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Lawyer Turned Architect Builds Recycled Homes for People in Need, Will Travel to Haiti
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 03.24.10
Design & Architecture

Photos: BBC Mundo.

We've seen houses from recycled PET bottles and even massive homes with glass bottles, though they are usually just a rare experiment by their owners. Not in this case: Bolivian lawyer turned architect Ingrid Vaca Diez helps people in need to build their own homes with recycled materials that, apart from plastic bottles, involve whatever material is available, including expired powder milk and even horse manure. Her project has been so successful that she's being sent to Haiti. Learn more inside.

It all began with a request from a little neighbor girl who wanted a room of her own and a lot of accumulated PET bottles in her patio. When her husband said, "Get rid of them, you've got enough for a house," Ingrid Vaca Diez thought, "Yeah, that's it."

And so she began building homes with plastic bottles and recycled materials, but not just as a fun hobby, but as a real alternative for people in need.





She has already built six of them in Warnes, a town in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia; and she's now gone regional with her first house in Roldan, a town in Santa Fe province, Argentina.

Given the nature of her initiative, the Organization of American States has invited her to travel to Haiti in May to participate in the discussion about the reconstruction of the country, hit by a devastating earthquake on January 12.





According to BBC Mundo (via TuVerde), a 170 sq meters (1829 sq feet) takes about 36 thousand bottles (about 81 per sq meter), which are bonded with concrete and a sort of net (pic above).

The bottles are filled with discarded materials or sand, and here's the fun part: the coating is done with a mixture from more discarded materials. Vaca Diez told BBC Mundo she uses a combination of "expired powder milk, horse manure, linseed oil, cattle blood, cane molasses... whatever." Floor? Chopped rubber from tires.

Once the bottles are filled a house can be ready in 15 days.





Even if you're not into the crafty look of the usual bottles houses, these look very good (see the orange above) and the fact that they're actually a functional, easy and cheap alternative for providing people with homes is something to take into account.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03 ... i.php#ch02

Guy Builds Massive House with Recycled Glass Bottles, Teaches you How to Do It (Video)

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03 ... -video.php


The Plastic Bottle Greenhouse





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Dome-house from recycled tires to offer shelter to homeless Haitians



Houses made from recycled tires could be a common sight in devastated Haiti. The UN White Helmets Commission has asked Carlos Levinton, the Argentine architect to give a helping hand in reconstruction of Haiti after the earthquake. So, he finally thought of an ingenious idea of a dome-house made by using recycle tires. The government approval and White Helmets support has let him kick start the plan
Tire houses are arguably more practical and ultimately realistic than cardboard buildings. Used tires are abundant in our oil-driven world where vehicles are common and changing tires is a fact of life. The thermal mass of a tire wall works well in summer or winter, mitigating the exterior and interior temperatures so the house is never too cold or too hot inside. Construction can also be accomplished by the home owner with relative ease.

http://earthship.com/

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Giant “Eggo” Home Made Out Of Hundreds Of Recycled Egg Cartons

Stacking up hundreds of reused egg cartons like Lego blocks, Australia-based studio Goldenhen built a life-sized home called "The Original Dream". Considered the first "Eggo" installation exhibition, the egg carton home was modeled after Howard Arkley's well-known painting, Family Home: Suburban Exterior 1993, which is considered the Australian dream of suburban living. Goldenhen reimagined the dream home using recycled and colored egg cartons and egg trays that bring a whole new meaning to the catch phrase, "Leggo my Eggo

http://inhabitat.com/giant-eggo-home-ma ... /?extend=1

Newspaper house was constructed by Sumer Erek in London. The newspaper art installation is the artist's way of emphasizing the ecological impact of the newspaper waste we accumulate everyday

Read Full Article At: http://www.mediadump.com/hosted-id67-am ... z1BlwGV9uF



The Beer Can House at 222 Malone Street in Houston, Texas, has been drawing hoards of visitors ever since John Milkovisch, the owner of the property, started his eccentric embellishments of his property in what used to be a middle class neighborhood.


Read Full Article At: http://www.mediadump.com/hosted-id67-am ... z1BlwamDQM

The 60 sq meter Pallet Haus is constructed from 800 recycled pallets


Homes have been made from pallets before, mostly because pallets are really quite useful materials. They are durable, easily reused and recycled, and they come in standard sizes around the world, making it easy to gain access to the materials no matter where you are. Two layers of pallets serve as the home’s walls, ceiling, and as a sunscreen to shade the structure and allow for ventilation. Then structural support, insulation, conduits and plumbing are sandwiched between the two layers of pallets.






http://inhabitat.com/pallet-haus-an-eff ... /?extend=1

'Earthship' homes rise from Haiti's rubble
"There's too much going on in this world in my opinion that is aimed at design, aimed at culture, aimed at tradition, but not really aimed at taking care of people. So if something takes care of people in a healthy way and doesn't harm the planet that we're on, then I'm for it," he says.

Earthships have been constructed in every state of the U.S. and further afield in Europe, and they are made largely from recycled materials. Reynolds believes they could be an eco-friendly part the solution to re-housing the one million Haitians still living in tents and temporary shelters.

Much of the Earthship is constructed from used materials, while rubble from the quake is ground up to provide the flooring and walls. Waste water is re-used and the design promotes low-energy usage. Reynolds estimates that the other supplies needed would bring the cost to around $5,000.

If you can make a home that has everything for itself, people are empowered by that.
"It still needs to go down in price. I'm seeing that this could be built with much less in terms of bought materials. I'm seeing it could be $2,000," says Reynolds.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/ameri ... l?hpt=Sbin