Passive design helps this home adapt to rainforest climate

Building in extreme landscapes and climates comes with all sorts of complications, but one savvy architect managed to construct a beautiful modern home using the local environment to the home’s advantage. Mexico City-based architectural firm, Paola Calzada Arquitectos built the contemporary Tabasco Home in the middle of Mexico’s rare rainforest using several passive features to reduce energy. What’s more, the home design was built using several eco-friendly and repurposed materials such as 3,000 recycled plastic bottles used for the kitchen.

Unlike most of Mexico, Tabasco is mainly covered in thick rainforest. In addition to its humid climate, the area is often plagued by flooding, which causes complications for most construction projects.

Related: Solar-powered home takes advantage of cooling ocean breezes in Los Angeles

However, the area is pristine and idyllic for those looking to live among nature. Accordingly, the Tabasco house was built strategically using passive features so that the homeowners could enjoy a strong connection to the landscape, but feel protected from its harsh climate.

Spanning almost 4,000 square feet over two floors, the contemporary home is laid out in an “L” shape. This strategic feature works two-fold. First, the interior of the L shape outside the home allowed the family to enjoy plenty of private outdoor space, including a large terrace, pool and patio. Additionally, the long extension faces north to protect the main living spaces from direct sunlight.

As a result of the orientation, the ultra large expanses of glass walls allow for optimal natural light to flood the interior while the living spaces  are protected from solar gain during the summer months. For extra cooling, the home was installed with inverter technology air conditioners that run on solar power, further helping to reduce the home’s energy needs.

The home’s exterior is a contemporary blend of reinforced concrete, steel and large expanses of glass. On the inside, the interior design is light and airy, with a distinctly modern touch. Double height ceilings and an abundance of windows provide a sense of spaciousness to best take in the amazing views of the large garden outside, which is planted with native vegetation.

The open-layout on the interior opens up the space, letting the family enjoy time together at the large live wood dining table. At the heart of the home, however, is the massive kitchen, which was manufactured using 3,000 recycled industrial plastic bottles. Throughout the interior, exposed concrete walls and natural stone accents give the space a cool, industrial feel that contrasts nicely with the home’s natural surroundings.

+ Paola Calzada Arquitectos

Via ArchDaily

Photography by Jaime Navarro

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This cool electric skateboard is made from recycled plastic

Native of Porto, Portugal, designer João Leão was becoming more and more concerned about the abundance of plastic waste he saw clogging up his city’s beautiful coastline. Inspired to act on the issue, the ambitious designer decided to find a way to clean the ocean by using that waste to create an innovative product. As a result, Leão created the PET MINI — an electric skateboard made completely out of plastic waste.

Founder of the design studio Maker Island, Leão has made a career out of  creating innovative and collaborative designs that are geared toward addressing local problems on a global scale. But with his latest invention, Leão is trying to address an issue close to his heart — Porto’s plastic waste.

Related: New line of men’s swimwear is made from recycled ocean plastic

“It all started with two problems, the plastic waste I was seeing being gathered on the beaches of my hometown, Porto, and the increasing commute times due to the high increase of people on the city and poor public and personal transportation infrastructures,” Leão explained.

The resulting design is the PET (Personal Electric Transport) skateboard. The process began by experimenting with various types of discarded plastic. By examining the most common types found in Porto’s waters — ABS, PP and PET HDPE — Leão was able to better understand the mechanical and aesthetic properties of each. Finally, he discovered that the most suitable type of plastic for creating the electric skateboard was HDPE.

From there, Leão began to outline the design itself. Using the body of an armadillo as inspiration, he first created the electronics enclosure, which is a series of modular pieces that run along the underside of the board. The enclosure is durable enough to protect the board’s electronic components without affecting the smooth ride of the deck.

The deck of the board was 3D-CNC milled at the local VIVA Lab using recycled thermoplastics as the main manufacturing material. The PET MINI electronic skateboard weighs just over 17 pounds and is 75 centimeters long. With a top speed of 21 miles per hour, the board can go up to 22 miles with a single charge time of almost 2 hours. Built for under $550, the innovative board is comparable to other commercial electric skateboards on the market that typically cost about $1,700.

+  João Leão

Images via João Leão

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Church Stone Shelter welcomes hikers in Finland

In the celebrated nature reserve of Kintulammi, Finland, architect Malin Moisio of Tampere-based architecture studio Arkkitehtitoimisto TILASTO has created the Kirkkokiven laavu — the Church Stone Shelter — as a free and welcome respite to hikers. Built mainly from wood and recycled materials, the minimalist and contemporary shelter was inspired by a large natural boulder located close by. The project’s name takes inspiration from the history of the boulder, which once served as a primitive church for local horse shepherds in the 18th century.

