In a location where most contemporary buildings are constructed from concrete and cooled through standard air conditioning units, Issoufou’s work demonstrates that traditional techniques and site-derived materials are not only better for the environment, but also a high-performance option for the people who will occupy them.
Light-Touch Living in New Zealand
“The Maori, New Zealand’s indigenous people, live according to a range of underlying natural principles and behaviours,” says Stephen McDougall, founding director of Studio Pacific Architecture in the country’s capital, Wellington. “Guardianship is one of these principles.”
Embracing this responsibility to the land, McDougall designed Kapiti House, his private off-grid retreat set within 16 acres of regenerated wetlands on the Kapiti Coast, just north of Wellington. The house is designed to leave very little footprint on the environment and is actively carbon positive, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it contributes.
Two rural vernacular structures – a 1,750-square-foot barn for the main house and a separate two-storey tower for guests – make up the complex, which is made of cross-laminated timber, tempered hardboard, recycled local rimu timber, New Zealand wool insulation and fly ash concrete. All of these materials have a significantly lower carbon footprint than their standard counterparts. Thanks to solar panels, rainwater collection, on-site waste water treatment and a permaculture garden and orchard, the project is self-sufficient. Passive design strategies including deep eaves for self-shading, cross-ventilation and a high-efficiency envelope mean it requires no heating or cooling.
“This approach reflects a shift from designing individual buildings to designing systems that support the land over time,” says McDougall. It also offers a stunning example of low-impact rural living.
Earthquake-safe cattle and sheep in Chile
In highly seismically active Chile, an 8,000-year-old residential construction technique has proven to be one of the best protections. Quincha, or wattle-and-daub building, covers an interwoven wooden framework (wattle) with a mixture of clay and straw (daub), waterproofed with a thin layer of lime plaster. The lattice-like wood structure and heavy thermal mass make it naturally stable, allowing it to be moved without damage.
The ancient method – which is both sustainable and hyperlocal because elements can usually be found on-site – is now being revived by visionary architects for earthquake-safe, passively cooled housing projects across the country. Just outside the capital of Santiago, architect Marcelo Cortés recently designed the 1,075-square-foot, two-story Casa Penalolane using Quincha Metallica, a contemporary version of the technique that covers steel frames and metal wire with techno-barro or clay stabilized with lime to strengthen the walls and roof.
Architects Barbara Barreda and Felipe Sepulveda, co-founders of Chilean firm Base Studio, are also exploring the historic style of architecture in a new organic form, wrapping the house in 10,000 baked tiles and adding local clay to the material mix. While the project is still a work in progress, the pair will be building a 1:1 scale mockup this fall.
Bamboo, bricks and recycled plastics in Malaysia
Illustration: Ibrahim Rayintakath
Architect Alina Jamil has built her eponymous firm in the Malaysian state of Selangor around contextual architecture, which is “a departure from the modernist ideal of the air-conditioned glass box prevalent in many tropical developing regions,” she explains. “In Malaysia, the standard method of construction [contemporary] The houses are based on reinforced concrete floor slabs and frames, with plastered bricks for the walls. The roofs are usually supported by metal trusses and covered with interlocking tiles. Their practice aims to offer low-carbon, locally sourced alternatives.
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