Coffee, Straw Bale, YouTube

June 20-21 attended a workshop and gathering at the Japan Straw Bale House Association in Tochigi Prefecture. Shigeyuki Ikuta, who runs the office, is also a barista. Ikuta-san making coffee in the straw bale kitchen.

June 26-28 attended the annual festival at Bethel’s House in Urakawa, Hokkaido. Bethel’s House is a community of about 200 people including adults with psychological issues. In April and May I assisted with the renovation of Bethel’s House’s Bura Bura Café using straw bale and earthen plasters. The renovation of the café using natural materials is presented in this 6 minute video clip. Kyle speaks briefly at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmm8pQ1gOA

The following are photos of the finished Cafe with gallery and storefront.

At the festival, Kyle presented for 10 minutes, providing an introduction to straw bale building. Also had a chance to visit Noda-san's studio. Noda-san is the master plasterer who did the finish work at Bura Bura Cafe. On June 28 there was an opening party of sorts.

July 3-7 was in Tochigi Prefecture working on the construction of a straw bale Kura. A Kura (蔵) is a storehouse where grains, food stuffs, and valuables are traditionally preserved in Japan. Traditionally the walls are constructed of bamboo and earth.

November 2008

November 21-25 served as a staff member at the Japan Straw Bale House Association’s workshop and seminar in Tochigi-Prefecture. Construction continued on Nasu Dymaxion Village, a complex of load bearing straw bale buildings. The first building built last year was the Toilet Hut with living roof. During this years workshop we raised and plastered the straw bale walls of the Kitchen Hut. Similar to the Toilet Hut, the interior is finished with an earthen plaster while the exterior is finished with lime plaster. In order to access the straw to monitor the moisture content of the straw using a GE Bale Master Moisture Meter, I set three PVC screw top lids into the wall. The lids are removed in the photo, but screw on to a short piece of pipe to fully seal the wall.

Had a successful sweet potato harvest. We’re raising a couple of chicks in our research studio.
November 30 and December 1 visited Brown’s Field , a health and sustainabililty center in Chiba-Prefecture. Peter Buley, an American friend I met at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont, is building a tree house at Brown’s Field. http://www.brownsfield-jp.com/brownsfield.htm
I slept in a tree house that was built previously. We visited a home being renovated with natural materials near by. Peter helped with much of work on this home as well. The home features rammed earth walls, light-straw-clay walls, and cordwood walls with an earth based mortar. Un-split bamboo is apparently embedded in the rammed earth walls.