Check Out These Fabulous Solar Homes!
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Fablab House by a team from Instituto de Arquitectura Avanzada de Cataluna in Spain. It's one of 17 entries in Solar Decathlon Europe.
Nothing like a high-profile competition to spark new ideas in sustainable architecture and get people all over the world excited about the movement.
As part of Solar Decathlon Europe, the best minds from universities worldwide put their brain power into designing energy self-sufficient homes.
For a glimpse of the future, check out the 17 solar home prototypes at SD Europe. They are not just eco-friendly, but also eye-catching. Some sport exteriors that resemble avant garde artwork.
Take the entry, titled Fablab House, by Instituto de Arquitectura Avanzada de Cataluna in Spain. At first glance, it looks like the rib cage of a prehistoric beast with its mouth wide open. The curved roof is completely wrapped in solar panels to maximize photovoltaic capacity. The building sits off the ground, "creating a shadow space beneath it" to take advantage of natural ventilation, according to a description of the structure.
Not all the designs look outlandish. Some actually look pretty traditional, because they are in fact inspired by long-standing ideas. The team from Tongji University in Shanghai, China, for example, built their house with bamboo, a renewable resource that also happens to be a popular traditional building material. The Bamboo House incorporates classic oriental architectural features, such as a curved roof.
Among the contestants are two teams from the United States - one from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the other from the University of Florida. The decathlon, held in Madrid, Spain, concluded this past Sunday, with the Florida team winning the public choice award.