Sweden’s Naturhus – House in a Greenhouse

There is always the eternal question of who do we exactly dub as a genius and what is the scale to measure and tag someone as a genius. While views vary widely, one of the most accepted theory is that and man who thinks way ahead of his time in his methods and approach, can be called a genius.

Taking that into consideration, you could surely call Swedish architect Bengt Warne a genius in the field of environment. It was way back in 1976 that Bengt built a home in a greenhouse in an effort to grow vegetables around his own home. Though, three decades after the initial prototype, the idea seems to be a catching one.

Scandinavian winters can be cold and unforgiving and while people have a separate greenhouse to grow vegetables and plants, Bengt’s design calls for building a greenhouse around your own home. With this innovative technique one not only manages space better but energy is conserved enormously. Energy consumption in the form of electricity is reduced by 50% with this method as the vegetation offers a natural insulation to the house and thereby reduces the necessity for artificial heating.

The idea is really simple, easy to implement and for 1976- way ahead of its time. Surely, we can adopt it three decades down the line! Check out the gallery after the break.