The creations of David Tajchman could be the next best thing to happen in architecture and design. Among his latest projects is Woody Alien (pictured), an exemplary house for the 21st century: elegant, original and energy-efficient. In addition to his raw talent and ambition, Tajchman also seems to have been fortuitous in meeting the right people at the right time. Born in 1977 in Brussels, he qualified as an architect in 1999 before leaving Belgium for London to study at the Bartlett. There, he was taught by Peter Cook. Though he is now permanently based in Paris with an office in Brussels, when he is not designing his vision for the future, Tajchman works as Cook’s assistant at the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture.

Woody Alien consists of two houses built in one, in which everything produced by the residents and natural forces, such as rain and wind, is reused as an energy source, making the house self-sufficient. A self-initiated design, Tajchman is now pitching the virtual house to potential clients.

Tajchman’s Woody Alien house, which is designed to be totally self-sufficient

The virtual visit begins with a bookshop on the ground floor, rather strangely located next to a garage, where an electric car is fed by biogas, which produces electricity for the whole house. Next to the garage, the image of a cow symbolises organic waste, which will create the biogas and, for those who don’t fancy a cow on their ground floor, there is of course the more obvious alternative of human waste. Not to mention compost from the vegetable roof garden or generated by food making.

The roof acts as a rain reservoir, forming a swimming pool that is treated with aquatic plants to filter the water and make it drinkable and distributed around the house. Further along, a small, neat wind turbine supplies electricity and the garden grows organic vegetables. The two houses (90 and 140sq m) and the bookshop have been conceived as a single project. They sit side by side as well as one slotted on top of the other. This monolithic approach aims to question the concept of semi-detached housing. Inside, ramps and various inclines facilitate the movement of disabled or elderly residents, and help to direct the sunlight throughout the interior. Large apertures equipped with triple glazing are covered with wooden sun breakers, allowing people to control the amount of heat and light coming into the house.

Overtly influenced by François Roche (of French practice R&sie(n)), Tajchman is perhaps more classic and pragmatic than his wild and highly intellectual elder. He also has a passion for food, a fascination made apparent on his website. Pictures of barely recognizable dishes that, at first glance, might be mistaken for a peculiar architecture but which are used only for inspiration.