Developed as part of a network of free shelters in the Kintulammi nature reserve, the Church Stone Shelter primarily serves as a place for rest and meal preparation rather than overnight stays. To improve accessibility, the hiking shelter can also be reached by a wheelchair-accessible path that leads from a nearby parking area.

Related: Glowing, celestial-inspired shelter communes with nature in Denmark

Constructed from a vertically placed 5-by-5-inch timber frame, the gable-roofed shelter, with its rectangular floor plan, evokes the image of a house with a hearth at its heart. This familiar form, combined with the predominant use of warm-toned timber, gives the shelter its welcoming and cozy quality, while its tall, vaulted ceiling recalls the sacral spaces of a church. Both gable ends are completely open to the outdoors to emphasize a fluid connection with nature; small windows of varying sizes provide carefully framed views of the forest.

The use of timber, which is treated with a natural blend of tar and linseed oil, also helps blend the building into its wooded surroundings. The wooden walls were placed atop a plinth made of recycled paving stones. The steeply pitched roof is felted. “The building was developed in cooperation with the city-owned Ekokumppanit Oy and the Parish of Tampere who contributed to the building materials,” the architect said. “All the construction was done on site without electricity, mainly with hand tools. Within a short period of time, the Church Stone Shelter has become an iconic symbol of the Kintulampi Hiking and Nature Reserve.”

+ Arkkitehtitoimisto TILASTO

Photography by Malin Moisio and Julia Kivelä via Arkkitehtitoimisto TILASTO

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Hundreds of red plastic crates are repurposed into a public mosque in Indonesia

One green-thinking firm, Parisauli Arsitek Studio, has managed to find a way of giving new life to hundreds of discarded plastic crates. Located in Tangerang, Indonesia, the Kotakrat Pavilion is a 440-square-foot “Space of Kindness” that can be used for various purposes. In its initial form, the pavilion is currently being used as a small mosque, complete with a covered prayer room.

According to the design team, the inspiration for the pavilion stemmed from the desire to create vibrant public spaces out of discarded items. Plastic crates are common containers for just about any type of product, but they are often left on curbsides to be sent off to landfills.

Related: 30,000 recycled water bottles make up this 3D-printed pavilion

The Kotakrat Pavilion is a modular structure that can take many shapes and sizes and will suit almost any type of function. First, the pavilion is put together by stacking hundreds of plastic crates on top of each other to create the outer shell. The crates are then screwed together and reinforced with steel pillars to create a sturdy, durable building.

In this particular case, the public pavilion was designed to be a small mosque. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, and the call to prayer happens five times a day. Having a covered area with several staggered roofs during these times is quite welcomed, especially during inclement weather.

Several crates near the pavilion’s entrance are designated as storage space for shoes. Further inside, there are several “shelves” to store prayer rugs. Throughout the modular pavilion, several hanging plants give the mosque a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

According to the studio, the process of repurposing waste into public spaces is a practice that all communities in today’s world should adopt. “KotaKrat is a ‘ruang kebaikan’ (space of kindness) that starts with the diversity of people’s needs, behavior and habits,” the team said. “The existence of this space of kindness adapts to the context, location and needs of its user community. Space of kindness may appear as a stall, prayer room, emergency posts, shelter, bus stop and others.”

+ Parisauli Arsitek Studio

Via ArchDaily

Photography by via Parisauli Arsitek Studio

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Luzinterruptus turns plastic waste into Death by Plastic eco-art for COP25

Frustrated with the “ludicrous charade” of the COP25 World Climate Summit in December, Spanish design collective luzinterruptus turned to visual protest by creating the temporary guerrilla art piece, “Death by Plastic.” Made from plastic waste and transparent fabric, the glowing environmental art installation depicts a crime scene-like visual with a series of people-shaped sculptures lying on the ground.

Held in Madrid, Spain in the beginning of December, the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference became the target of social unrest by protestors frustrated with the inactions of the negotiators on the climate crisis. Members of luzinterruptus also joined the protest and, disappointed by the adopted resolutions at the end of the event, wrote a statement to express their anger.

Related: Archstorming announces winning proposals for a school made of recycled plastic in Mexico

“The people from the Climate Summit are already leaving with bowed heads (by taxi or by plane) without having reached any significant agreements, as we all expected,” they said. “Everything was just a mirage. Few effective resolutions and big business opportunities for those who parade the flag of sustainability around. Let’s try again next year, perhaps with lengthier political speeches, but never listening to the scientific community or the citizens. And always under the sponsorship of the most polluting companies, which are always happy to take this opportunity to clean up their image. For now, the ‘climate crisis’ is officially postponed until the most environmentally unfriendly countries find a better time to deal with it. We are ashamed for having provided the scenario for such a ludicrous charade.”

