Ancient wisdom meets new-tech

Brazilian eco-town

Environmental sustainability and low impact are at the top of the agenda in in Brazil — driving some of the most interesting natural architecture projects. From the choice of the materials to the way they are used, the so-called Ecovilas (Ecovillages) are icons of sustainable design and life style.
Many groups are trying to make a difference by going off-grid the native Americans’ way.

The traditional native villages are formed of several ‘ocas’, houses as large as 30m long and 10m high that shelter many families, usually placed around in a circle that creates an immense sense of community. The houses are built from material available in the woods, such as mud, bamboo and leaves and have some open spots on its base and top to provide ventilation. Everything is efficiently recycled after its use.
Planned to be a self-sufficient village that host several families with the least environmental impact ‘Cristal do Sul’ might be the first of its kind to use the native model of development once its up and running, in mid-2008. The village’s community leader, Eduardo Conte, has spent time with native American tribes to learn how they live, work, interact, and educate.
“We’ll use all this learning in order to improve our way of life,” he said. “We don’t want to adopt the whole lifestyle of the natives, since that is their natural heritage, but we can learn from them and improve our ecovillage using their knowledge of the nature”.
Amongst the decisions made by the community is the use of only certified timber and recycled materials, and the use of solar energy, only where and if necessary. The concept aims to maximize natural conditions and integrity with nature.