I thought you’d like to see this. As far as eco villages go, this one is by far the most unusual. The only reason why you don’t see gnomes and unicorns on the pics is that they were busy at the time of taking these photos.
The eco village is situated just outside Kharkov (quite a big city in Eastern Ukraine) and it is created by Yuri Ryntovt – an architect and product designer with a world-wide fame. Ok, he’s recognized in Germany, USA and Russia but I don’t expect many British folks to have heard about Ryntovt.
The green home pictured is called “Puzata Hata” or fat-bellied hut. It is extremely simplistic and made from whatever was found in the nearby forest. Many of the trees used in building have little or no treatment. You just chop the bark off it and use it. The wooden frame has been filled with a clay mixture.
The good thing about Ryntovt’s design is that anyone with an imaginative streak can take inspiration from this and build a similar house. It is not expensive – just take what Nature gives you and build. Isn’t it the core approach in sustainable living?
This eco village has this special air about it. There’s a mystery and there’s harmony. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the architect had taken the vibe from the works of Gogol.
I knew that my fragmentary knowledge of Ukrainian (can read, cannot speak) would come handy one day. LOL!
Great post! Even here in the States, in the Hilton Head real estate market, we’re seeing eco-village type developments going up. Nothing so extreme as the above but the idea of a community of “green” buildings/homes is really taking hold.
Thank you for the comment. Can you share some links? I don’t think I’ve seen many American eco-villages.
Over the last 12 moths we have seen over double the quantity of eco logs being used as a carbon neutral fuel source for modern eco homes.Eco logs are one of the eco friendly fuels to heat a modern day home leaving very little ash and very easy to light. Made purely from wood waste from hardwood they are slow burning and certainly kick out the heat