Woodchip/light clay is a traditional building material in Germany and other European countries. It’s typically used as infill between timbers in post and beam construction. I’ve been told that bags of pre-mixed materials are standard items in building supply centers, and blocks can be made to order. The drying time, shrinkage and labor are less    Read More →

Scott Howard organized a workshop in Dogon Country, Mali, last winter. He built this unique dome with the help of workshop participants and some of the villagers there. The majority of the structure was completed during the two week-long workshop. It is a catenary arc about 16.5 feet tall with a loft. Serving as a    Read More →

We continue to find amazing uses for polypropylene tubes and bags. In this case, PEMEX oil company in Mexico used large poly tubes (referred to as Geotextile Tubes or GT in the original article) at one of their oil facilities. One part of the project involved filling 7.8m circumference poly tubes to support oil pipelines,    Read More →

The group at Konbit Shelter has made phenomenal progress on their triple dome in Haiti. Be sure to check out their blog for full details and, if at all possible, it would be great if you could find a way to support their project.   Read More →

Often plaster mesh is not required, but when it is needed it’s useful to know which type of plaster mesh is most affordable – chicken wire, plastic mesh or fishing net. I think stucco mesh is overkill and so it’s not covered here, although it’s often required by code and so you’ll have to plan    Read More →

Glass block adds a nice decorative touch to earthbag walls. The building process for adding glass block is fairly simple: Make wood frames much like window bucks, only smaller. Earthbag walls are quite thick, so you will probably want double glass blocks – one near the interior, one near the exterior. This creates a wide,    Read More →