Architects Imagine the Dream Homes of Europe’s Green Future

Laura Millan Lombraña of Bloomberg Green writes:

Spectacular technology breakthroughs, multiple trillions of euros in investment, and an economic overhaul won’t be enough to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050—it also will need a new look.

Three leaders in sustainable design envision what buildings might look like once the continent goes net-zero

Bloomberg Green invited Julien De Smedt, Casper Mork-Ulnes, and Koichi Takada, all architects known for their focus on sustainability to perform an exercise of imagination. The rules were simple: Pick a place in Europe, design a single-family home to suit that climate, and make it produce more energy than it uses.

Stabbur House, by Casper Mork-Ulnes

Courtesy Casper Mork-Ulnes, Visualization by Ver 3D

“The most sustainable square meter is the one you actually don’t build.”

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Flora House, by Julien De Smedt

Courtesy Julien De Smedt

“If you talk about environmental building and sustainability, the biggest failure of a building is to be taken down. A large part of our aim as architects is to stop this endless new building trend.”

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Sunflower House, by Koichi Takada

Courtesy Koichi Takada

“Modernism was based on a static style—a combination of steel, glass, and concrete that I call dead materials. What we are looking at in the 21st century is a shift from industrial to natural. It’s about celebrating the living material and the living architecture.”