The Organization for Desert Development asked well-known architect Hassan Fathy to design a new agricultural village near the Kharga Oasis after discovering water resources in 1963. Hassan Fathy was known for his low-cost village for agricultural worker families in New Gourna, another pioneering project built 20 years prior. Fathy, who generally attaches importance to creating a strong community with inhabitants in his projects, used architecture as a tool to enable 250 families with no ties to live comfortably in this isolated land. He started his research with demographic, geographical, and climatic data on the land and people in 1963. The construction started in 1964 but was never completed due to the Six-Day War of 1967 and changes in regulations regarding earthen buildings. By then, the administration building, several housing units, the museum and social centre’s outer shell, and the market, which would be the project’s heart, had been built. This project’s constructed parts, drawings, and documentation are critical examples of sustainable architecture for passive cooling and vernacular architecture and are valuable for the sustainability discourse, depending on the context. 

The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre was designed to celebrate the vernacular Kanak culture, the indigenous culture of New Caledonia. The complex comprises ten distinct cylindrical structures, reminiscent of traditional Kanak huts, arranged in a spiralling layout across a tropical landscape. The centre houses exhibition spaces, conference rooms, theatres, and workshops, providing a platform for showcasing Kanak art, history, and cultural practices. It also includes outdoor amphitheatres and performance spaces for cultural events and celebrations. 

The architectural language of the centre was inspired by the material culture of the Kanaks and informed by advances in sustainable construction technologies. 

Located in Kasungu, Malawi, the Maternity Waiting Village aims to improve the conditions of mothers before, during, and after giving birth. Most importantly, the design aims to prevent evitable causes of maternal death by providing solutions, that promote HEALTH AND WELLBEING. Most of Malawi’s population lives in rural areas, affecting their ability to access professional care during childbirth. Local public authorities have decided to act by building 130 maternity waiting facilities across the country in places close to healthcare centres. The facility should be able to accommodate expectant mothers and their relatives, starting from the 36th week of pregnancy until delivery. The previous prototype for the facility failed in multiple aspects, so the initiative partnered with MASS Design Group. MASS collaborated with public authorities, researchers at the University of North Carolina, doctors, nurses, and expectant mothers in Malawi to design a holistic prototype that can be used as a model for other maternity waiting villages. 

Paimio was designed as a tuberculosis sanatorium in the homonymous Finnish town of Paimio. It combined the principles of healing architecture of the late 19th and early 20th century with the novel ideas of the modernist movement and with Alvar and Aino Aalto’s (then unusual) sensitivity to users’ lived experiences. 

Wall House is situated outside the city limits of Auroville, in Auromodele, an area designated for research and experimentation. It is situated 10 kms north of the town of Puducherry and 5 kilometers from the coast, in South India. The Auroville community was established to tackle a multitude of environmental and social problems that the area was facing, including water scarcity, soil erosion, social inequality, and inadequate social infrastructure. 

The Wall house was designed to be Anupama Kundoo’s private residence in Auroville. Its spatial program serves two major objectives. On the one hand, the building effectively and economically serves the everyday needs of the dwellers. On the other, it has the potential to be easily expanded making room for guests. In this project, the architect redefines the very meaning of private-residence design challenging permanence and testing various spatial and technological innovations to be used in future designs. 

The Seirensho Art Museum is located on Inujima island at the Seto Inland Sea in Japan and works with the sun, the wind and the found industrial ruins and byproducts (all what Sambuichi calls “moving materials”), to salvage the post-industrial site of a copper refinery and create a visitor experience guided by the natural elements.

The Vindmøllebakken project is an innovative response to the need for socially sustainable living spaces that reduce the carbon footprint and enhance residents' quality of life. It is constructed entirely from wood and features privately owned apartments (40 co-living homes, 10 apartments and 4 townhouses) surrounding a shared 500m2 space with various amenities, including a spacious indoor courtyard. The project is designed to promote a sense of community and encourage social interactions among residents.

An outdoor market organised around an ancestral tree that has become a public space. The project design references the area’s traditional market architecture of adobe posts and reed roofs, pushing the typology forward using compressed earth bricks and metal for durability. It results in an infrastructure that is visually appealing that the users can be proud of, and that has the potential of consequently attracting more people and activities to the area. The design of the project is kept very simple, using a colourful recycled metal canopy produced through a succession of individual shading structures that compensate for the difficulty in growing trees in such an arid, desert climate.

The school is an impressive example of a hand-crafted endeavour, highlighting excellent principles of sustainable design and architecture that resonates with the community. By skilfully integrating tradition wisdom, easily accessible renewable resources, and innovative building methods, the project preserves its traditional identity while also welcoming contemporary elements in its appearance and function. The school (for 168 students) adopts an alternative child-directed work method over conventional frontal lessons. Mirroring this philosophy, the two-story school architecture offers diverse spaces for children’s activities, aligning design with the educational approach.