Charlie Rendalls Natural Building Tour

Charlie Rendall gives a great natural building tour of San Marcos La Laguna. In this small rural town of Guatemala is many hidden gems and great examples of people building with bamboo, natural earthin plasters (such as Bajareque a traditional Mayan Technique) and even with recycled plastic bottles. Check out the video out and discover the spectacular building secrets of San Marcos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZH01uFe3Mw

Here's the video...

Thank you Nathaniel for sharing this.

If you see Charlie say hi for me. I still hope to get down there and teach a timber framing workshop with him, It is truly a magical place!

Regards,

j

Jay, are you familiar with adding the prickley pear cactus to the "plaster" ? ( he mentioned it in the video)
Can you tell me more about that?

Hello Miles, et al,

Yes I am, and the first time use was with my mother and grandmother as an additive to both clay, and paper plasters, as well as, to adobe related mixes. As I understand its alchemy it enhances adhesion, and may well have some "enzymic" fixative affect similar to adding ruminant manure (minus the fine plant fibers.) It also may well retard "wetting" of plaster, as this is one of the "secret additives" to certain Middle Eastern Tadelakt plaster formulas. Anything more specific you had been thinking of?

Regards,

j

Thanks Jay, I am always wondering why things that seem so strange, at first glance, are used like this.

I sure am looking forward to your book about all of this stuff!

Hey Miles,

It's my pleasure...and I will get that writing out of my head if I have to ask Burra to "juice and squeeze" it out of me. I really do hope that 99% of it will be spread out on the different pages of Permies first...then perhaps a singular hard copy (volumes?) on the different little wonderful things I have collected in my travels.

It is funny how we culturally develop through our lives...I thought playing with "living toys" like scorpions and tarantulas, or adding cactus juice to stuff was normal when I was a child. Then again I didn't really wear shoes till I was 12 or 13 and learned to read and write, so my perspective was a mix of the first world looking out and the third worlds within the home. It is a strange and wonderful world we live in at the moment, with the potential of great bridging between the ancient traditions and the modern...or complete collapse our species...

Charlies work in Guatemala is one of those "haven" locations that I kinda see as one more "escape hatch" should things go sideways. He is doing wonderful work down there.

Warm Regards,

j