Natural Building Primer
For years, ever since college, I have wanted to share and teach my methods of building. At that time I did not call it natural building, it was just what I did because it was cheap, I enjoyed processing raw material, and I saw the gross amount of consumption in conventional construction. I began to realize the way I built was pretty unique and sometimes inspired people to think differently about material and building.
There is a wellspring of resources available to us with relative ease in our modern world. Some are centuries or millennia old, others like straw bales are available only recently as a byproduct of industrial progression. To look at material outside the constructs of a lumber yard or building supply warehouse is a skill available to us all, and a critical one in creating a sustainable existence as humans.
The process and results of doing this create the inherent beauty that has come to be known as natural building. The rekindling of an instinct and discernment that was our nature as humans up until only a generation or 2 ago brings with it an experimentation and expressiveness akin to that of a child making shapes in the sand.
The practical side that cannot be overstated is that we are a society of toxins. Chemicals in the clothing and food we buy, carcinogens in the houses we build, heavy metals in our soil and water, industrial smog in the air we breathe, and the instant gratification of virtual worlds. It is not enough to rely on paltry government cleanup or remediation efforts, we need to take these problems in hand and combat them in our daily lives and needs. We spend half our lives inside buildings and the construction of those buildings accounts for a great deal of our resources. It seems obvious then that in order to change our world to be healthier, we must in turn transform the way we build.
A building that can last 100 years and also decompose back to the soil it was born from is a worthy thing to be remembered by. It is the permanence of what we build as well as the ultimate impermanence of the lives we create that we should gage the validity of our built environment by. It is the fear of nature and decomposition that rears its head in skepics of natural building. There is arrogance in the desire to create a building of materials that will never break down, because inevitably the building will be torn down, or burn, or degrade beyond repair.
“......said: The wealth of a society should be judged by the amount of topsoil it creates”, not by how much foam and plastic are left behind. Natural buildings are alive with the energy of the many hands which sculpted their walls, the clay that cleanses the interior air, and the wood whose grain reflects the complexity of life on earth.
It is our wish to share our experience building this way and to continue our own exploration and learning in this timeless art.
