Architecture LIVE 9

Posted July 21st, 2009 by Peter Cowman and filed in Architecture LIVE
Architecture LIVE  9
I am back at the quarry from which I gathered the initial clay sample in the company of the owner who understands exactly what I want.
“Aye, it’s daub you want.  Sure I grew up in a mud house myself.  Used to pull the horsehairs out of the wall and get in trouble for it too!”
We are mounted in a 4WD heaving through mud and devestation.
“Well that’s the trend now – to go back to the old ways and make houses out of natural materials like clay.  Things that can decay naturally.”
“Just like ourselves you mean!  Go back to the earth where we came from!” Continue Reading »

Architecture LIVE 8

Posted July 9th, 2009 by Peter Cowman and filed in Architecture LIVE
Architecture LIVE 8
With the help of a neighbour and his horsebox the roofing is collected from the supplier.  This proves to be something of a comedy as the horse box is too short and the roofing too long.  However with a little ingenuity we manage to secure the load and creep back to Leitrim in one piece.
Balanced against the quiteness of the workshop/course scene progressing the roof provides lots of stimulus.  Does my future really lie here in Ireland or am I destined to be elsewhere?  This question weighs on me as I survey the scene from the roof peak.  It is as if the country has gone to sleep, waiting for the situation to change of its own accord.  This has a strange and disturbing quality to it mirorred in the calm that cocoons each day. Continue Reading »