A 2 days introduction workshop held by Welsh Master Thatcher Alan Jones.
The participants will learn about the traditional use of plant fibres as an impermeable and sustainable roof covering solution.
The workshop will mainly focus on the use of reed (Phragmites Australis), nevertheless samples of other plants usable for thatching,
such as straw and bracken, will be presented. Part of the course will be dedicated also to the experimental use of a local cane (Arundo Donax)
and to the application of wooden shingles. Additionally, Alan will share some “tricks” of his trade such as the use of hazel pruning as a fixing
system and how to make straw ropes.
The participants will practice, over a roof sample, the use of reed thatching and of wooden shingles.
A focus on the historic use of thatching in Northern Italy will be presented by a guest of this workshop, researcher and journalist
THE TRAINER:
Alan Jones - a carpenter and master thatcher with more than 35 years of experience, involved in conservation and experimental archaeology.
He's built around Europe and from Scotland down to the Eden Project in Cornwall. He worked on the conservation of listed thatched buildings
including the properties of the King of Great Britain Charles III. He was a part of the specialists’ team called to reconstruct the timber roof of
Nôtre Dame de Paris. Besides sharing his remarkable professional expertise with various universities and colleges, he helped to train the next
generation of conservation professionals, architects and thatchers at the Price's Foundation.
Click here to see Alan's work.
THE GUEST:
Aldo Molino – researcher, journalist and deep connoisseur of Piedmont region, author of many excursionists guides and
editor of the magazine “Piemonte Parchi”. He mapped the last examples of thatched roofs in the Alps and in the Centre-South of Europe and
he is the author of the only book in Italy about thatching.
This workshop is organized by Vide Terra - Superadobe Italia in collaboration with ALEx - environmental association based in Turin.
For further info and to register:
davide@videterra.org
Tel. 0039 3394178848
