Natural Building Materials S, M, L

Climate impact researcher Hans Joachim Schellnhuber puts it bluntly: "The built environment (...) is the biggest driver of climate change. We can avoid this by replacing concrete, glass, aluminium and steel with natural materials." (Source: stern.de) So what is stopping us from building with these climate-friendly, environmentally friendly and mostly locally available natural resources?

Auenweide housing estate near Vienna by Einszueins Architektur, © Hertha Hurnaus

Their spectrum is broad – it ranges from clay to wood and natural stone to cork, to name just a few. But their design and construction possibilities are just as diverse as the materials themselves. These are presented in the new title Naturbaustoffe S, M, L - Nature Building Materials S, M, L by Edition Detail. On 352 pages, the book presents 30 international projects made from natural building materials of various materials, sizes and uses. These include a cork house in Catalonia, a bamboo house in Bangladesh and a cultural centre with thatched roofing in Denmark.

Naturbaustoffe S, M, L – Nature Building Materials S, M, L, © Edition Detail

The projects are divided into three chapters (S, M and L) according to size, ranging from up to 400 m² to over 2000 m². Inspiring photos, descriptive texts and building details on a scale of 1:20 comprehensively cover the different types of construction and application of the building materials bamboo, wood, cork, clay, natural stone, thatch, seagrass and straw. The book is therefore a source of inspiration and knowledge for all those who want to realise energy-optimised, recyclable and climate-friendly architecture using natural building materials.

Look inside the book: Browse here