I am a fan of Copenhagen Cycle Chic, because it combines two of my favourite inventions ever: bicycles and, well, women. However, reader Rogier forwarded me a link to a well-researched post that clearly shows that the popular Danish blog (or rather its sister site Copenhagenize) is exaggerating the success of cycling in Copenhagen. David Hembrow argues that many Dutch cities have much higher cycling rates and that cycling in the Danish capital actually faces some serious obstacles. Related: Cars, out of the way.
Sailing Directly into the Wind
January 12, 2010 by Filed Under: Boats, Sailing ships, Travel, Wind Power, Windmills
“In the late 90s/early 2000s my interest was in developing boats that can sail directly into the wind. To some, this seems impossible, and they find it hard to accept that it is possible to overcome the wind using the force of the wind itself. This technology has further implications also, it can allow a boat, or a buoy, to remain stationary in the water, unsecured, no matter how hard the wind blows without using any fuel. Having revived the project recently (2008) I am doing further research.”
I cannot help but admire the simplicity of the design. Find all information here.
Wovel Wheeled Snow Shovel
January 12, 2010 by Filed Under: Hand tools, Snow-tech
“Replace the intricate wheel casting with wooden spokes and it’s possible to believe that the Wovel was designed and built a thousand years ago”. Read more.
Post-Oil Automobile Drives on Wood
January 6, 2010 by Filed Under: Low-tech cars, Travel
Joost Conijn travelled through Europe with a wooden car burning wooden fuel.
Update: “Wood gas vehicles: firewood in the fuel tank“.
Timbrel Vaulting in South Africa by Peter Rich Architects
December 21, 2009 by Filed Under: Construction, Random, Roofs
Reader Sergio Carratalá informs us of yet another recent example of timbrel vaulting – a medieval building method that we described extensively in “Tiles as a substitute for steel“.
It concerns the Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre in South Africa, designed by Peter Rich Architects from Johannesburg. The project won the World Building Award at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) held in Barcelona last month.
The Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre, which is built to house artifacts from the region’s prehistory, was constructed using local materials and using the skills and labour of local people. Unemployed South Africans were trained in the manufacture of earth tiles and in building the
timbrel vaults.
Timbrel vaulting (or “Catalan vaulting”) is being rediscovered as an ecological building technique because it saves large amounts of building materials and thus embodied energy. This also makes it a cheap building method, at least in regions were hand labour is affordable. Via Sergio Carratalá.
More pictures below (courtesy of Peter Rich and the WAF).
Art Can Save The World – But Then We Need More Artists
These days, artists have no difficulty in finding free materials to work with. The same stuff can be used over and over again, for different purposes. One artwork can be transformed into another. Why can’t our industrial production system work the same way? Because it is automated and needs standardized parts. Mass production and re-use of scavenged materials don’t match, unless the materials undergo the (mostly energy-intensive) intermediate step of recycling.
Above: Hubcap creatures by Ptolemy Elrington (also see his lamps – why do we need new materials to make lamps? There is enough trash in the world to make lamps for another 10,000 years).
