A pile of books
February 14, 2008 at 9:14 am (General, Strawbale building)
Tags: Architecture, Books, Documentation
Architect with a big "A"
October 10, 2007 at 3:42 pm (Architect, Design, Ecology, General, Strawbale building)
Tags: Architect, Bokrijk, Economics, Straw bales, Strawbale building, Tradition
At a party of friends of ours, we met R, a friend of friends. You know, one of these people you meet once in a while. A small detail about this person, R is an architect.
Of course we’re not the kind of people that will start talking about our own building project. Our friends did that for us. ‘These are the people that will be building that ecological strawbale building’, they said enthusiastically. The reaction of our friend the architect was a real bummer: ‘I wouldn’t want to do that,’ he said. When we asked him if he knew about the principles of strawbale building he referred to Bokrijk, a famous historical site in Belgium. What can we say?
This guy took care of the retrofitting of our friends home. He did a fine job, that’s true. But when our friends asked about some ecological solutions like a solar hot water system, he simply didn’t plan it, presuming people are not willing to pay for such things. They had to tell him twice the really wanted it. I think that’s weird. Isn’t the architect supposed to work for his client?
One of his (and other architects) ideas is that modern materials and solutions were not invented just like that. They must for sure be better that old materials and technical solutions. So why use a method from a hundred years ago?
Maybe because that evolution in building materials hasn’t always been inspired by improving the quality, but improving the economical feasability. Mass products are easier to produce and sell. Take ordinary bricks. Ages ago they were simply dried in the sun. But that takes time and a dry climate. So why not bake them? It’s faster and you can do that all the time.
The end result is a brick that loses some of the good qualities of sundried bricks. Baked bricks cannot keep as much warmth as sundried ones. And they don’t regulate humidity nowhere near as efficiently.
Well, architects, they’re a curious breed. As another friend of ours, an architectural photographer, once said: all these modern houses look exactly the same because most often the architect arrives with a truckload of design furniture to make the house look good. They simply toss the existing furniture aside for the photoshoot. No wonder that all these buildings look alike.
But we’ll do things differently. That’s a promise.
The building land FAQ
October 7, 2007 at 6:15 pm (Ecology, General, Land)
Tags: Building land, Situation
1. The land is situated near the village.
2. Shops, the townhall and the church are within walking distance.
3. The patch of land is about 1000 square meters.
4. It is 20 meters wide, 50 meters deep.
5. Timeframe: about two years.
Just so you know;-)
Building land. Check!
September 25, 2007 at 12:15 pm (General, Land)
Tags: Afspraak, Bouwgrond, Foto's, Immo
After a long search we found and bought a piece of land. We’ve already signed an agreement so nothing can go wrong now 
This morning we went to sign the contract. We had an appointment at half past ten. When we arrived about ten minutes early, they lady at the office said they were al waiting for us. The people selling the land had all come very early. They were three brothers with there elderly mother.
But they were all lovely people. They started telling about how they father recently died and about Mieke that lived on that patch of land years ago in a cabin of sorts. She seemed to be a notorious figure in the community. It was as if they were still trying to sell the land. They were really just a lovely family.
We brought oru youngest child along, and she behaved excellently. That was another thing the family was really coy about (‘What a sweet and lovely child!’). We were quite euphoric the rest of the day.
A few pictures…
Adventures with land
August 16, 2007 at 8:25 pm (Architect, General, Land, Strawbale building)
Tags: Bank, Building regulation, Buy and sell, Dishonest, Finances, Land, Politeness
We had (beware, I say had, not have) finally found a piece of land. It met all of our expectations: close to the centre of town, close to a school, with shops and a busstation nearby. It was a quiet street and the building regulations were very good according to our architect: ‘you can’t find any better’.
Had, not have. Wat happened?
1. We call the owners to talk about the specifics of the land. The lady in question tells us she already has an agreement with another buyer. That’s a pitty. But, she says we could figure out a way around that agreement if we’re prepared to increase the price or do a part of the sale unofficially. We think it’s weird, because you can’t simply step out of such an agreement. The lady suggests that we call back the next day, to see if the sale with the other people goes.
2. We call back the next day and yes, the land is still for sale. We’re interested of course, but we’d like to check out a few things (the loan, the building regulations and stuff like that) before we close the deal. The lady inquires once again if we’re willing to do something unofficially. She also asks about the price we’re willing to pay. We tell her we’ll decide about that after our inquiries.
3. The next few days we run around from one place to another to ask all sorts of things regarding this piece of land. We even get our architect to come and take a look. He tells us it all looks great.
4. We call the lady to tell her we’d like to buy the land and suggest a price, slightly below the price she’s asking. But that seems to be a big problem! The lady accuses us of being dishonest.
Excuse me?
The lady now tells us we agreed on a price and she already told some other potential buyers that the land was sold. Apparently we had an agreement without knowing anything about it!
5. After another day of talking and reconsideration, we decide to agree to the price the lady asks. We call her, but she doesn’t even want to talk to us. Her friend comes to the phone and he tells us they won’t sell to us no matter what. They don’t want to sell to dishonest people.
So who’s crazy here?
