The 13th of April we had a rammed earth course with eco-builder Ulf Henningsson (ekoulf.se).  The idea was to further develop our knowledge of using earth as a building material and to introduce it to the rest of the Jordstad group. We used fiber such as straw, hemp and wood. After doing comparative testing of different material mixes we made two larger objects, outdoor furniture that can serve as planters, seats or tables and they are stackable. The planters shell is only 8cm thick, which we expected to be quite fragile but they have already survived a ride on a pickup truck through Gothenburg.

Last week me (Ásgeir), David and Shea went to a course in rammed earth building in Norfolk, England. This course is conducted by Michael Thompson, see info on http://www.rammed-earth.org. This gave us further insight into the rammed earth technique and valuable first hand experience. It was also interesting to meet others who share interest in this method for different reasons. It can be about cost, aesthetics, health or availability of material and expertise in different cultural contexts. We used our in between time to sketch molds, plan the coming months and being tourists in Norfolk.