Books – Vuna

Labor der Extreme: Klima – Alpen – Architektur (Book)

Helena Horber — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:16:31 +0000

How does climate change affect high-alpine landscapes and buildings? And what can we learn from it? "Laboratory of Extremes: Climate – Alps – Architecture" explores these processes and develops future perspectives for building in the mountains. The book includes contributions on landscape change, climate sensitivity, and mountain hut architecture, as well as ideas and projects from design studios at ETH Zurich and Bern University of Applied Sciences. It also documents and reflects on current competitions for mountain huts organized by the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) and the transformation strategies that carry the SAC's architectural heritage into the future. The insights gained from the high-alpine environment are transferred to the laboratory of everyday life—our rural and urban settlements—and developed into practical strategies and typologies: climate-friendly, site-specific, adaptable, resource-efficient, water-saving, circular, and interconnected.

A look at the neighbouring Alpine region, together with discussions on sustainable visions of the future in the context of the Alps, climate and architecture, opens up further perspectives. Labor der Extreme: Klima – Alpen – Architektur is a book about mountains, landscapes and huts, about urban landscapes and people, about change and potential. Editor Hanspeter Bürgi is an architect, university professor and President of the SAC Hut Commission. The publication is produced in collaboration with Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, ETH Zurich / Case Studio Vogt and Arcollage. A photo essay by renowned mountain photographer Marco Volken complements this carefully designed publication.

Une autre histoire des excréments (book)

Helena Horber — Tue, 12 May 2026 07:52:08 +0000

Summary

Today, human waste has become a taboo subject. We see it as an embarrassing byproduct that we want to flush out of our cities and our minds as quickly as possible. Yet, only a few decades ago, it was valued as a vital fertilizer. It was only with the massive shift to synthetic fertilizers—which harm both the environment and our health—that we completely lost sight of its worth.

In this book, Fabien Esculier shows in an entertaining way why our waste is a crucial resource for the future. He retells the history of our cities, fields, and rivers, making one thing clear: we need to start valuing these materials again. It is time to give back to the earth what our bodies produce.

Author: Fabien Esculier
Language: French

ISBN 978-2-330-21892-8

Urin – Flüssiges Gold für den Garten (Book)

Bastian Etter — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 21:32:13 +0000

This book is only available in French and German. An edition in English is in progress. This book describes in detail how urine, the liquid gold, can be recycled and used as a natural fertilizer in the hobby garden as well as in agriculture. Urine is a free resource, rich in nitrogen and mineral salts, which is essential for plant cultivation and also of great use to support the local biodiversity.

Written by Renaud de Looze

1. Edition 2020

93 pages

ISBN 978-3-947021-14-7

Publisher: ökobuch, D-79219 Staufen

The book is also available in French (see product no. 3003).

The urine – the liquid in the garden (livre)

Bastian Etter — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 21:32:13 +0000

The book is also available in German (see product no. 3002).

Written by Renaud de Looze

2. Edition 2018

ISBN 978-2-35981-100-1

Publisher: Terran Editions

Holy Shit (book)

Bastian Etter — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 21:32:13 +0000

This book is only available in German. In Holy Shit, Anette Jensen tells how the value of our legacy has been forgotten and explains why this not only harms the environment and the climate, but also our health. Using very specific examples, she shows how the nutrient cycle that is fundamental to our lives can be restored – and where this is already happening.

Publication date: October 2023