Using Ancient Techniques for Modern Problems
Our current designs aren’t sustainable for the rapidly changing climate, so let’s look at ancient solutions to beat the heat, cool down, and make structures last
I don’t know if you’ve noticed… but the climate is becoming increasingly unstable. Natural disasters are already familiar headlines reporting massive flooding, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, freak tornadoes, and even the once elusive snow lightning. These events kill tens of thousands, destroy communities, and cost the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars in damages every year.
Surveying the destruction makes one thing clear. We are not designing our homes or cities with the climate in mind. I know we usually turn to technology to solve our problems, but in this case, technology is part of our problem. The good news is, our ancient ancestors lived for hundreds of thousands of years without technology — including surviving not one but two ice ages, which means perhaps we can adapt some of their techniques to help us solve our modern problems.
Modern Concrete
One thing we’re becoming increasingly dependent on is concrete. While not a technology in the digital sense, it’s still a human-made material. In 2021…
