They built a cat bus house from the movie my neighbour totoro

Absolutely beautiful.

And yet,  I can't help but wonder if this could be built natural materials like wattle daub.  What would that be like?

It's cute, but I just can't help but think that the time and resources could be better used if they'd designed it to be both beautiful *and* serve a purpose. If the windows were designed to keep out the rain, judging the size, that could easily have been a chicken coop, for example!  Or a beautiful shed for holding garden tools and acting as a potting shed? How about a bicycle lock up?

It's not that I'm against sculptures, art and garden follies, it's genuinely that I have a greater appreciation when people figure out how to incorporate beauty and function together!

Useswise, I loved these kinds of sculptures when I was a kid.  It was a lot of fun for play and provided picknic spots for when the weather wasn't great.

The ones I remember were fibreglass and would cause slivers as they degraded.  I haven't seen any around here, but they were more common when I was really young.  Maybe an ontario thing?  

r ranson wrote:Useswise, I loved these kinds of sculptures when I was a kid.  It was a lot of fun for play and provided picknic spots for when the weather wasn't great.  

Yes - it looked like this one was just on private land, rather than in a park setting where lots of kids could use it. Imagine it on a school ground! It could so easily have been altered a little to be a climbing/play structure!

r ranson wrote:[Absolutely beautiful.

And yet,  I can't help but wonder if this could be built natural materials like wattle daub.  What would that be like?

In a dry climate you might get away with cob or adobe, but engineering the dry boot and hat would take a bit of work in wetter climates. I quite like the living sculptures that people create with willow. Here's a few I found:


both from here

One of the great things about these is that the kids can join in in making them too.

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Even more exciting sculptures with woven wicker, but probably a bit more skill invoved here!

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