Natural Building Is…

Cob and Strawbale. Combinations of the two -‘Hybrids’- we call them. Adobe, Bamboo ‘homes’, dry stack stone foundations. Timber, bamboo, felt, and other local, sustainably managed and harvested materials. Recycled materials when available, materials free from volatile organic compounds, and with low embodied energy. A home that has its heating and ventilation well designed to passively harmonize with the ecological function of its environ. Natural building is the ethic of the artisans and craftspeople of making such things.

Architecture “styles”, the schools of thought and expression which are typically used to describe genres of buildings, are almost exclusively described in Architectural Colleges in terms of the elaboration, articulation and ornament of the form. Some examples of “styles” include Romantic, Grecian Classical, Palladian, Northern Gothic, Colonial American, Craftsman, and Bauhaus. Interestingly enough, with the possible exception of the Bauhuas, the majority of period buildings constructed in the styles listed above might also be considered “Natural Building”.

More than Materials

“I Propose Three Treasures, being clean water, fresh air and healthy soils, to fill and spill from One Open Chest, the Untamed Wilds.”
-the Poet King

Before complex industrial processes and petroleum fueled transportation, in 1800, only the extravagantly wealthy and powerful could afford to move materials around the world or purchase them when they arrived. Imagine the labor to cut, transport and install the Grecian marble in the Federal Buildings in Washington D.C. It was extravagantly expensive to move those materials around, even with the use of forced or slave labor. The machine has replaced the slaves as much as it has replaced the mules, and the resulting damage which once impacted the slaves directly now impacts on the environment. That effect is still not one of democratic impact- yet. When the environmental damage does begin to behave in non-discriminatory ways, we will be re-thrust into the dead wilds.

The situation is currently much worse in impoverished nations and communities, but it is spreading. While the souls in these impoverished communities are not technically slaves, they live little better than slaves did, and only if they are lucky. Sold, or cordoned by rent, into toxic homes which are as likely to mold as off gas, and driveways and chemlawns covering once vital soil capable of supporting gardens and foottrails through productive native ecologies, the ‘ante-bellum slave’ is forced to serve an economic machine rather than an individual ‘master’.

In this system of dominance and exploitation, the wild is all but destroyed, conserved primarily for its commercial and scientific produce. The belief, all the while, is that “progress” is being made while basic life support functions of his environment are failing at a tangential rate. The environmental effects were not as pronounced in 1779 as today. It is possible that the rate of extraction and use in America some 225 years ago may have been sustainable even by an ecological and economic footprint anaylsis, even in the case of moving materials around the globe. Certainly it was done with wind power (sailing vessels), and there was no fossil fuels being used for transport. When wage slavery is not a part of the equation, and fair trade is the rule, when transport neither clouds air nor tortures bodies, and when extraction propagates native and diverse regeneration, some part of what is wild may remain. But we must remember that while the wild has claws and fangs, it has no voice. We must speak for the wild, and act on its behalf where it cannot, if we wish to enjoy the three treasures.

Its Really Nothing New.

The modest and mundane expression of a home once held a heritage of millennia of intuitive and reasoned wisdom and knowledge about the humblest and most comfortable way to live. Most of the world lives in homes made of locally available materials, processed and applied with low and non toxic methods. Only in the last century have industrialized nations made changes to that norm – making it ‘normal’ for many of us to live in toxic homes.

The life span of a person in the 15c. may have been 30 years shorter than today, but that had more to do with water born disease, forced physical labor, and the wars of the indulgent elite than the quality of their homes. Take these items away, and a marked increase in life expectancy should occur. In England and northern Europe at least 250,000 cob, wattle and daub, and dry stacked stone and earth homes exist. Many are 300-400 years of age, and some are over 500. Many are still standing because they are still being used.

Working with limited resources, in a fixed geography and no modern industry, the most technological work being that of smithys’, carpenters’, masons’ and tinkers’, local knowledge and creativity were more crucial to building and design than engineering or mathematics.. Hinges were easier to make of leather than brass. Hair was gathered from those animals who provided, eventually, leather. It was mixed with clay to plug a leaks in the attic where the reeds pulled back from the top of the plaster on the cob. The same method roughly, fixed drafts in an adobe pueblo across a sea and a continent. Across another sea and in the middle of north central Asia, at 4300 feet elevation, a nomadic Sheppard combs animals for hair, another spin wool, and entire bolts of it are felted for the yurt walls. Inside it is warm. Outside, -34. On entering, one must adjust to the warmth, peeling layers, careful to not breathe the warm air too fast. A small fire, five people, and their animals are all that heat the home.

