Off the wall: Waste insulates Mexican housing

Nido, Mexico – Royal College of Art graduate Julene Aguirre Bielschowsky has created a system of insulation walls called Nido, for improvised housing in Northwestern Mexico.

The walls are made from waste material from the local wine and shellfish industries. Grape stalks and broken shells are soaked in warm water, blended to create a fibrous material, then mixed with a blending agent and left to dry in the sun.

‘The project started with the question of how to activate local economies, looking at social needs and available materials in the area,’ says Bielschowsky. ‘There are few jobs, and a demand for better insulation, so the making of these walls provides the area with industry stimulation.’

This is a simple way to address a widespread problem. For more on the work of this years’s RCA graduates, read our RCA and CSM Graduate Show Review.