Biotecture

[storefront] Mushroom Farm — citylab7. In January 2012, CityLab7 launched its collaboration with Olson Kundig Architects and Schuchart/Dow to create an installation called [storefront] Mushroom Farm based on CityLab7's Fertile Grounds pop-up concept.

[storefront] Mushroom Farm invites visitors to consider the far-reaching impacts of one seemingly simple choice --purchasing a cup of coffee-- as a nexus for sustainable awareness, community building, and a model for future urban agriculture practice. Mushroom Farm is not only a hyper-local demonstration project, but also an educational outreach center and community lunchroom space.

The mushroom farm structure, or Mother Ship, is fueled with grounds gathered from three nearby cafes -- Zeitgeist, Caffe Umbria and Starbucks. Possibly the Most Experimental Young Architects Program Building Material, Ever. A rendering of an aerial view of the The Living's Hy-Fi, the winning design of the 2014 Young Architects Program Credit: Courtesy The Living The architecture webosphere is abuzz about David Benjamin, co-founder of New York-based The Living, and his winning proposal for MoMA's 2014 PS1 Young Architects Program.

I have chronicled the provocative activities of The Living since my first Transmaterial book (Princeton Architectural Press, 2006), and the firm's experiments with gill-like breathing windows, micro-archipelagos of water-testing devices, and collective sensory networks for buildings have broadened our notions of what building products and architectural practice can be. As Joseph Giovannini reported last week in ARCHITECT, Benjamin's Hy-Fi installation at MoMA PS1 will be a brick tower that frames three circular oculi at the top, providing both shade and cooling breezes for summer visitors via stack-effect ventilation.

Credit: The Living. Earthbag Pit Greenhouse Plans. Mike Oehler’s pit greenhouse design I see at least two main approaches to building a pit house with earthbags: 1.

Mimic Mike Oehler’s greenhouse design using earthbags instead of poles and shoring. 2. Mimic conventional walipini pit greenhouses. Cal-Earth - The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture. Cob House Designs & Natural Building - This Cob House. Earthship Biotecture - Radically Sustainable Buildings.  Building an earthship in Darfield.