Every once in awhile, the billions of dollars dedicated towards U.S. military spending do some actual good. Case in point: this new bacteria-based water treatment unit, developed by researchers at Sam
Storytelling design is the first step towards a healthier future for patients at the Evangelisches Konigin Elizabeth Krankenhaus children's psychiatric hospital in Berlin. Designed as a collaborative
One of our favorite publications, GOOD magazine, has just joined forces with PRE and Studio X to launch a design competition to rebuild Haiti. The contest comes at a time when Haiti needs it the most, and
When the sun goes down many developing countries rely upon dangerous kerosene lamps, which emit hazardous fumes and generate 190 million metric tons of CO2 each year. Seeking an eco-friendly alternative
The tragic earthquake in Haiti has provoked a number of architects to think about how they can help with disaster relief. One recent example we looked at was the SEED project, which uses shipping
Another successful NYC design competition! New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that Young-Hwan Choi’s “Urban Umbrella” design won the urbanSHED design contest to
The humanitarian emergency in Haiti has resulted in a complete loss of the country's power infrastructure. To bring it back, a host of companies and aid agencies are using the most plentiful resource on
Red+Housing Emergency Housing by OBRA Architects Inhabitat recently wrote about Emergency Shelters and Disaster Relief For The People of Haiti and how Shipping Containers Could Provide Disaster Relief
We're excited to announce that Emily Pilloton, the founder of Project H Design and Inhabitat team member is going to be sitting in the hot seat across from Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report TONIGHT!
If you only made between $400 and $4,000 a year in income and didn't have easy access to electricity, what would you do? For many rural Indians, the answer is the Duron, a $130 solar home power system
Recently software manufacturer Adobe Systems Inc. gave a grant to the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to help San Francisco Bay Area schools achieve LEED certification, and the Bessie Carmichael School
For anyone unfamiliar with hearing aids, know that they require a great deal of two things: money and batteries. Luckily, one humanitarian project aims to make the medical devices much cheaper and more
On February 1st, design nonprofit Project H Design (run by Inhabitat's own Emily Pilloton), will hit the road for a 25-school, 75-day, 6300-mile tour and exhibition showcasing design for social impact!
This unbelievable city piled high with trash is a real place called Garbage City, outside of Cairo in Egypt. It's populated by a community of workers called Zabbaleen, who personally collect, sort, reuse,
Throughout India there are many rural villages that are completely removed from the grid. With no source of power for cooking, light, and heating they currently must rely on firewood, kerosene or diesel
Drinking water is all around us -- if we know where to look. The Giving Tree-inspired Savior Bud designed by Seol Ah Sun and Kim Hyo Jin is a portable device that attaches to tree leaves and slowly
Recently we took the trip to Oakland, CA to visit a Habitat for Humanity East Bay Project of particular interest for its pairing of energy-efficient homes with families in need of housing. What was once
As part of last month's Architecture and the City Festival GOOD magazine took it upon themselves to match San Francisco civic leaders with well-respected designers to attack city problems head-on. In a
Combining methods for urban farming with design thinking, MetaboliCity is a design-research project by Loop.pH that explores how designers can help create models for sustainable urban food creation. Set
GRID Alternatives will lead 200+ community and industry volunteers to install sixteen 1.8-kilowatt solar electric systems in their annual Solarthon this Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at Habitat for
Here at Inhabitat, we can't stress enough the fact that materials alone do not make something sustainable. In fact, we consider many products made of typically non-eco-friendly materials like plastic
Driven by a progressive environmental strategy that will exploit sustainable energy design, Spanish-based firm Moho Arquitectura’s design for a mixed-use tower in San Jose will become a new benchmark
Bridging the gap between good design and giving back to the community, Canstruction, the annual international design/build competition where architects, engineers, designers, and students compete to
So much of the green design that we see here at Inhabitat is efficient and looks cool in renderings, but the human aspect of sustainability, and the real value of our built environment is too often a
Delft-based firm Mecanoo Architecten recently began construction on a new green public housing project in Málaga, Spain. Sustainability plays an integral part in the construction of the project, which is
Gardening enthusiasts living in cities will certainly cheer for Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray’s Window Farms experiment. The artist-in-residence duo at Eyebeam have teamed up to develop a DIY system
It seems like almost every community has a skate park--a place for the youngins' to go, try out some sick tricks, and hang out with friends. City officials like them because they keep kids off the
We all know kids have boundless amounts of energy and a need to play - so why not channel some of that energy into much needed rural infrastructure? That was the brilliant idea behind the PlayPump: a
