Sunday, 28 April 2013

Composting Urinals!


This is great!




The big bale of straw may look more appropriate for a farm yard than a music festival, but Faltazi outfits each bale with a plastic funnel and receptacle system, with urinals spaced comfortably enough around the hay. The funnel channels the incoming urine away from its donor’s sneakers and pant legs, and into the center of the straw bale, where the nitrogen begins to mesh with the carbon of the hay. Around six to twelve months later, the decomposition process will have meshed the two together enough to create a rich mound of compostable humus.
L’Uritonnoir comes as a flat, easily shippable polypropylene sheet, that folds and is threaded around the straw bale to create the pop-up urinal. The funnels are fed into the bale’s center, and there you have it- a composting urinal. There’s even a “higher end” version that comes in stainless steel.
Not only does L’Uritonnoir provide a faster place to pee, but it also brings awareness to festival goers of the simplicity of upcycling and composting. After a “dry run” this season at French metal festival “Hellfest”, Faltazi wants to include planters thriving with pee-compost the next year, as a shining example of festival goers’ donations.



Friday, 22 March 2013

Crit Day!

Pin Up for the Final Crit

This Wednesday was the report hand in and the presentation for all the individual projects in Stage 5 MARch at Kent School of Architecture.  
The day went really well and there was some great feedback from the tutors.  Everyone had some great individual work, and it was good to see what everyone else had been up to.

Monday, 4 March 2013

Day 2 on site


Luckily a very beautiful Kentish day!

The willow weaved plinth wall was lined with waste plastic sheet from the polytunnels. The voids were then filled with bark from the pruning and lined again with another sheet of polythene to act as DPM.

Initial stakes are inserted and the first bales are laid.

Staking down each bale as it is laid for rigidity and to keep the walls in line.


Cross bracing door opening put into place to keep the bales tight and upright.

Losing light on the third course of bales. Time to call it a day

Sunday, 3 March 2013

Day 1 on site

Started on site today with the willow weave plinth wall.

Site all marked out and leveled, ready to go!


weaving the willow in a twining fashion, to get the tightest weave possible for filling.







End of day 1. 
 Early start tomorrow to get the rest of the willow cut and weaved, ready for the straw bales.



Thursday, 24 January 2013

Willow Weaving

For the natural plinth wall, I wish to make the border out of willow weave. 

When this is done properly it looks very neat and beautiful 

I had my first attempt this Christmas....


Little more practice needed.


For the plinth wall we need 150mm of tightly packed willow weave, which I can waterproof and build the bales directly onto.

Using some of the cuttings we had another go at a required height.


This was assisted by some local children.


Even though the snow has halted anything starting on site, I can construct all the elements under cover ready for the quick erection.