Thanks for an awesome 2017!

“The future belongs to the few of us still willing to get our hands dirty.” – Roland Tiangco As the end of the year approaches, we want to wish you well over the festive season, and thank you for your support in 2017. You helped us finish the Delft...

Guest post: Hybrid alternative and natural building blocks at the Delft ECD (Early Childhood Development Centre)

In Delft, an impoverished township on the outskirts of the Cape Flats, local government is changing its approach to building early childhood development centres with a pioneering project showcasing a hybrid of natural building methods and up-cycled waste materials. By...

Q&A with Paul Marais, award-winning architect specializing in rammed earth

We catch up with Paul Marais about his award-winning off grid, rammed earth house in Maun, Botswana. First off, congratulations on winning the Afrisam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture + Innovation for Sustainable Product/Technology for your design of the rammed...

Q&A with Jill Hogan, a pioneer of natural building in South Africa

In the first of our series of Q&As with pioneers of natural and sustainable building in South Africa and beyond, we caught up with Jill Hogan in honour of Women’s day in South Africa.  How did you first get involved in natural building?  In the early...

Transition Ethics: The Art of Compromise

Do we as ethical natural builders have a right to deny someone a home simply based on the argument of its purity? Surely it’s about having the humility to acknowledge that sustainability is about economy and social justice as much as it is about ecology. Scott...