Deserts are already abundant with sand, so why not construct buildings out of it? This was the thought behind Flohara, a collection of shelters Paris-based firm XTU Architects thought up for the Morocco Pavilion in the 2014 Venice Biennale.
The firm marketed the idea as a way to construct a city in the Sahara, a step toward making deserts more habitable and sustainable, as the need to transport additional building material is decreased (water, on the other hand, is another story).
Gizmodo reports that the construction of shelters using the method developed by XTU Architects can be broken down in three steps. First, “bubbles” that function as support skeletons for building upon must be inflated and placed in the desired site toward the wind. Next, sand, water, a hydogel, and the bacteria Sporosarcina pasteurii (which hardens sand) is mixed and sprayed onto the bubbles. Finally, the structure will be left alone as the sand and sun slowly build and harden the structure before the bubble is deflated.
Read more at Gizmodo.
Related Stories
Building Materials | Sep 25, 2015
Dept. of Agriculture encouraging tall wood structure construction
Prize awarded for 10-story or higher wooden buildings
Building Materials | Aug 28, 2015
Structural steel buildings specification available for second public review
Next year's specification open for comments until Sept. 21
Sponsored | Building Materials | Jul 29, 2015
Glulam provides aesthetic, structural, and safety solution for Appleton Mills project
The Appleton Mills complex includes 5 million square feet of space, with an original structure built in the 1870s and another building added in 1906
Sponsored | | Jul 24, 2015
Nature in Design: The Biophilia Effect
The preference for nature has a name: biophilia, which literally means “love of life.”
Building Materials | Jun 12, 2015
Construction materials prices up in May, down year-over-year
Prices for inputs to construction industries rose by 1.1% in May—the largest month-over-month increase in more than two years.
Fire and Life Safety | May 27, 2015
7 bold applications and innovations for fire and life safety
BD+C’s roundup features colorful sprinklers for offices, hotels, museums; a fire-rated curtain wall at a transit hub in Manhattan; a combination CO/smoke detector; and more.
BIM and Information Technology | May 27, 2015
4 projects honored with AIA TAP Innovation Awards for excellence in BIM and project delivery
Morphosis Architects' Emerson College building in Los Angeles and the University of Delaware’s ISE Lab are among the projects honored by AIA for their use of BIM/VDC tools.
Sponsored | Building Materials | May 19, 2015
The BYU Life Sciences Building draws inspiration from tectonic forms
Strong, lightweight ALPOLIC materials honor the rugged Wasatch Mountains while standing up to the forces that created them.
