20 hands-on natural building workshops + a team of instructors with over 100 years of teaching & building experience + learn at a gorgeous retreat center in the oldest mountains on the planet!
| DATES | LOCATION | FEE |
|---|---|---|
| August 9-18, 2013; Friday eve to Sunday morn. 8:30-5:30 with some evening events. | Asheville, NC, USA. Ashevillage Institute, just blocks from downtown Asheville. | $950-$1150. Payment plan option below. Covers tuition, workshops and materials. On-site lodging & food options available. |
“It was one of the best experiences of my life. Wonderful instructors, beautiful setting and the best brought out of us all. Learning the art and beauty of mixing dirt, clay, straw, bamboo and wood to create nearly any type of structure has been true inspiration.” ~Chris Watson, 2012 workshop participant
LEARN
The Natural Building Extravaganza offers a comprehensive smorgasbord of hands-on workshops, classes, slideshows, field trips and special projects. Participants will learn how to create beautiful, affordable, natural dwellings using local clay, sand, straw, bamboo, and other abundant and salvaged materials.
Hands-on projects
• Oh, the glorious art of mixing and making with mud, quickly!
• Wall systems: Cob, adobe, slipstraw, wattle & daub, and more
• Natural finishes: Exterior and interior earthen plasters and paints
• Basic additions: Installation of windows and doors
• Roofing: Connections, considerations & installation
• Foundation, flooring & drainage systems
Theory & presentations
• Community mud stories from around the world
• Characteristics of natural materials and Mud 101
• Site selection and passive solar design
• Pro’s and con’s of various wall systems
• Natural engineering and structural integrity
• Designing a Nest: Intuiting your sweet home
• Basics of electricity and plumbing
• Thermal mass and insulation
• Foundations and drainage
• Building with straw bales
• Living roofs
• And more
“Natural building is a part of the sustainability movement that is rapidly growing in our world. I love it! I’ll take this knowledge deeper, building and designing projects back home.” ~Shelley Stenzel, Apprentice who went on to start her own natural building cooperative in Chile, Vernaculart
BIG PICTURE
Today’s building industry uses half of our planet’s resources while generating half of our waste stream. This is due to over-sized, toxic building practices. Yet natural, small footprint alternatives exist that meet our basic needs while using healthy and abundant materials. The natural building movement sits at the nexus of a growing global network of solution-oriented initiatives that affirm and strengthen harmonious ways of living on this Earth. We believe that these practices can play a profound role in supporting a thriving humanity and planet, free of financial and toxic soul debt. Natural building is one part of a way of life that helps us live into our natural potential as Earthlings.
COMMUNITY
The Natural Building Extravaganza will be an inspiring and close-knit community learning environment. Expect the best of yourself and everyone involved. Together, we will not only build projects based on natural systems, we will create a transformative experience that supports humans who are ready to show up fully, work with their passions, learn a ton, and work together in the spirit of building a better world. When people come together in the mud, from a variety of backgrounds, ages, experiences and purpose….life isn’t quite the same. We believe that you will have a blast!
LODGING & FOOD
Lodging and meals are not included in the fee. The site is five minutes to downtown Asheville. For lodging options, contact kathryn@ashevillage.org. Carpooling is encouraged. Bring your own bagged lunch.
LOCATION
Asheville, North Carolina is an incredible town, full of local artisans, organic restaurants, farmer’s markets, street buskers, yoga studios, and independent everything. It just became the first Bee City, USA. It’s also the #1 Beer City in the country. The hoppin’ downtown is surrounded by the oldest mountains on the planet, including the Blue Ridge, Smokey and Pisgah National Forests. There’s tons to do, besides mudding. Stay a couple extra days if you can!
“The quality of information, care and attention given to each participant was extraordinary. It delivered everything it promised and more. We were not only taught the principles and mechanics of each building system but how to draw on our own creative process to apply them. You will not meet a more heartfelt, dedicated team of teachers and assistants. You might even leave with a new community of friends to help you build that project you have always dreamed of.” ~Michael Baral, 2012 workshop participant
INSTRUCTORS
Janell Kapoor is the founding director of Kleiwerks International, a nonprofit organization and global network of ecological design-build specialists who have worked with people from over 52 countries. Over the past decade, Janell led the initial trainings that launched the natural building movements of Southeast Asia, the Southern Cone of South America, the Southeastern United States, and recently, Turkey. Thousands of teachers, education centers, communities, businesses, training programs, and homes have been created by her students and collaborators. Janell walks her talk in her own backyard at Ashevillage, a premier urban permaculture demonstration site. She is dedicated to the champion within each of us, and to the possibility that we may live in balance with ourselves, each other, and this most beautiful planet we are blessed to inhabit.
