Design, Science and Technology

The toll of human activity on the world's wildlife population over the past 40 years is devastating. The World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) recently released "2014 Living Planet Report"  shows that between 1970 and 2010, the population of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the globe has dropped a shocking 52 percent.

Located on a windswept coast line, Moonlight Cabin is a place to retreat from and engage with the landscape’s ephemeral conditions.

It is a small footprint shelter that explores the boundaries of how small is too small, challenging conventional notions of what is actually necessary in our lives. It is designed to be passively environmentally responsive, ultimately reducing energy use and running costs whilst maximizing occupant amenity.

The built form is fully screened in a spotted-gum rainscreen that acts like a ‘gore-tex jacket’ to protect the cabin from the elements while the timber is free to move naturally in the changing climatic conditions. Operable shutters enable cross ventilation and adaptability, open or closed, partially shut down or secured when the occupants leave and reopened when they return.

This infographic is from the 2014 Environmental Performance Index. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks how well countries perform on high-priority environmental issues in two broad policy areas: protection of human health from environmental harm and protection of ecosystems. Within these two policy objectives the EPI scores country performance in nine issue areas comprised of 20 indicators. Indicators in the EPI measure how close countries are to meeting internationally established targets or, in the absence of agreed-upon targets, how they compare to the range of observed countries.