WOOD WORKS - SUSTAINABILITY, VERSATILITY, STABILITY

By living in a large ceramic tub, Ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes was one of the first people to promote a simple lifestyle as a protest against a corrupt society - one could call him an unwitting pioneer of the current tiny-house movement. However, today small living is not necessarily connected to an alternative or even anarchic lifestyle - it simply makes things easier, more economic and eco-friendly to focus on what is really needed in life without compromising quality. This volume presents a large variety of sophisticated solutions for mini houses in terms of architectural style, construction method and interior design. Whether portable or prefabricated, newly built or reused, rural or urban, they all meet the highest technological and sustainable standards to literally reduce their owners' ecological footprint.

Buildings made of brick are found in very different epochs and cultures all over the world. Always astonishing, the qualities of brickwork continue to be explored by the world's best architects until today. A key characteristic of the material's success since time immemorial has always been the ease of planning due to its standardized production and the resulting harmonized building processes. In addition to longevity, amazing constructive possibilities as well as inexpensive and at the same time environmentally friendly production are among the qualities that are particularly valued today. Using computer software solutions, and even robots in some cases, today's architects are deploying brick in inventive ways: perforated, pixelated, undulating and more. The featured works from the past and present are a demonstration of how the use and popularity of bricks has not diminished one bit over the millennia, and is even gaining popularity today.