Blog

Creating Holistic Sustainability With Plant-Based Building Material

Megan Schires

April 15, 2021

As one of the earliest crops domesticated by humans, hemp has a wide range of uses and applications, making it a valuable product throughout history. The seeds are used to make health food, medicines, and beauty products, while the fibers are used in textiles.

Hempcrete is a bio-aggregate concrete, where the hemp shives - small pieces of wood from the stalk of the plant - are mixed with either a lime or mud cement to create a durable, eco-friendly building material. Hempcrete is lightweight and non-structural, but can instead be integrated with traditional building construction systems. Similar to traditional concrete, it can be either cast-in-place or prefabricated into building components like blocks or sheets.

Natural Stone in Residential Projects and
Interiors

Giovana Martino

June 02, 2021

During the construction of ancient shelters, ancient builders understood the environment and the physical needs of humans. Even with technological advancements and our evolving perception of the world around us, this kind of knowledge and relationship with our surroundings can still be applied today and adapted to our current situation. Natural stone, when used in architecture shows just that, as we explore its many different styles and applications.

The history of humanity is deeply rooted in the use of stones as tools and raw materials. An ax, made of stone and wood, is believed to be the oldest tool known to us. Stone is also one of the first and most important elements in the development of construction techniques and architecture.

Applying Exposed Cork in Interior Architecture

Catalina Valenzuela

May 06, 2021

In urban situations, how can we experience a natural environment? Materiality is a critical factor that determines the atmosphere we inhabit. We will here specifically analyze the effect that cork has as a special resource in the design of interior spaces. Cork is the bark of a tree species known as Cork oak. This raw material is transformed from the tree into a useful raw material that has a large variety of uses.

Is It Possible to Recycle Concrete?

Eduardo Souza

February 17, 2020

Buildings of all scales have utilized concrete since the Roman era. It is almost impossible to imagine a structure without at least one concrete element. It is the most widely used construction material in the world because of its versatility, resistance, ease of handling, accessibility, aesthetics, and other characteristics. Its manufacture is also one of the leading pollutants in the atmosphere, mainly because it emits around 8% of all global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.