Building Capacity in Circular Natural Building Materials using Frugal Digital and Traditional Engineering Innovations

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The BUCABUMA project aims to transform construction by integrating traditional techniques with modern digital innovations. Utilizing local, renewable materials like clay, wood, and natural fibers, it seeks to develop sustainable, affordable, and innovative solutions. Digital tools reinterpret traditional knowledge, enabling the use of natural materials in contemporary construction. This interdisciplinary approach bridges traditional and modern practices, promoting a circular economy while addressing climate change and resource depletion. By combining local traditions with advanced digital design and fabrication, the project enhances material efficiency, reduces CO2 emissions, and tackles resource scarcity. Digital methods make sustainable construction more accessible and adaptable. Collaboration between universities and construction firms ensures cost-effective, resource-efficient solutions tailored to local contexts. The project promotes the large-scale use of natural materials and develops scalable, climate-resilient housing solutions. Digital design supports industrializing natural materials by accommodating deviations, enabling large-scale application in construction. The project explores biological and technical cycles of the circular economy, using renewable, plant-based resources, production residues, and landfill plastics. The construction industry still relies on high-impact materials, irreversible solutions, and inefficient processes. This project challenges that paradigm by combining traditional materials with modern innovations into hybrid solutions. By adopting hyperlocal resources, it fosters sustainability and resilience while strengthening ties between local communities, the environment, and the tech-driven economy.