tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post4384937388211152723..comments2023-11-05T06:16:56.961-05:00Comments on the Carpentry Way: I See ICFs II: A Closer look at MaterialsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-29085640692513430702009-10-05T08:51:53.338-04:002009-10-05T08:51:53.338-04:00G'Day Derek,
thanks for your comments about t...G'Day Derek,<br /><br />thanks for your comments about the lantern. I'm also pleased with it, and my only regret at this point is that my photographs of the completed piece are totally inadequate. In the next couple of days I plan to drag it out in the garden and take a few photos, weather-permitting, and hopefully they will turn out a little better than the ones I have posted up so far.<br /><br />Your comments about concrete - I'm not surprised that the building industry in Australia seems to be taken possession by a ceaseless drive to cover as much of the earth with it as possible - the same could be said of many countries. I dare say the Japanese might be the world leaders in senseless concrete use.<br /><br />I can relate to your comments about the concrete Byōdō-in replica. There are more than a few concrete temples and pagodas in Japan, and they are, as you say, soulless in comparison to the wooden ones.<br /><br />~ChrisAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-47519178903070311352009-10-05T06:28:39.689-04:002009-10-05T06:28:39.689-04:00G'Day Chris,
I have been planning for days to ...G'Day Chris,<br />I have been planning for days to write something about the completion of your lantern build but have struggled to come up with words to do it justice - I quickly run out of superlatives. Suffice to say I think it is magnificent! I can understand your seeming reticence to drag an audience along on the one subject for fifty whole installments when modern media institutions plan on an attention span of 20 seconds. I wouldn't be too worried as I suspect that most of your readership, like I, come to this blog seeking refuge from the modern mindset of instant gratification.<br /><br />On to concrete - I hate the stuff: cold, grey, homogenous, alien and soulless. In my country (Australia) the building industry appears to be in a ceaseless drive to cover as much of the natural surface of the earth in concrete as they can. Please let me tell of an experience I had recently, I was in Hawaii recently with work and was fortunate enough to have a day off to explore the island. Looking through the tourism flyers I found a picture of the Byodo-in temple which the booklet claimed was a replica of a Buddhist temple in Uji, Japan that is 900 years old. Having never travelled to Japan I was excited at the thought of examining a japanese temple in the flesh. Imagine my disappointment when I arrived to discover that the temple was a very accurate and detailed replica made of... concrete! complete with molded 'wedge blocks' and painted 'end grain'. Presumably the makers wished to build a structure that required less skilled labour to produce and would be more enduring and maintenance free. Very practical I thought but a closer inspection showed several areas where the more exposed details were starting to crack and crumble, leaving exposed and rusting steel reinforcement - concrete cancer I believe they call it. I couldn't help but think that this temple wouldn't survive for 900 years like the original. Moreover I thought that the easy cast-ability of concrete that makes it so attractive to builders, also allows people to build complex structures very quickly without taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen materials or designing for longevity.<br /><br />Thanks so much for sharing your work with us.<br /><br />Derek CoxYxochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11555633496005278384noreply@blogger.com