[GSBN] 200-yr-old straw houses in Europe?

[moehlmann]

'alo-'alo,

there are some stories about old straw-bale houses in Europe, for example in
Poland and Eastern Germany.

As far as I know they could not be traced specifically. Maybe someone can
share more news on this.

The oldest well documented by John Douglish:is maison Feuillette in
Montagris from 1921.

Straw-clay buildings are known back to neolithic settlements where the kids
might have played with self-made minibales ;-)))

Kenavo,

Martin Oehlmann





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Piepkorn" <mark at buildinggreen.com>
To: "GSBN" <GSBN at lists.greenbuilder.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 5:00 PM
Subject: [GSBN] 200-yr-old straw houses in Europe?


> Though I hardly ever see the claim made anymore, for a while it was a
> fairly standard pro-SB argument (made by neophyte evangelists,
> usually) that we know SB works because it's been around for a couple
> hundred years. Rubbish.
>
> In the book Sustainable Architecture White Papers, which came out in
> 2000 (from Chelsea Green) but which I'd never read, a paper on the
> Roaring Fork Waldorf School (apparently reprinted from Solar Today
> Magazine) by Laurie Stone of Solar Energy International says,
> "Straw-bale construction has been around for centuries. In Europe,
> one can find houses built out of straw that are over 200 years old."
>
> It doesn't specifically say 200-year-old *baled*-straw structures.
> (Automatic balers weren't around until the 1800s, of course, though
> there were hand-balers prior to that... but never in widespread use,
> as far as I can tell.)
>
> I'm trying to figure out why and how this claim started - if there's
> some kernel of misunderstood truth, or if it's just cut from whole
> cloth. I haven't contacted the author yet. Probably won't. I met her
> once, years ago, and she was very nice. I'm content to leave it at that.
>
> There are similar claims made in cordwood-building circles, though
> nobody can cite actual examples.
>
>
> Mark Piepkorn
> www.potkettleblack.com
>
> In the world to come I shall not be asked, "Why were you
> not Moses?" I should be asked, "Why were you not Zusya?"
>   - Rabbi Zusya
>
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