Becky Little is a craftsperson who has worked with earth since the early 90s. With a background in conservation she has wide experience of mudwalling (cob), earth mortars, wattle and daub, light earth, turf building and clay finishes in both repairs and new build.
Her company Rebearth also carries out materials and historic research, skills training and social impact projects.
As an artist she creates with local natural materials to explore themes of transformation, diversity and rewilding in a holistic and multi-disciplined approach. Her current body of work explores
“The spaces in between” and combines elements of basketry, textiles and pottery with architecture and design. www.rebearth.co.uk
François Streiff is architect for the Regional Nature Park of the Marshes of Cotentin and Bessin in Normandy. He has been working for more than twenty years on the preservation of wattle and daub and cob heritage and traditional raw earth and fibers techniques.
The action of the Park is as much today on the support and guidance of trained professionals, as in the training of architects and engineers.
François is also teaching at the esitc Caen on the techniques of historic building and raw earth building, and at the School of Architecture of Normandy in the field of Science and Technology for Architecture on sustainable building, especially in the use of geo and bio- sourced materials. www.cobbauge.eu
Photo: Stefanie Hueber
Photo: Stefanie Hueber
Selection of Projects
Becky Little – Rebearth
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Errol cob shelter
Arc Architects
Rebearth and the local community
Errol, Scotland 2017 -
Repairs to historic cob, daub and turf buildings
Rebearth
Scotland 1992 - 2020 -
Various homes and offices in Fife
Rebearth using daub, mud bricks,
light clay|hemp, clay plaster, earth floors Fife, Scotland 2014-2020 -
Clayfest, Workshops and Conference
ebuki – Earth Building uk and Ireland organiser, speaker and trainer
uk 2015-2021 -
Earth renders at the Chelsea Flower Show
Rebearth
London 2019 -
Cobbauge
ebuki trainer and builder in an Interreg research project which aims to optimise the thermal efficiency of cob
2017 - 2020 -
Jump! Training for Change
ebuki trainer. A European training for trainers project, about transformation and eco-building.
2019-2020 -
TransFORMation
facilitator and lead artist, project on and with the land raising awareness about sustainability of people and place, Fife 2020 -
Terre, Femmes et Savoir-Faire
lead trainer 2022. A project to develop and promote women and training in earth construction, Lyons, France 2022 -
Build School Fife
workshops in traditional methods and modern applications with earth and fibre. Scotland 2021-2022
Francois Streiff
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Resurrection of a Gallic Habitat
Archaeological Museum of Lattes Archaeologist Training 2010 | 2011 -
Energy Pavilion
Meadow and Sheep Shelters Demonstrative Projects 2013 | 15 | 17 -
Workshop Asterre
Lyon Confluence Museum Ephemeral Installation 2016 -
Reverse the Curvature of the Earth
Experimental Constructions with ensan students 2015 | 16 | 17 -
Workshop Grains d’Isère
Ephemeral Constructions
gaia France since 2014 -
Extension of the Park House
Technical Assistance of a Tertiary Building in wood | straw bales | cob | wattle and daub | clay plaster 2016 -
National choreographic center in earth and straw
Supervision of the building in a parti- cipative workshop of a NCC within the framework of an artistic happening by the artist Claudia Triozzi - 2019 -
CobBauge experimental pavilion
Building of a prototype experimenting a new technology of mixes of earth and fibers within the CobBauge project 2019-2020
Workshop Content
By experimenting with the nature and length of different fibres, the quality and composition of the soil, and changes in water content, we will show how these parameters can influence the design, construction, and aesthetics of earth building. We will discover together a rich and diverse spectrum of traditions and modern applications in cob, daub, light earth and plasters and the participants will make their own creative and sensory experience in structures and surfaces using local natural materials. We also have the opportunity to build wall elements for a partition wall at the Kuchl campus, which will remain on site.
Each method will be approached as an experiment to explore the nature of the different materials and methods and how they work together.
- traditional and contemporary building culture of daub, cob and clay plaster
- processing methods for earth and fibres mixes
- understanding the use of different earth and fibre mixes in structures and finishes
Photo: Stefanie Hueber
Photo: Stefanie Hueber
Workshop Motivation
This workshop is for us a great opportunity to finally put hands (and feet) into a common construction. We have been crossing paths regularly for several years, which has allowed us to share our passion for these wonderful mixes of fibres, soils and water that have housed and still house so many people on every continent. We look forward to sharing what we have learnt about earth heritage and traditions and how it inspires us today to respond to the current challenges of eco-responsible construction.
