The Architectural Reverie of Terunobu Fujimori

I feel like an overexcited child when I see the beautiful, playful and dreamlike creations of Japanese Architect Terunobu Fujimori. His work, drawing from a vast basin of traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous Japanese building methods, interprets these sophisticated and ancient techniques into inventive, innocent and truly unique little gems of contemporary architecture. Featured here is a teaser showing a little of Fujimori’s unconventional techniques such as carved tree trunk models, charcoal wood cladding and brussel sprout window detailing as well as his original take on the green roof and Japanese tea house.

Mud, Glorious Mud

Ever spent fruitless months trying to source an eco-friendly sustainable wall tile that is naturally responsive to amibent room conditions, made by a happy orphan peasant collective in central Peru, has a proven track record of reliability over 10,000 years, comes in under the client's budget and provides a better range of beige than Dulux, well don't worry just use mud! It's cheap, readilly available and look what you can do with it. Shibam in Yemen, the once capitla of the kingdom of Hadramwat, is a wonderful example of the potential of what this modest material can achieve.

The Hermitic Architect

Many of us can perhaps sympathise with hermitic tendencies and yearn for an insular and quiet place for undisturbed absorption into a favourite past time. Here is one such place, beautiful in its humbleness and humility to its surroundings; the home of a Buddhist yogini, near the entrance to Paro Taksang in Bhutan.