Housing

While it's important to find homes for the houseless, the truth is that many people will stay living on the street in the meantime. The Mini Mansion is made with that fact in mind, as a portable and better equipped alternative to current options.

Modern timber construction continues to go from strength to strength, with the latest major development recently revealed for Sweden. Described as the world's largest wooden construction project, it will include 2,000 homes made from timber.

In an effort to create low-cost, sustainable housing, researchers have created a composite material by replacing sand in concrete and mortar with a common, non-degradable waste product: used disposable diapers. But would you build your house with it?

Grain silos are a fertile source of inspiration for architects around the world. The latest example of this is a disused grain terminal in Collingwood, Ontario, which is undergoing an ambitious transformation into a hotel and residential building.

Leading 3D printing firm Icon has revealed an ambitious competition that aims to revolutionize affordable housing. Named Initiative 99, it will solicit designs for 3D-printed homes that can be constructed for under $99,000.

Pininfarina is best known for its work in the automotive industry. However, the prestigious firm now plans to use its considerable design expertise to create a luxurious wellness retreat and residential community in the Mexican jungle.

The Bjarke Ingels Group has created a spiral-shaped development of almost 100 modular homes in Denmark, which wind around a central pond that forms part of a clever rainwater capture-and-reuse system that makes significant water savings.

Though it's officially named the RKM 740 Tower, J Mayer H's recently completed mixed-use high-rise building is undoubtedly destined to be better known by its more interesting nickname of the Zipper, coined due to its eye-catching shading exterior.

Following the completion of its award-winning Valley development comes another project by MVRDV that’s defined by an impressive mountain-like exterior. Ascension Paysagère is part-built to the Passivhaus standard, and features significant greenery.

Stefano Boeri Architetti has done more than most to help popularize the current trend of covering buildings with trees. Its latest project is greenery covered housing that boasts sustainability features and will absorb significant amounts of CO2.

Mecanoo has revealed plans for a pair of towers due for construction in the Netherlands. The mixed-use residential buildings will create new community spaces and a rooftop garden, as well as 1,400 homes, some of which will be social housing.

It's rare to see a firm as high-profile as MAD Architects take on the unglamorous work of social housing, but it has indeed done so. Baiziwan Social Housing is designed to resemble a mountain range and features raised walkways and lots of greenery.