Natural method homebuilder Lydia Dolman (pigtails) and crew install insulation of a straw and mud slurry into the walls of a new Portland, OR home.
Natural building is a method of construction based in using minimally processed, natural materials that are available locally. Most people associate clay, sand, straw, bamboo, stone and wood with natural materials. The techniques for most natural building methods reflect the materials themselves, in that they are essentially simple, low-tech and ecologically sustainable, depending on design. Natural building employs a sense of the human scale and isnít dependent on expensive, energy intensive and high tech equipment to build with. Natural building materials are low toxic, low tech and local, which make them a great tool for teaching communities the synthesis of building principles in sustainability and social empowerment. Communities have been using local materials to create shelter with since human communities began forming. Here in the Cascadia bioregion the indigenous peoples built their shelters from the local timbers. 200 years of negligent timber harvesting has rendered this resource better valued as a healing forest ecosystem. Now we must examine other materials to construct our ever growing human habitat. The urban and natural landscapes are full of useable materials. There are many untapped local resources right in Portland that can be used to exemplify the principles of ecological sustainability. The Rebuilding Center is a great resource for urban natural building as it is redistributing local and reclaimed materials that are construction ready and highly compatible with previously constructed buildings. The essence of natural building lay in its inherent emphasis on environmental preservation and social sustainability. Natural building is something we have been doing since the need for shelter arose. Many cultures have a grand history of using the local materials to construct their shelters and temples.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Portland, Oregon
Photo credit: © Ken Hawkins / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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