The Future of Housing

Norwegian start up Othalo promises to tackle two of the world’s biggest and most challenging problems. Othalo, established in 2019, is known for its patented technology that mass produces building systems from recycled plastic waste. “The meaning of the name itself, gives you an idea of the core of the company. In old Norse it is seen as the expansion of the light of the individual and collective human consciousness against the forces of ignorance and darkness of the world,” says Frank Cato Lahti, Founder, Othalo. Seema Sreedharan, Editor-in-Chief, Architecture+Design, caught up with Frank Cato Lahti for a conversation on the problems that plague our world and the solutions that we need. Here’s an excerpt…

- SEEMA SREEDHARAN

Seema Sreedharan (SS): Building systems from recycled plastic– how did the thought come about?

Frank Cato Lahti (FCL): We, as in the collective civilisation, are in a state where during the last two-three generations we have created what is known as the sixth mass-extinction. Life on earth is dying at a rate never seen before, and escalating, and most biologists are convinced it is man-made. There are several reasons for being in this situation, plastic pollution is just one of the threats towards earth’s biomass, both on land; rivers and ocean. It is predicted that the oceans of the world will have more plastic than fish by 2050 if we continue as we do today with the way we are handling plastic waste. By using plastic waste as a resource to battle the housing deficiency of the world one has created a situation where plastics are being collected, even mined from dumpsites, upcycled and being used as raw material to meet dire need for affordable housing worldwide.

SS: The association with UN-Habitat?