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How We Learned to Build
Tiny Insights from the Countryside.
No.044 — Read old posts on Tinyfarmlab.com
Reading Time 4 minutes
Four and a half years of studying architecture, 6 months of internship in Germany, and 3 years working at a multinational corporate architecture firm. Still, we couldn’t bang a nail straight into the wall or make an adobe brick.
But we wanted to build our mud house from scratch with our own hands. We remember calling multiple natural builders to understand how to make an adobe brick.
So how did we go from here to building a 600 sq. ft. cob house?
Today, we want to share how we learned to build.
Most people assume that being architects made it easier for us to build the house. In reality, it was even more challenging. We had to unlearn the conventional building methods taught in school and start trusting our intuition.
We had to rediscover our suppressed building instincts.
Just like anything else, our journey into natural building began with curiosity. We started by reading books, attending an intensive natural building workshop at Geeli Mitti, and watching numerous videos.
All this is necessary but doesn’t prepare you to overcome the inertia of starting your build.
When we moved to the remote mountain forest village in Rishikesh to build a mud house, we bought a range of tools from crowbars to hammers to chisels.
Our first learning experience was when we couldn’t even dig a proper hole and Dadi (granny) had to intervene to teach us how to use a crowbar.
Ansh trying his hand at carpentry.
We quickly realized that building this house would be a steep learning curve and we had to take baby steps.
We spent the initial days trying our hands on all kinds of skills from carpentry to stone masonry.
The first table we made using waste wood lying in the village.
Since our first task in the build was to construct the retaining walls, we decided to gain some practical experience by participating in the repair work of a retaining wall at our rented house.
Ansh helping Gopal Kaka with the retaining wall.
Our first experiment with cob before our build was to make test bricks and also a volcano for the kids ;)
Having done the tests we wanted to start small. Hence, we decided to build a rocket stove. You can watch the complete video below.
Before we built the mud house we thought of building a sample wall with the help of a few friends.
The idea was to see what happens to the wall when exposed completely to the rain and check its strength. You can watch the video below.
We also made a scaled-down model by trying to mimic materials and different stages of how the mud house would be built to understand the processes.
Despite attending workshops, watching videos, and making samples, you might still doubt every step of your journey.
We realized the key to progress is to take action.
Start small, focus on getting the next step right, gain confidence, and build momentum as you go.
We’d love to hear about your experiences learning how to build anything.
Love,
Raghav and Ansh
What you can watch - Bunker Roy: Learning from a barefoot movement
In Rajasthan, India, an extraordinary school teaches rural women and men -- many of them illiterate -- to become solar engineers, artisans, dentists, and doctors in their own villages. It's called the Barefoot College.
What you can listen to - Architects Should Serve Humanity | Architect Yasmeen Lari | Louisiana Channel
Yasmeen Lari, 2023 received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in recognition for her humanitarian and socially conscious work.
What You Can Read - The Barefoot Architect: A Handbook for Green Building
It's a wonderful little book featuring simple yet clear illustrations, straightforward drawings, and concise text. It’s a great book for getting started as a DIY builder.
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Every Sunday, we share tiny valuable lessons to help you transition to the countryside and build naturally.