maybe you should build with some other material- Clyde- In
papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "Chita Jing" <cargovanfan@...> wrote:
>
> Okay, I'm dense. Exactly why are people building domes and vaults
with
> papercrete? Do they like the looks of Middle Eastern housing on an
American
> desert floor? I admired Nader Khalili, thought his version of "mud
houses"
> was the natural heir to Hassan Fathy - fired ceramic housing made
Khalili's
> method da bomb - but most of those houses look alien on American soil,
> pretentious even. Adobe people are lovely, well meaning and way down the
> wrong path both aesthetically and culturally outside the locales
which bred
> mud housing. Just as a teepee would stick out in the middle of
Devonshire,
> it's a bit surprising to see Swiss Alps housing in Southern
California, even
> if Solvang is, like, the funnest collection of vernacular
architecture since
> the hot dog stand that looked like a hot dog. A Fathy-Khalili house
in the
> Denver burbs is as jarring as those moussed and moccassined
Caucasians in
> yoga classes who reluctantly but unavoidably "speak Sanskrit" as
they relate
> how they spent five years learning to tuck their feet behind their ears.
>
> I've been interested in alternative housing a while. I've tried to
> understand and keep in touch with various lists and groups over the last
> twenty-five years and honest, I just see so little progress. We must be
> doing something wrong. The few viable alternatives foundered in
their most
> expensive trials - google SIP in Alaska for one sad example.
>
> I admire papercrete as a material, don't misunderstand me. I'm not
> against most of the methods that have mailing lists. But in my
opinion, a
> major reason alternative building methods have gained almost no
ground in
> thirty years is that the people in those groups hardly ever get down to
> bedrock discussions. Every group seems to fall into a mindset where the
> question becomes, "Where can we build a waffle-weave-polyester
dwelling,"
> instead of, "How do we house people better within our lifetimes?"
>
> Can we do more to get to the core of the issues? Have we spoken
about
> what could be called The Point? Is papercrete basically being passed
around
> as a way to make imitation drywall/plaster? Look around you. With
gasoline
> at $5/gallon, what sort of demographic segments will move out to the
boonies
> to buld individual houses that won't qualify for mortgages or
insurance? Who
> will clean those houses that make the front cover of Alternative
> Architecture Monthly? Where and how will THEY live? If alternative
houses
> are all owner built, how will those owners sustain those homes out
in the
> boonies as they get older? Should we call this field Trust Fund
Housing so
> folks are better prepared for the long term picture that's emerging?
>
> I'm just asking.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 10:21 AM, Tom Curry <contact@...>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Kristen,
> > Nader Khalili's book is a good how-to source. Papercrete works
very well
> > for dome and barrel vault construction. We have built both here
in Alpine
> > and Marfa, TX. and so has Clyde Curry over in nearby Marathon.
We're not
> > that far from southern NM so come check them out sometime. Also
you can see
> > pictures on the papercreter's website.
> >
> > Tom Curry
> >
> >
>
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