Workshops

Clarke, here. The goal of a workshop is to teach by doing. That’s a concept I can really get behind. A good workshop is a tricky thing, though, because it requires a balance of theory and practice. You need the theory so that you can adapt the small amount of practical experience you’ve gained to other situations. For that reason, the longer the workshop, the more far reaching the results. I found college to be a great workshop. Life itself seems to be shaping up to be a demanding, yet rewarding workshop. On the other hand, creating a useful workshop that lasts an afternoon or day is a challenge. Probably mainly for that reason, our talk about doing workshops always seems to give way to some other more pressing area of work. So, for now this is just an idea page that I’ll add to over time. If you have the need or desire to set up a workshop, here are some of the things we could do:

Intro to Natural Materials. What are these “natural materials” everyone is talking about? Where do you get them? Why would you use them? This is a petting zoo hands-on introduction to dirt, straw, water, and wood. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves by trying to build something. Instead, we’ll focus on the properties of these materials and the situations where they are best used or, on the other hand, avoided.

Building Green Unplugged. Come take a romp through the anatomy of a green building. This is half lecture and half point and ask, embellished with hands-on exercises. For example, we’ll use the same ingredients to make a little cob, clay-slip straw, and earth plaster to exemplify the differences. Takes place at the cottage that Tim, Lisa, and Clarke built near Asheville, NC for the book “Building Green”.

Pattern Language for Geniuses. About 25 years ago, Christopher Alexander and friends outlined a new way to look at the process of architecture. In the time since, their approach has become the rock star of thoughtful design, and as such, in my experience, it often gets short-changed into a sound bite or glossed over as too esoteric. In fact, it’s actually a straight-forward tool to help clarify imagination into a form that can then be built. It's a very personal approach, and therefore perfect for owner builders, or anyone who wants to craft a building that will unite their idiosyncratic needs with the equally idiosyncratic needs of the building site. Lecturing on the topic in a dark conference room will work, but it’s much better at a building where physical examples, both successes and failures, will be in abundance. My house would be a good venue…or maybe yours?

Sensible Carpentry. In the US, most carpentry is learned on the job with little or no guidance. That doesn’t lead to a very cohesive or efficient set of skills. Tim is a master carpenter who really gets the big picture. He could teach great workshops on carpentry math, secret tricks, knots for the job site, problem solving… I could go on and on. If you ask him, who knows, he’d probably do it.

Hands on Math. A longer workshop, okay a full-fledged class, in which Tim builds a boat with a group of kids and teaches them a lot of math in the process.

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For contact and pricing and info: workshops

© Clarke Snell, 2005