Session: Advanced Design/Build, Summer 2025

Builders: 12 high school students

Materials: Natural plaster (mixed clay, straw, sand), doug fir framing lumber, pressure-treated lumber, circular saw, drill with mud mixer attachment, hammer, shovel, plaster mesh, staple gun, finishing trowel

Description:

Our Advanced Design/Build cohort traveled to Salt Spring Island, Canada, to complete a week-long project with the Mudgirls Collective, a network of women builders specializing in natural materials. The project focused on applying traditional and experimental building methods to create a durable breezeway roof and plastered exterior surfaces using clay-based materials. With the expertise of Molly Murphy, we learned about natural plaster down to a molecular level. Upon mixing natural plaster, by hand, by foot, or with the help of our trusty drill, we applied this to the exterior walls of a local ceramicist’s art studio and kiln shed and smoothed the material with a finishing trowel. In the process, we experienced that magical flow state moment when everyone is deep in their task: cutting wood, hoisting beams, raising roofs, and smoothing plaster.