Man Builds Beautiful Church Using Living Trees. Barry Cox is not only a devout Catholic, he’s also an amazingly talented artist and designer. As a little boy, the New Zealand native served as an altar boy and even had dreamed of being the Pope one day. However, as he grew older, he found his calling in gardening. Barry started a gardening company, but wait until you the work that he does. It’s truly one-of-a-kind. You see, Barry has combined his strong faith with his creative talents to create something truly astonishing. When he was younger, Barry spent a lot of his time traveling and touring the world.
Barry created a living cathedral on three acres of lush green lawns. The entrance to the cathedral is warm and friendly. The iron frame gives the church a classic shape. The interior of the church is great for natural light as sunlight shines through the canopy. The stunning landscape of the grounds is truly what pushes this already impressive church over the top. He even constructed a “Labyrinth Maze.” Low-energy, healthy homes: Europe's answer to shale gas? America’s First Hemp House Pulls CO2 From the Air. Hemp is making a major comeback around the world. In the US, five states have legalized the recreational use of cannabis, and hemp-based building materials are now gaining in popularity. The first house built in America with hemcrete was constructed in Asheville, North Carolina, and the 3,400 square foot Push House boasts a number of eco-friendly features.
To create a solid – yet breathable – wall system, hemp hurds were mixed with lime and water on-site an poured in-between the exterior supporting studs in lift. As USA Today notes, Hempcrete is actually less like concrete and more like infill straw bale, as it is non-structural. The insulating quality is r-2.5 per inch, and it has the unique ability to capture airborne pollutants over time – absorbing carbon when it is grown and in place. In addition, the material’s high thermal mass helps keep a steady interior temperature, rather than allowing it to fluctuate. images: Push Design Meet the Small Country Betting Big on the Future of Hemp. Organic Art-itecture: Dream Home Inspiration From Mexico.
Javier Senosiain is a Mexican architect who designs amazingly beautiful homes that look like something out of a fantasy world. He works with principles of Architectura Organica (Organic Architecture), a way of integrating buildings with the surrounding landscape and inspiring those who live there to be in tune with nature. The idea is to create an area adapted for humans, according to our environmental, physical and psychological needs. Senosiain’s designs are curved, light, and above all creative: the forms and materials are so unusual and colourful in one of his works, you are literally living inside a piece of art. His designs include whales, snakes, sharks, shells, and even peanuts. “Curved aspects are more harmonious,” Senosiain explains in an interview with Mexicanal TV.
In considering the design of a building, “the orientation and the location [of the house] are very important,” he says. Below are just a few of Senosiain’s most inspirational designs. Article continues below video. The secret to an energy-efficient home? No, it's not solar - Business Of Life. ArticlePara - html? Shawna Seaton-George and Paul George spent four months in the 100-year-old home they bought in Oak Park before deciding to tear it down and build a “passive house.” The couple and their 9-year-old daughter loved the tree-lined street but not much about the frame house itself, Seaton-George says. The upstairs in particular, with sloping floors and a door that opened to nowhere, “creeped us out,” says Seaton-George, a speech therapist in private practice.
“I've always had a thing for green,” she says. “I've always tried to be economical with resources.” The exterior is contemporary enough to catch the eye and traditional enough to fit into the vintage neighborhood. In late May, the family moved into a 2,000-square-foot, light-filled, modern, three-bedroom house with every convenience, including a Bosch stackable washer and dryer and an induction cooktop. Fireplaces consume too much energy to work inside a passive home. ArticlePara - html? The Umbrella Home: A Simple Underground House Design | Home Design, Garden & Architecture Blog Magazine. “Umbrella home” is a new and innovating concept that can help you build a sustainable home and save a lot of money in the cold season.
The name makes reference to earth-sheltered homes that use a new technique, by placing an insulating “umbrella” on top of the house. The “umbrella” is hidden in the earth that stands for the roof of the house and insulates the soil that surrounds the building. This way the house will have a dome structure and the “umbrella” will keep the entire structure warm.
This is a fascinating approach and a next step in creating sustainable and off-the-grid homes. To read more about this concept, its benefits and implementation, visit the link below and read an amazing article about “umbrella homes”. Passive Annual Heat Storage: Improving the Design of Earth Shelters by John Hait Figure 1 Geodome, the first umbrella home (in idealized form), maintains a 66° to 74° temperature year-round without heating equipment in western Montanas cold climate. Creating a Travelling Home. Mat and Danielle have created their very own tiny home that they can drive anywhere! The 19ft converted van includes a lounge / bedroom, a kitchen area, a solar camping shower and a plastic bottle toilet (with funnel) and various storage points, all of which the couple created themselves. They converted it themselves so that they could have a reasonably new vehicle without the extensive costs of an already kitted out campervan.
The couple love to travel but found living out of a backpack was tiring. With their campervan, they can still move around but get to sleep in their own bed every night and cook their own food, keeping costs down. Although they now don't pay out for a house, there are still costs, which Mat explains is “like renting a really cheap apartment in a city”. But the couple are happy and free. Learn more about their travels at: www.exploringalternatives.ca Further resources The couple's inspiration: Home Work Tiny homes for the homeless.
Natural homes built by inspirational women.