Recycled Home in Portland

An architect in Oregon takes eight years to realize a passive home built of mostly scrap and waste products, where his designs were not preconceived but rather inspired through available materials. His Portland bungalow yielded studs that were originally cut around 1925, and once de-nailed, ripped, and planed, they revealed beautiful material, he says. The home won the "Greenest Home in America" in 2008.
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Floating House Captures Sun for Daylighting

Architect Robert Oshatz is well known for his unique approach to design and architecture. His creations are expressions of identity and form and this house boat comes as no exception. Oshatz wanted to design a house that would only function if it were situated on water, not something that could work equally well on land. The actual construction of the home had to occur offsite, on the connected Columbia River, then pulled by barge to its mooring. Also, moorings on either side were less than 10 feet away, so the house had to provide privacy despite the close proximity to neighbors.