01) ‘BioSolar Leaves’ are better at cleaning the air than trees, say the technology’s developers
Thanks to Pete!
“At first glance they might look like bright green solar panels. But instead of generating electricity, these structures are teeming with microscopic plant life that can purify the surrounding air and produce nutritious ingredients for food.
Scientists are cultivating the bio-organisms on a panelling system that can be installed on buildings or land, much like solar panels.”
“In this video, we tour the incredible 28sqm (301sqft) apartment of architect Douglas Wan. The Melbourne apartment was originally constructed in the 1950’s as housing for nurses. It’s now been completely reimagined for modern times and transformed into a clever small studio.
For Douglas, this was an opportunity to develop a small living space that would perfectly fit his needs and lifestyle. Attracted to simple living and a self described monastic lifestyle, he wanted to create a place where he could be a part of the city, yet also retreat from it. He ventured to carry out an architectural experiment and find out what was possible in his own small home.
The result is a micro apartment which is as clever as it is simple. One which utilises the entire space, while remaining open and light. It’s rustic history is celebrated, yet also contrasted with the modern elements. Most importantly, it’s a wonderful home.
“Tiny homes aren’t just a fad anymore — what started as a way to lower mortgage payments and utility costs following the Great Recession has developed into a worldwide movement. And Google searches for “Tiny House for Sale” have grown a whopping 900%.
If you’re looking to purchase or build a tiny house of your own, there are a few decisions you’ll need to make: Where do you want to put your tiny house, and do you want to rent the land or purchase it outright? Are you looking to build your house on a foundation, or do you want to put it on wheels and travel from coast to coast with your home in tow?
When compared to a traditional or big house, tiny houses could save homeowners a lot of money. But exactly how much you’ll save comes down to the type of living situation you want. We’ve taken a critical look at the choices that aspiring tiny homeowners often have to make, and how much each option costs when compared to living in a traditional home on a one-month to five-year scale.”
“Architects, engineers and developers are creating increasingly greener structures – and doing it in a more literal way than ever before. This is what happens when trees meet buildings.”
01) Simple cabin clicks together without nails in 32 hours
“On an abandoned vineyard in Spanish Catalonia’s Priorat region, a tiny cabin was built in 32 hours with a blockhouse system- without screw or nails- to serve as a dismountable shelter for artists, artisans and anyone wanting to find inspiration from this “forgotten place”. The 6.5m3 hut is a part of “Camp Commons”, an itinerant camp that will move between forgotten territories every 5 to 6 years.
Aixopluc (Catalan for “shelter”), the group behind the project, aims to create a “shelter for ideas” in this new wilderness. “A musician can tell his proposal through a song; a biologist can explain a strategy to strengthen some part of the ecosystem; a writer, a tale; an architect, a shelter made with the resources at hand; an enologist, a new way of making wine. All these documents are made in situ and become a mapping of the site and its potentialities, tracks of your life in this ecosystem.”
Noticing a “renaturalization” process beginning in many occidental countries (after the past centuries overdevelopment), rather than leaving these new wild places alone, the group hopes to become positive agents for change in these newly communal spaces.
Ricard Pau of Aixopluc explains how the group hopes for a symbiosis between the location and its guests in a place disconnected from technology where one must reconnect with the natural cycles of the day and nature.
01) Pythagorean home amidst olive grove offers views & protection
“Asked by an Athens couple to design a home embedded in their olive grove, architect Tilemachos Andrianopoulos used geometry to respect the trees, provide protection from wind and sun, and open up the residence to the mountain views. In Alice in Wonderland fashion, the home begins small at a tip of a triangle where the walls are low. The walls grow and stretch as the home progresses uphill funneling views toward the Gerania mountains. On two sides of the triangle the only openings are slits which let in protected light and views (all other windows open out onto one of two interior courtyards. At the mountain-side of the home, the wall is nearly double the size of the smaller end, and the glass can be completely opened to let the olive trees in. In symbiosis with the local ecosystem, the home is covered in a living roof, adjusted to the Greek climatic conditions, in particular those of Attica with lavender, helichrysum, auras, drosanthemum and thyme. Inside the courtyards there is no grass, but all local plantings and walkways of rammed earth.