Form Follows Function?

This cliché demands the question: “Does function include the ecological function of the site environ?” The natural builder believes it must, and as such the interpretation of this statement is radically altered. Form follows function becomes more than building the form to fit the function of the space designed. Whether building a village, a home, a theatre, or a bathhouse, the design should happen only after an active engagement with “place”. Local materials exist before building methodology is determined and form defined. Natural and recyclable materials, and the sites sectors- solar exposure, seasonal winds, etc., - exist before the design begins. Observation and inventory of these factors prior to decisions about the function and relations in the space will benefit the design. Consider them deeply before making any final decisions about where the outhouse or the fire suppression systems fit in. An onsite body of water will effect decisions regarding these two examples in total in different ways. Even the difference between a stream and a pond is important to consider before deciding on the functions and relationships one will create with the design.

“Natural Building’ is an ethic which guides resource use and choice of appropriate materials. For instance, given that stackable stones and urbanite (concrete rubble) are equally available for a site that has no extensive use of concrete, we would have to look at the potential for toxicity in the rubble* as counterbalancing the recycled content- assuming there is no concrete rubble at the site, we may choose to spend much more for stones in order to not distribute the potentially toxic recycled material. Contrarily, say we are building a bench on a street corner in a urban environment. Concrete is omnipresent, and the use is much more likely to be appropriate. Of course, we, as Natural Builders, combine our use of Natural Building to synergize with other issues- Social Justice, Green Economics, Community Activism. I am not sure such an approach would be possible with the Bauhaus style and say, “Foodshed Organizing”. But with Natural Building, it’s as easy as a cob oven and a piece of cake…

Poetic Construction Aesthetic

The practice of our ethic most often produces lyrical constructions, even amongst novice builders. This is an effect of the innate connection between material and place, rather than an articulation abstracted and superimposed on the structure. Of course, the more experience one has in observing and participation with this connectivity, the more likely one is to become transparent to natures beauty and allow the materials and spirit of the site to guide the vision. The result is a building which harmonizes with its environment, becoming a semi-permeable membrane. Energy, Matter and Spirit move in and out of the space, altered and reorganized by the spaces effects.

In a well built natural building, this dynamic is most clearly witnessed in the first reaction one has to the space. If you have been in a place which inspires- and I mean fills you with breath- like an ancient forest, and alpine meadow, a Grecian ampitheatre, the ruins of the Anasazi. You have to inhale it. The spirit enters the body and it enlivens us. In the suburbs, a home may be “nice”, but isn’t likely to inspire one. In modern American and industrial construction, the mediocre has usurped the commonplace. Buildings are made for profit, not to reinforce or cultivate that Spirit which is our humanity. It is the Natural builders work to return to the commonplace the life affirming aspects of the work to which our ethic leads us.

Doing the Work.

Muddy Feet, there’s that. And straw bales with that sweet smelling dust. And live banjo pickin’, fresh homemade bread, massages from friends. That’s how most of us came to Natural Building. But lately is been contractors hours, sore knees and supply runs. Whether its time constraints or activism burnout, there is something not natural happening even when the construction process is working. Some people call it the real world. I wouldn’t say that myself. The most content are the recreationalists, those whose work does not impede their ability to sing, play instruments,act out dramas and mythos, become knowledgeable about the ways of plants and critters, or produce spiritful art. They may have had to organize effort for a few hours a day to tend some small group of chores, such as tending a garden or small flock, but the overall day is far more social than our working class day. Where are these folks? Look to remains of the world’s indigenous cultures. You will find them living in natural homes.

We don’t have to beat ourselves up to do this, we don’t have to burnout. Those are not healthy natural processes. To knowingly create such stress is tantamount to disaster. When we do burn out, we should ask ourselves why. It usually has more to do with under-recreating than over-working.

by Deston Denniston