Indestructible earthships: biotecture homes

Australia – Earthships – radically sustainable buildings made of a wide collection of recycled materials – demonstrate a brand new and completely balanced way of living by applying natural resources as building blocks of modern architecture, known as biotecture.

To create earthships, also known as ‘passive solar homes’, vehicle tyres are filled and compacted with soil to form the outlines of the building. This thick and stable wall of bricks may be unconventional, but its rubbery weight also makes it close to indestructible – reputedly resilient enough to withstand the force of an earthquake. The three-foot massive walls also provide a stable room temperature.

Aluminium drinks cans and glass bottles are also popular materials, commonly incorporated in the interior walls amid cement. The ‘little bricks’ create a cement matrix that is not only strong, but also quite easy to manufacture.

Earthships are a relatively new phenomenon, although the list of countries featuring these original types of building already includes Australia, Japan, Belgium, South Africa, Mexico and Bolivia.