To further illustrate their frustrations, the artists installed Death by Plastic, an eco-art piece located near the COP25 gathering at the close of conference. Using plastic waste generated from the Christmas shopping along one of Madrid’s busiest retail areas, the artists created large-scale, people-shaped sculptures illuminated from within. The artists also drew a chalk outline around each of the plastic “bodies” to denote a crime scene. The guerrilla installation was displayed for a few hours, after which the artists removed the artworks. The art pieces have been stored away for future use.

+ luzinterruptus

Photography by Melisa Hernández via luzinterruptus

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China plans to phase out single-use plastics by 2025

As the world’s most populous country, with close to 1.5 billion denizens, China also produces the largest quantity of plastic. In fact, the University of Oxford-based publication Our World In Data (OWID) has documented China’s plastic production rate at 60 million tons per year. To mitigate the resulting plastic pollution, the Chinese government is set to enact a plastic ban, phasing out the production and use of several single-use plastic items by 2025, thanks to a detailed policy directive and timeline from the country’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Three avenues are currently available for plastic waste disposal: recycling, incinerating or discarding. Only an estimated 20% of global plastic waste is recycled, 25% incinerated and a whopping 55% is discarded, according to OWID. The more shocking statistic is that only 9% of 5.8 billion tons of plastic no longer in use has been recycled since 1950.

Related: Ireland plans to ban single-use plastics

Interestingly, of all the regions across the globe where mismanaged plastic is prevalent, East Asia and the Pacific alarmingly outrank all regions at 60%, followed distantly by South Asia at 11%, Sub-Saharan Africa at 8.9%, the Middle East and North Africa at 8.3%, Latin America and the Caribbean at 7.2%, Europe and Central Asia at 3.6% and North America at 0.9%.

Discarded plastic accumulates in landfills, but some also enters the oceans, threatening marine life and ecosystems. OWID explained, “Mismanaged plastic waste eventually enters the ocean via inland waterways, wastewater outflows and transport by wind or tides.”

Thus, China’s new initiative to curtail single-use plastic production might help substantially in solving the Pacific regions’, and by extension the planet’s, crisis with plastic waste. The plastic ban calls for several components, including a ban on China’s production and sale of plastic bags that are less than 0.025 mm thick; a ban on plastic bags in major cities before 20201, then all cities and towns by 2022 and all produce vendors by 2025; a ban on single-use straws in restaurants before 2021, and a reduction of single-use plastic items by 30% in restaurants by 2021; a phase-out of plastic packaging in China’s postal service; and a ban on single-use plastic items in hotels by 2025.

Via BBC, EcoWatch and Our World In Data (OWID)

Image via Lennard Kollossa

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Self-sustaining Ugandan surgical facility provides healthcare to underserved areas

In an inspiring example of humanitarian architecture, Kliment Halsband Architects teamed up with Mount Sinai Surgery in New York to create the Mount Sinai Kyabirwa Uganda Surgical Facility, a prototype for an independent, self-sustaining ambulatory surgical facility. According to the architects, roughly 5 billion people lack any form of safe or affordable surgery, leading to millions of deaths annually worldwide. In response, the architects created a modular, easily replicable surgical facility to provide ambulatory surgical procedures for underserved populations in resource-poor regions.

Located in Kyabirwa, a rural village near the equator in Uganda, the Mount Sinai Kyabirwa Uganda Surgical Facility is located on a site that originally lacked potable water, reliable electricity, internet or adequate sanitary facilities. To keep construction simple, the architects used a modular and minimally invasive design inspired by locally available materials. Taking advantage of the area’s abundance of red clay, the architects used locally sourced and fired bricks and cladding tiles for the main structure and topped it with a wavy roof reminiscent of the nearby White Nile.

Related: Snøhetta designs healing forest cabins for patients at Norway’s largest hospitals

Uninterrupted power is provided by 75 kWp solar panels installed atop the wavy roof, Li-Lead Acid Hybrid battery storage, an onsite generator and intermittent power from the grid. The team also installed 20 miles of underground cabling with fiberoptic service to provide critical internet connection for telemedicine links to Mount Sinai Surgery in New York, where doctors provide advanced surgical consultation and real-time operating room video conferencing. Gravity tanks with a filter and sterilization system store well water and intermittently available town water on-site, while water from a graywater system is recycled for toilet flushing and irrigation. The building relies primarily on natural ventilation and is not air conditioned with the exception of the operating rooms.

“The primary reason for the limited availability of surgical treatments in underserved parts of the world is the belief that surgery is either too expensive or too complicated to be broadly available,” reads the project’s client statement. “We believe that surgical treatments are essential to building healthy communities worldwide and that surgical therapies need not be complex or expensive. This model is built around developing an independent, self-sustaining facility capable of providing surgical treatments in resource-poor areas.”

+ Kliment Halsband Architects

Photography by Bob Ditty and Will Boase via Kliment Halsband Architects

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