What Building a Castle the 13th-Century Way Can Teach Architects Today
We have written many posts about the lessons modern designers could learn from the way we used to do things, like planting vines, using awnings and learning how to use windows properly. In France, they are taking it to a whole new level, and building the Chateau de Guedelon,an entire castle from scratch, using only traditional materials and methods, and they are partying like it’s 1299.
…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Greenpeace Activist Harpooned by French Fisherman (Video)
Image Credit: Greenpeace France
A Greenpeace protest against tuna fishing in the Mediterranean turned violent yesterday when an activist was harpooned in the leg by a French fisherman. Armed with sandbags, Greenpeace members planned to weigh down fishing nets attached to the boat to the point where the trapped tuna could escape. The fishermen did not take the attack lightly, however, striking the protesters with poles and sinking one of their boats. The encounter came to a head when Frank Huston, a British Greenpeace member, was struck in the leg by either a boat hook. (He is expected to recove…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Stunning French Shipping Container House (We Think)
All photos by Javier Callegras from CG Architectes
Mocoloco shows us the CrossBox by CG Architectes, built from four shipping containers….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Green Roofs And Walls Cover House In France
We keep saying that green roofs are changing architecture and planning, and here is another example, where the green roof turns into green walls and comes down to grade. Actually not to grade, but to some form of podium.
Dezeen shows us La Maison-vague by Patrick Nadeau, is being built in Reimes, France, as part of an affordable housing project….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Ritzy Parisian Boulevard Goes Rural as French Farmers (and Their Cows) Take Over Champs-Elysees
The scene on the famous French street this weekend. Photo via the BBC.
Visitors to the fashionable Champs Elysees in Paris this weekend encountered something other than the usual chic cafes and luxury shops: cows, sheep, pigs, grass, and farmers selling their wares. The two-day takeover of the famous street, whose name mean “Elysian Fields” in French, was carried out overnight in order to raise awareness about the country’s agricultural sector and the pro…Read the full story on TreeHugger
LeAF – Love the Earth Fashion, Organic Cotton Luxury for Spring 2010
LeAF spring 2010 collection. Credit: Ram Shergill for Leaf
LeAF – Love the Earth Fashion by Debra Kellner and Marie-Hélène Gautier marries organic cotton fabric with relaxed silhouettes for spring 2010. The cotton is purchased from marginalized producers and workers and does not pollute; leave any by-products, and is never overproduced. The French-based brand will be introduced in Barneys New York this April, WWD reports</a…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Sarkozy Backs Down, France’s Carbon Tax Plan is Stillborn
Photo: Creative commons
.jpg){kind=link}
A Politician Breaking an Electoral Promise? Nooo!
The plan for a French carbon tax has been in trouble for month, but now it’s official. Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party has announced that it was dropping the plan because “the tax would put French companies at a disadvantage to their European neighbors” and that the C-tax “would be Europe-wide or not (exist) at all”….Read the full story on TreeHugger
France’s Areva Buys 100% Stake in Solar Thermal Startup Ausra
Photo: Ausra
Playing with the Big Boys
The solar thermal startup Ausra, which we’ve written about in the past, has just been bought by the French public mega-conglomerate Areva for an unknown amount. Ausra’s solar technology is particularly desirable because they are storing part of the heat generated by the sun during the day so that they can keep producing electricity even when the sun doesn’t shine….Read the full story on TreeHugger
French Using Sewage to Heat Their Swimming Pools
When water from the shower, dishwasher, or washing-machine is drained into the sewer-pipes, it’s not just a waste of water, but a waste of the energy used to heat that water. In fact, the water in city pipes averages a temperature of 68°F–energy-produced heat that is simply wasted. This unused energy pestered folks in one French town so much that they decided to put it to good use… and now it heats their swimming pools. …Read the full story on TreeHugger
100 Shipping Containers Become Student Housing in France
Yet another proposal for putting students in boxes, this time in Le Havre by olgga Architects, “a multidisciplinary agency federated around 3 different personalities with different yet complimentary backgrounds and studies.” …Read the full story on TreeHugger
