Monday, January 29, 2007

December 2006 marathon

constructing the guest room—

Excavation had been done during the year and the foundation started early on

stones were put together
like a puzzle, each one fits in its place.
they are glued together with earth mortar and a small amount of cement

the year was passing by and the desire to see wall rise got bigger

but this work is huge indeed
perhaps 100 tons of cob making,

mixing cob with a tarp would take months…

Wednesday the 13th, three construction workers, from a friend, are available. this is a chance not to be neglected
these guys are immigrants from a far away state (Chiapas) and are not concerned with the end of the year festivities. they are here to make some money and get back to their family.
so I brought them to my place, rented a cement mixer and we made COB

Cobing walls during the rainy season is not the best,
however, the strong and dry winds from the northen deserts are frequent during this season.

it is a gamble, I take…

in fact the very first day is raining
But the wall does not fall apart and the next day is sunny!

The construction goes very well

Sorry, I forgot to take photos on the very rainy days, because we had had three days with hail.
Winds are tonic, thanks for fresh air
That night temperatures were around 28 degrees F
A pipe exploded

Anyway the construction continued and finally the workers went back to their boss


With my little cousin, Coco, and friend, Mario, we managed to finish the ceiling beams and finish cobing using a tarp like the old days










when I realized the strength of my foundations, I decided to build a two story building, and made the walls two feet thick
the first floor ceiling is temporarily waterproof and the second one will wait until May to be built.
this way, for the same foundation and roof surface
I’ll have two rooms
we are wery proud of our three weeks build up
“stand up
little clay house,
a hand full of men sculpted you for the centuries to come.
you are not fragile,
but ecological,
amusing,
unusual,
comfortable, and soon, welcoming.”



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks beatiful, Aime! I'm jealously living in our far more conventional old house here in Ohio.

I wonder whether you could post a floor plan of the casa? It's hard to get the impression of the overall layout from the pictures.

The finishing touches like the pyramid, sculpted fireplace and stainded glass and mosaic work are really pretty. The house is a work of art!

Jim Baker (from the Los Angeles cob workshop)

Anonymous said...

Salut Aimé,
Même au pays des constructions en dur et des chauffages centraux, on se laisserait tenter par de nouvelles méthodes tant tu sais faire envie par la qualité de ton travail.

Bravo et bonne continuation.

Denis, Nicole, Cora et le clan des Tinguely

Anonymous said...

Fantastic! Very creative and beautiful!
Robert and Barbara

Anonymous said...

Waw!
Congratulations on making your dream a reality! I am so proud of you Papacito...... It is spectacular. And thank you for allowing us to share that dream with you. Can't wait to visit again and experience the next step of the process. Keep up the good work.......Tu hija en Inglaterra :)

sabrina free said...

absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. thank you for sharing!