Remember how easy it was to build miniature houses out of Lincoln Logs" All you had to do was stack the pieces up and fit the wedges together. In a matter of minutes, you could create an enormous cabin or barn. Believe it or not, it’s now possible to build a real, full-scale house in almost exactly the same way?no glue or nails required. Catharhome, a company based in Toulouse, France, has created Brikawood: a system of interlocking wooden bricks that couldn?t be easier to use.

No construction experience" No problem at all. One wooden “brick” consists of two lateral flanges and two transverse spacers pre-carved with dovetail joints. This deceptively simple design allows each piece to slide into place with little to no effort. For this reason, the company ships out sets of bricks as DIY kits. The prospect of building a house from the ground up would normally seem complex and overwhelming, but it’s a blast with Brikawood. Alain Roméo and Patricia Dutreaux, the founders of Catharhome, hope that the kits encourage people who can?t afford sustainable housing to try building their own “passive habitats.” Tests have shown that the assembled bricks leak very little air and can maintain a constant interior temperature of at least 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit, in accordance with passive housing standards. A single kit creates a 200 square foot structure with a estimated lifespan of at least 50 years. At this size, the house is small enough ...