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from Natural Life
Magazine, July/August 2000
Actually, I was watching the construction of what may be Canada’s first straw-clay building, a ten-foot diameter structure that builder Dan Boileau hopes will launch this ancient, natural building technique into this country. Once the kids had finished mixing the straw and clay together, they stuffed it by handfuls into two-foot high by one-foot thick plywood vertical forms around the perimeter of a round stick frame structure. The mixture was compacted and poked tightly into the corners of the forms. Many of the young builders
appeared to enjoy this compacting process the most, some of them taking off their shoes and socks, climbing inside the forms, and delightedly stomping the straw and clay into submission. Later, the forms were removed and re-nailed higher up the wall so the process could begin again. Boileau took a break from mixing clay slip and supervising his construction crew to describe the process. In a month or two, when the wall has dried – “when the grass stops growing out of the wall” is how he will know it’s ready – clay plaster will be added both inside and out. The result will look like... To read the rest of this article, subscribe to Natural Life's digital edition. Wendy Priesnitz is the Editor of Natural Life Magazine and a journalist with over 35 years of experience. She has also authored nine books. Read her blog. |
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It
was a cloudy June morning in north Toronto, Ontario. A couple of dozen kids
dressed in green garbage bags were gathered in a shady park pouring muddy
water over piles of straw like dressing onto a salad, then tossing the straw
around until both kids and clay were coated with the clay slip. A creative
way to dampen pre-summer break energy? A devious plot to sell laundry
detergent?
