Thames & Hudson, 2022
ISBN: 978-0500343715
Reviewed by Fiona Dowson
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Unashamedly a coffee table book which you can dip into time and time again, Houses That Can Save the World takes us on a long tour of inspiring dwellings all around the globe.
Arizona. Dust. A mountain residence built in a national park. ‘What can we learn from indigenous local builders and those who came afterwards?’ asks the architect, Cade Hayes.
It is questions like this which Houses raises. How can we learn from the past and innovate for the future?
Each project is lavishly illustrated with a short text designed to whet the reader’s appetite for more information.
Jumping to Melbourne the word ‘Surrealist’ jumps out of the page. The technique of Cubomania was used to recycle building materials into a vibrant dwelling
Travelling to Slovakia we meet Ecocapsules. At first glance like something from a sci-fi movie, ecocapsules are miniature homes which, unlike recreational vehicles, take no power from the grid as the solar panels and wind turbine make them self sufficient.
In Sao Paulo inspiration was drawn from indigenous oca houses working with the placava palm plant.
Closer to home a plant based solution to housing was built in Cambridgeshire using hempcrete. A clever marriage of traditional building techniques and modern design created a simply beautiful house, inviting and liveable.
In Uganda, Upcycle Africa uses plastic bottles to create traditional round houses. The words ‘if people had not thrown the (plastic) bottles away, my brother would not have died’ leap off the page and strike a chord just how much suffering is caused by disposable plastic. Seeing houses made from bottles underlines just how long lasting plastic really is.
In Croatia, traditional thatch combines with underfloor heating and well insulated windows to produce exceptional houses. The team at Proarh are quoted as saying ‘The mix of traditional elements and construction solutions, based on centuries of experience, with contemporary building technologies is a good recipe for any region or design.’ It is the word ‘recipe’ which really expresses so much of the essence of the houses in this book. Rather than just static designs, the home of the future will be formed from recipes, a medley of ingredients combining to create an environmentally friendly and sustainable living space. Living in the sense of a space to dwell in but also living in the sense of creating something alive.
There are projects where buildings are living in the very literal sense. In Milan the Vertical Forest has been created from a pair of towers which provide 30,000square metres of woodland. Water is drawn mainly from filtered waste water. Waste? Well, it isn’t if it’s nurturing plants.
In Vietnam a bamboo house incorporates a roof garden, this being built on a very narrow plot.
Every single building which Houses features provides inspiration in some form. This is less like seeing a house and more like reading an interview with a home.
Inspiring. There is no other word.