by Peter McIntosh | Aug 9, 2016 | Alternative energy, Cob, Interview, Living Sustainably, Local materials, Natural building, Permaculture, Q&A, Sustainable building, Uncategorized, Wattle and Daub
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...
by Peter McIntosh | May 23, 2016 | Guest post, Local materials, Natural building, Natural building methods, Rammed Earth, Sustainable building, Uncategorized
Rammed earth construction in South Africa has generally been stigmatised as a substandard and primitive building construction method reserved ‘for the poor’. Yet it is now gaining popularity for community social projects, as well as among wealthier clients. By Mary...
by Peter McIntosh | Feb 29, 2016 | Alternative building, Anita Venter, Guest post, Living Sustainably, Local materials, Natural building, Permaculture, Peter McIntosh, Qala Phelang Tala, Reclaimed materials, Shack replacement, Start Living Green, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements, Uncategorized
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...
by Peter McIntosh | Jun 16, 2015 | Adobe, African Vernacular Architecture, Clay, Cob, Community, Guest post, Heritage, Indigenous Architectural Knowledge, Indigenous Building Systems, Local materials, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Rammed Earth, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements, Thermal performance, Uncategorized
In this guest post by Jon Sojkowski, he chronicles common misperceptions of African vernacular architecture and how it is being abandoned for the status that comes with living in conventional Western style buildings. He asks whether these modern materials are truly...
