The Last Straw recently published this Oral History of The Straw Building Revival with Matts Myhrman The Last Straw: So, Matts, when you were younger did you have any sense that you would end up building with bales? Matts Myhrman: Not in the slightest. My dad was quite a good carpenter and he started me … Read more
Located in Burkina Faso the Lycée Schorge Secondary School shows what is possible when you mix traditional techniques and new materials. The school consists of nine modules arranged around a central courtyard that is protected from wind and dust. Each module is built out of locally sourced laterite which is cut into bricks and left … Read more
On the island of Sumu Yakushima, Japan, designer Tsukasa Ono turned to regenerative architecture as his primary concept. An experimental housing cooperative jointly created by eight owners, this project in the woods was adapted to fit the surrounding landscape without cutting down large trees or leveling the ground; they raised the wooden buildings off from … Read more
In an interview with Nappie Briggs on YouTube, Kwana Strong, an African-American woman, explains how she is putting up houses in Ghana using clay, sand and water, with a bit of cement. She explains that building an organic house is like baking a cake: one must know how to mix the materials correctly. She says … Read more
Filmed in Valparaiso, Indiana in the late 1930’s, William Urschel demonstrates his “Wall Building” machine in this video. According to his patent application in 1944, this invention is a machine operable to mold a solidifiable material into the form of a strip and deposit the same as a course or layer in the formation of … Read more
Near Humpback Rocks, in rural Virginia, an exhibit known as the William J. Carter farmstead is open to visitors who are curious about what mountain life was like in the late 1800s. The land was purchased by Carter in the late 1800s for $3 an acre, paid for in Confederate money. In the 1950s parkway … Read more