas y creativas de concienciar sobre este tema es a través de dibujos. En este post, les mostraré algunos dibujos que pueden inspirarlos a crear su propia obra de arte y, al mismo tiempo, a difundir mensajes sobre el cuidado del medio ambiente. Algunos de los temas que podemos abordar en nuestros dibujos incluyen la importancia de reciclar, de no contaminar el aire y el agua, de proteger a los animales y de reducir nuestra huella de carbono. Además de ser una forma divertida de pasar el tiempo, los dibujos pueden ser una herramienta poderosa para sensibilizar a otros sobre este tema tan importante. Así que les animo a ...

New biofabricated clothing made from algae goes through photosynthesis just like plants

There are a products that completely revolutionize the fashion industry for their eco-friendly approach and innovative vision. Although the fashion industry has made strides over the past few years in terms of sustainable clothing production, there is still a long ways to go. Thankfully, a handful of designers are coming up with incredibly innovative solutions to really change the concept of eco-fashion . One such visionary is Canadian-Iranian designer Roya Aghighi , whose new line of clothing, Biogarmentry, is made from algae that turns carbon dioxide into oxygen via photosynthesis. Made in collaboration with University of British Colombia (UBC) and Emily Carr Univeristy, the Biogarmentry line is a revolutionary design within the world of eco-fashion . While most sustainable designers are searching for fabrics that don’t harm the environment, Aghighi went straight to the environment for her unique fabric, using living, photosynthetic cells in its design. Related: SAOLA offers su...

Eco Vlog News

Welcome to my Vlog about the environment and general news related to it. The advancement of technology and the expansion of the human being are inevitable and an essential mark left by progress as a race, but it is important in the process not to lose respect for the environment and the world in which we live. Become aware of its deterioration as an initial measure to begin to become aware of how to take care of it. For these reasons, our little grain of sand as a contribution to an ecological blog in which we offer you the latest Internet news as a reference so that you can inform yourself and become aware of it. In the articles you can find the respective news sources and most current magazines on which the subject in question is being addressed.

Eco-Vlog

Buscar este blog