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In a place where most contemporary buildings are constructed of concrete and cooled via standard air conditioning units, Issoufou’s work demonstrates that traditional techniques and site-derived materials are not only better for the environment, but are also a high-performance option for the people who will occupy them.
Light life in New Zealand
“Maori, New Zealand’s indigenous people, live according to a series of basic natural principles and behaviours,” says Stephen McDougall, founding director of Pacific Architecture in Wellington, the country’s capital. “Guardianship is one of these principles.”
Drawing on this commitment to the land, McDougall designed Kapiti House, his personal off-grid retreat set on 16 acres of regenerating wetlands on the Kapiti Coast, just north of Wellington. The house is designed to leave a minimal environmental footprint and is operationally carbon positive, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it contributes.
The complex consists of two rustic vernacular buildings – a 1,750-square-foot barn for the main house and a separate two-story tower for guests – and is constructed of cross-laminated timber, hardened hardboard, recycled local rimu wood, New Zealand wool insulation and fly ash concrete. All of these materials have a much lower carbon footprint than their standard counterparts. Thanks to solar panels, rainwater harvesting, on-site wastewater treatment, and a garden and orchard for sustainable agriculture, the project has become self-sufficient. Passive design strategies, including deep eaves for self-shading, cross-ventilation, and a highly efficient envelope, mean they require no heating or cooling.
“This approach reflects a shift from designing isolated buildings to designing systems that support the ground over time,” McDougall says. It also represents a stunning example of low-impact rural living.
Earthquake safe wattle and daub in Chile
In very seismically active Chile, an 8,000-year-old residential building technique has proven to be one of the best defences. The kensha, or turret-and-plaster building, covers an interlocking wooden frame (the canopy) with a mixture of clay and straw (plaster), and is waterproofed with a thin layer of lime plaster. The wood’s web-like structure and heavy thermal mass make it inherently stable, allowing it to vibrate without damage.
The old way – which is sustainable and highly local because the elements can usually be found on site – is now being revived by forward-thinking architects for seismically safe and passively cooled housing projects across the country. Outside the capital, Santiago, architect Marcelo Cortés recently designed the two-story, 1,075-square-foot Casa Peñalolén using quincha metálica, a contemporary version of the technique that covers a steel frame and metal wire with techno barro, or lime-stabilized clay, to reinforce walls and ceilings.
Architects Bárbara Barreda and Felipe Sepulveda, co-founders of Chilean firm Base Studio, explore the historic style of architecture in a new, organic form, adding local clay to the material mix by encasing the house in 10,000 fired tiles. While the project is still a work in progress, the duo is building a 1:1 scale mock-up this fall.
Bamboo, brick and plastic recycled in Malaysia
Illustration: Ibrahim Raintakath
Architect Elena Jamil built her eponymous firm in the Malaysian state of Selangor around contextual architecture, “a departure from the modernist ideal of the air-conditioned glass box prevalent in many tropical developing regions,” she explains. “In Malaysia, the standard method of (contemporary) house construction is based on reinforced concrete floor slabs and frames, with plastered bricks for the walls. Roofs are usually held up by metal trusses and covered with interlocking tiles.” Its practice aims to offer a local, low-carbon alternative.