01) New ‘metallic wood’ could lead to super-light cars
Thanks to Pete!
“Researchers have created a “metallic wood” that’s as strong as titanium, but light enough to float in water.
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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and the University of Cambridge detail how they created the metallic wood in a study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.”
02) ‘Metallic wood’ at Penn is as strong as titanium but lighter than water
“In a lab at the University of Pennsylvania, engineers have created an improbable material that is as strong as titanium while putting aluminum to shame in the weight department.
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The material contains no actual wood, but it is wood-like in the sense of having pores: air spaces in between billions of miniature “struts” of nickel. Magnified thousands of times on a microscope, the material looks like honeycomb.
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So far, the engineers have made just small squares of the material — each about the size of a postage stamp — but they envision that it could be produced in large enough quantities to make rugged, ultralight exteriors for cell phones and other electronic devices. Depending on the cost, it might be an option for making lightweight, fuel-efficient cars.”
01) CA town offers free tiny house plans for legal backyard housing
“Looking for a local solution to the California housing shortage, Clovis city planners bypassed legalizing tiny houses on wheels for what they saw as a solution more attractive to homeowners: providing free fee-waived plans for backyard “cottage” homes. The three plan options are for homes 400-square-feet or less, and are available to homeowners with access to an alleyway (a prominent feature of Old Town Clovis). Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), AKA “granny flats” or in-law units, are legal in California, but Clovis Planning Director Dwight Kroll says the savings under their Backyard Cottage program are substantial. He estimates 9 to 10 thousand dollars for the plans, plus a few thousand more to have them approved by the building department. On top of this it can cost another $5000 for water and sewage connection fees (plan participants can avoid this by connecting the new units to existing services).
01) ELF solar car-bike for driver + 2 kids, equals 1800mpg
“It looks like a micro-car. It rides like an electric-assist bike. The ELF (“electric, light, fun”) is a solar car-bike hybrid that will keep you out of the rain, or from breaking a sweat, and perhaps convince you to jettison your car for all those trips around town (and to get into shape while you’re at it). Inspired by solar/human-powered aircraft pioneer Paul MacCready, decades ago Rob Cotter began experimenting with human-powered vehicles. He left a job at Porsche to consult though things slowed down in the nineties when ”people were more interested in minivans and SUVs and things.” He decided the moment had arrived when, at the end of the nineties he began consulting for the New York City bike sharing, “and realized that if NYC’s putting in about 300 miles of new bike trails there’s a market for vehicles like this,” explains Cotter, “Bicycles that could get people up the hills easier, get them out of the weather, be safer, not tip over, carry passengers, carry a payload, have turn signals, brake lights, all of those things and just started going in that direction from that point on.” In 2012 he founded Organic Transit- alongside his wife Maureen Costello- in an old furniture store in downtown Durham, North Carolina. To move things along quickly, they launched using an agile design process. “Originally we sold about 50 on kickstarter. We knew we were losing money on each one, but it allowed us to get the vehicles out there and make the changes. So since that time 3 years ago we’ve made about 400 changes to the ELF.” Today, the ELF is a 160 pound (72.5kg) vehicle that can carry up to two adults (or an adult plus 2 children) or an adult plus 500+ lbs (226 kg) of cargo (there’s space in back for a dozen bags of groceries. Starting at $7,000, it’s classified as a ‘bicycle’ by US law so it can’t legally go faster than 20 mph on just electric power (though pedaling and hills will speed things up). With a lithium-ion battery and mid-motor drive, it has a range of 48 miles per charge (and further if you pedal). The rooftop solar panel will recharge the battery with 7 to 8 hours of sun or the battery can be removed and plugged into a wall for a 2.5 hour charge. Since it’s technically a bicycles, the ELF can be driven on bike paths and parked on sidewalks. “So our goal was to be able to take a car-like experience and turn it into a bicycle,” explains Cotter. “This will go anywhere a bicycle will go, all bicycles can ride on many streets, all secondary roads and things like that. It’s like a car except that it’s 160 pounds so it’s a car that you can actually pedal. And the nice thing about it when you’re zooming along somewhere you can go point to point you can go door to door just pull right up to the building and park it in the bike rack up front.”
