clay igloos in french britanny

sleebing in our mothers womb

It was in spring 2011 when I met this wonderful group of people living in clay buildings with thatched roofs or lime-covered earth domes. Also very fascinated by their general way of life close to nature I stayed some time with them and learned to build the clay igloos they call kerterre ("ker" from the breton word for home, my place). I never found a building where I felt more confortable and at ease, laying directly on the sacred earth, surrounded by a bubble of earth, open to the sky trough a large glass dome, protected in the womb of earth but nevertheless almost outside, surrounded by the sounds and smells of nature.
The floor is left as it is (if even), mayby stamped a bit, then covered by a carpet of fern. The base of the walls is made two layers of stone to prevent water take-up. When building fast (five days for the whole igloo in our case), you need a supporting structure, bamboo in our case. Windows can be made up from whatever frames or glass you have, round shapes definitely fit most. Water-resistant roofing is still in experimentation state, thatched straw or hay roofs or lime covers working best up to now, but depending on climate there's a lot of other possibilities.
I'm looking for space to continue experimenting with this kind of building and people able to teach me more...