Monday, November 30, 2009

Buildings in the Desert: Sand and Bacteria

Image taken from the Holcim Foundation website.
Full image available here:
http://www.holcimfoundation.org/Portals/1/images/holcim_imagegallery/A08AMEng12-006f.jpg


Architect Magnus Larsson presented his novel project idea in a Ted talk recently, in which he proposed to halt the expansion of the Saharan desert by using the sand itself. His construction idea involves the use of a bacteria (bacillus pasteurii) which can be used to turn ordinary sand into sandstone.

Read more about the science behind this new bio material:
http://www.sil.ucdavis.edu/projects-bsi.htm

Read more about the architect's projects and ideas on his website:
http://www.magnuslarsson.com/architecture/dune.asp

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