Name: Don't build your home, grow it!
Uploaded: 2010-07-02T09:34:00Z
Duration: 2 min 39 s
Description: TED Fellow and urban designer Mitchell Joachim presents his vision for sustainable, organic architecture: eco-friendly abodes grown from plants and -- wait for it -- meat.

Pleached walks, tunnels and arbours

How Plants Run the Carbon Cycle

How Pig Guts Became the Next Bright Hope for Regenerating Human Limbs

The Function of Hox Genes

TED Fellow and urban designer Mitchell Joachim presents his vision for sustainable, organic architecture: eco-friendly abodes grown from plants and -- wait for it -- meat.

Don't build your home, grow it!

Advances in ecological design point toward homes that are literally grown from living materials, like trees and even lab-cultured meat. Using ancient techniques like pleaching, combined with modern technology such as CNC scaffolding and tissue engineering, entire villages could one day be cultivated instead of constructed. A single green home can remove carbon from the atmosphere and integrate seamlessly with the landscape. The vision stretches from plant-based habitats to experimental meat structures, challenging what architecture can be.