Steveo Brodmerkel has lived in the Asheville area with his daughter and extended community for the past 13 years. He is a builder and building trouble-shooter extraordinaire. According to the founder of Kleiwerks International, Steveo is one of the greatest natural building teachers she has worked with. His ability to create effective, streamlined building systems, as well as articulate lessons in a way that is so easy to grock, makes him a gem to have on any instructor team. Steveo’s very first natural building project is one of the nation’s finest…and that was after just a week of him getting familiar with the basics. Let’s just say “he’s a natural.” When Steveo is not putting materials together (or dreaming of doing so), he is hangin’ with his favorite daughter in the world, Soleil Dia. Either way, you can hear his hearty laugh a mile around!
Steve Kemble is an engineer who has been involved in the straw bale building revival from the beginning. He attended the first ever class on the subject in 1990, then went on to design his own home and sponsor the second straw bale workshop. Steve co-produced the first video on strawbale, as well as the book, How to Build Your Elegant Home with Straw Bales, and a Straw Bale Home Plans booklet. He has been teaching ever since, including a wide variety of techniques in a number of climates. Steve is trained in Permaculture and also pursues percussion persistently and passionately…He’s been playing the drumset since age 10! Steve is co-founder of MudStrawLove, along with his partner, Mollie Curry. They live in Asheville, NC.
Mollie Curry is co-founder of MudStrawLove with her partner, Steve Kemble. She started her mud career at Earthaven EcoVillage, and has been teaching natural building across the southeast since 1998. Mollie is deeply versed in cob, straw bale, slipstraw, earthbag, carpentry, as well as permaculture. She has a particular passion for earth plasters and paints. Mollie has written articles for various publications on natural building, permaculture, and other practical, spiritual, and emotional topics, including Beauty. Mollie has run her own natural building business since 2003. In her earlier days, she was a wilderness forest ranger and spent much time alone in the wilderness.
Other instructor bios to come…
FEE
There are two fee options:
Option 1) Pay the entire fee before July 19th for a total of $950. In this case, a $450 deposit will reserve your space + a post-dated check of $500 on or before July 19th, or
Option 2) Pay a $450 deposit + monthly payment installments of $100 over a seven month period. In this case, the total fee will come to $1,150. If you would like tips on how to seek sponsorship/financial support, contact us.
Please note: The fee includes tuition + 20 hands-on workshops + field trips + all materials. Transportation, lunches and lodging are not included.
REGISTRATION & CANCELLATION
Registration is open until the workshop is full. To register, please complete the survey below. Amanda will contact you within three business days to confirm availability. After you receive confirmation, a NON-REFUNDABLE registration deposit of $450 will confirm your place + follow one of the two fee options above. All payments are NON-REFUNDABLE. Before July 19th, payments are transferable to another AVI program within 12 months of notification (minus a $150 processing fee). If you have any questions at all, contact us. Please send payments to: “Ashevillage Institute,” 80 Buchanan Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801. Memo: “Your name + NBX 2013.”
SURVEY
The intention of this survey is for our team to get a sense of your skills and background. Please copy, paste and answer the following questions. Send in an email (in the body of the email or attached as a Word document) to amanda@ashevillage.org. Thank you.
1. Name, date of birth, phone, email, home address, name of workshop.
2. How did you hear about the workshop? Be as specific as you can.
3. What do you hope to gain from participating in this workshop?
4. How do you intend to integrate what you learn into your life?
5. Do you have a follow-up project? If so, what is it?
6. Please describe any related building experience that you have?
7. Please share three interesting things about your life.
8. Will you pay the fee up front or do you need to be on a payment plan?
9. Do you plan on fundraising? If so, would you like some guidance?
10. Is there anything else that you would like us to know?
11. Please supply one head shot because we like putting a face with the name.
CONTACT
Amanda Garratt, Outreach Coordinator
amanda@ashevillage.org
