Monday, July 28, 2008

Truth Window


Straw bale construction tradition calls for a "truth window" exposing the straw behind the plaster. This one is inside the St Francis in the Redwoods Episcopal Church sanctuary. For the non-zen portion of Zen Monday, see the Animoto, or more images of the interior in my Overflow blog.

16 comments:

Dina said...

A truth window!! What a great idea! Many buildings and people, too, should have one in these days when so much is just a facade.
How great that you have a straw bale church.

P.S. Jerusalem Hills is joining your Zen Monday, in a way, today.

Dido said...

Dina's spot on. A truth window is called for in much more cases than walls.

Sarah said...

Uselaine!
Meead has came back to Mashhad,This post is by him.Take a look!
By the wat! I interested in this Truth window,I never have seen such thing!

Sarah said...

* By the waY! *

Virginia said...

Just a lovely shot. Love the contrast in textures and colors.

Halcyon said...

I've never heard of this kind of building before. DO they use straw as insulation?

I also like the idea of a truth window. A lot of things could use one of those!

Anonymous said...

Wow. I remember when our country was focused on these sorts of things back in the 1970s and Mother Earth News was a big promoter of such things. I was interested in Straw then and also rammed earth but more interested in underground homes. Those were popular here for a number of years but not now. People have new ideas I guess.

Straw should be great.

Petrea Burchard said...

This is quite beautiful. It's like a work of art.

Isadora said...

I'm with Dinah - there should be many!!

Chuck Pefley said...

Wow! A "show & tell" window for the non-believers. :)

Laurie Allee said...

This is beautiful in so many ways -- literally and metaphorically.

MmeBenaut said...

Hi Elaine, this is my first visit to your blog although I've seen you at Eric's and Jilly's. I'm not sure what took me so long! I've only had a quick look but today's post is very original. I don't think I've ever seen a window like this one before and it's a brilliant idea.
I am very sorry about the woman killed in your earlier post. It is indeed about control and hate under the guise of love. So terribly sad for her husband and family.
I hope to pop back every now and then to see what's cooking, besides zucchini, in Willits. A 2 foot zucchini? Trifids?

USelaine said...

Dina - If only... 8^) Yes, it was interesting to go by as they built it.

Dido - For some folks, straw is unbelievable.

Sara - You might be interested in the technique. If you click on the words "exposing the straw", you can see a picture of the wall of straw bales without the plaster on it yet. It is not load bearing, it just fills in between the building supports.

Virginia - Thank you.

Halcyon - See my answer to Sara, above. Rectangular bales are the substance of the wall itself! It makes good sound and temperature insulation.

Abraham - There is still a lot of interest out here. My CSA farm is working on an education pavillion with straw bale walls. The Real Goods Institute down in Hopland used this method as well.

Petrea - I liked it so much when I saw it, especially that the circle repeats some of the window shapes. Something clean and soothing about it.

Isadora, Chuck - I guess the truth is there for us to see, if we look for it here, anyway.

Laurie - I think they framed it with redwood, which always brings a nice color too.

MmeBenaut - Thank you so much for having a look around Willits. It's a mixed bag, most weeks. Zucchinis can get really big when left on the plant, and by then are too tough to be good to eat. My mom only cut off the ones she would consume, so a few grew to their limit. I'm not kidding about the size.

Thank you all for your visits. This church was an interesting subject for photography. The hot link on the words "St Francis in the Redwoods" takes you to my first post about the building back in April, and shows the exterior.

Olivier said...

c'est très original et très beau, surtout en regardant les autres photos.

it's very original and very beautiful, especially looking at other photos.

Knoxville Girl said...

Seeing this set me free.
Thanks for your kind comment on my blog on Sunday.

Kym said...

This is especially nice image. The simplicity makes me want to keep looking and the idea behind this is lovely. I have friends who have a strawbale house. It is beautiful and they have a truth window too.