Clare's Research Trip 2010-2011: Eco-sol Casa Caracol

This house was originally conceived on a kind of spiral but became ´snail house´ in Daniela and Dallas´ design process. It will be constructed of light-straw-clay, like the previous post explanation. It is currently at the stage where they will be adding the liquid clay mixture to the straw. You can see more clearly how tightly packed the straw is compared with La Casita in El Bolson. Dallas tells me that two wheelbarrows of liquid clay mix are added to each bales worth of straw. Fortunately the earth on the mountain has a high clay and silt content which makes it ideal for this process. They first use the earth that they took from the foundations space. After this they create a series of ponds for water conservation. Dallas thinks it is important not to just ´rob´ the earth. Water conservation is important here as it is so dry. I have been drinking water straight from the tap which is delicious as it is straight from the mountain and contains no chemicals, unlike Britain. Casa Caracol will have recycled windows and doors which come from a local demolition centre. After the clay has been poured over and dried, they will finish it with the earth/clay/water/flour/manure mix like the previous 2 houses. Dallas and Maestro Claudio have been building Casa Caracol for the past 4 months. On one day last week, Giselle and I began to arrange bottles to create a feature wall in the house. We started using string, but discovered with help from friends Alex and Kathi that wire was a better option. Eventually they will finish this wall with a cob mix, to create a kind of alcove space.