BIØNTalks n° 1

The program for the LearnBIØN course #2 includes four thematic conference sessions, the BIØNTalks. The first meeting has been held on 6th of July in the charming frame of Palazzo del Gatto in Casaprota

BIØNTalks comes from the belief that is essential to share knowledge and experiences with respect to the practice of building with natural materials and aims at increasing the contacts between people interested in these items.

For the first meeting Stefan Pollak (AK0) gave a panoramic view on building with raw earth, with examples from all over the world and a special focus on earth buildings in Italy.

Giada Giuffrida, the young Sicilian architect who represented AK0 during the first BIØN-course made an interesting report on what she could learn on the CEB-technique (compressed earth blocks) during workshop #1 in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal.

Then the important contribution of Sara Campanelli (Arch. Officina) who works since years with strawbale buildings and for A.R.I.A. Familiare, a network of professionals that give assistance to the people that want to build in self-construction. She illustrated some completed projects and discussed the advantages of this simple and economic technique. Finally, Laura di Virgilio (AK0) told us about her experience with rammed earth, building a school in Guatemala.

At the end of the meeting the desire of carrying on with the conversation was so strong that we all moved to the bar for two more hours and continued the BIØNTalks in front of a glass of wine.