The Last Straw is a journal founded in 1992, focused on natural building and alternative design.

Contact the editorial collective at editors@thelaststraw.org to tell us what you’re working on, submit ideas for articles, or just to say hi.

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Issue No. 73 is available now
Fall 2022

From Conspiracies to Colloquiums

| Community, Earth Buildings, Interviews, Lore | No Comments
a conversation with Matt Anderson about his Springs and Summers…

Getting Loose With Lloyd Kahn

| No. 73, Fall 2022 | No Comments
The Last Straw: What are you working on now? Lloyd…

What You’re Getting Wrong About Building

| No. 73, Fall 2022 | No Comments
  Introducing Resource Conscious Construction     What is Natural…

An Oral History of The Straw Building Revival with Matts Myhrman

| No. 72, Spring 2022 | No Comments
The Last Straw: So, Matts, when you were younger did…

Cultivating an Alternative Building Scene in Turkey with the Kolûba Collective

| No. 72, Spring 2022 | No Comments
While natural building has been practiced around the world for…

The Palletable Cobin: natural, quick, and affordable pallet structures

| No. 72, Spring 2022 | No Comments
As I write this, I am sitting in a  320…

An Oral History of Better Building Codes with Martin Hammer

| No. 71, Winter 2022 | No Comments
Back in November, we sat down with Martin Hammer to…

Tataki: Japanese Traditional Earthen Floor

| No. 67, Spring 2015 | No Comments

Choosing a Plaster System for Your Straw Bale House

| No. 66, Winter 2015 | No Comments
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Defend The Forest!

| No. 71, Winter 2022 | No Comments
Issue No. 73
Fall 2022

The Strawtegi C02ttage

| No. 71, Winter 2022 | No Comments

Earth Plastering Guidelines for Finishes

| No. 43, Fall 2003 | One Comment

Building With Hempcrete (Hemp-Lime): Essential Tips For The Beginner (Part 1)

| No. 64, Summer 2014 | No Comments

Building With Hempcrete (hemp-lime): Essential Tips For The Beginner (Part 2)

| No. 65, Fall 2014 | 3 Comments
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Archive Issues

Straw Bale Building in Japan

| No. 63, Spring 2014 | No Comments

MORE Straw Building in Japan

| No. 64, Summer 2014 | No Comments

The Straw Bale Earthen House

| Online Articles | No Comments
by Athena and Bill Steen

Why We Build with Earthbags

| No. 55, September 2006 | 4 Comments

The Art of Polished Clay Balls

| No. 68, Fall 2015 | No Comments

The Growth of Hemp Lime as a Natural Building Method

| No. 63, Spring 2014 | One Comment

Traditional and Contemporary Natural Building in Korea

| No. 62, Winter 2014 | No Comments
Editors Note - This article is a feature length pictorial…

Framing Bale Walls: How to

| No. 63, Spring 2014 | One Comment
There are many different approaches to framing a straw bale…

A South Carolina Architect’s Journey to Natural Building & Rammed Earth

| No. 67, Spring 2015 | 12 Comments

Cob Internal Walls

| No. 68, Fall 2015 | No Comments
Straw Bales for Shelter
2023

Finishing Bale Walls with Siding

| No. 57, March 2007 | 2 Comments
A little known fact in the bale building realm is…

Straw-bale Sound Isolation and Acoustics

| No. 53, Spring 2006 | One Comment
This article appeared in TLS #53.  The topic of this…
Issue No. 72
Spring 2022

Sealing an Earth Floor

| No. 55, September 2006 | One Comment
This is the second of a two-part article on creating…

Light Clay-Straw Mountain Home

| No. 64, Summer 2014 | No Comments
This feature project is of a solar, light clay-straw house…

Plasters and Strawbale

| Online Articles | No Comments
Most people choose straw bale for environmental considerations, wanting to…

Moisture and Straw-Bale Walls

| Online Articles | No Comments
Moisture is every bit the very real concern in straw-bale…

For the Love of Mud

| Online Articles | No Comments
Mud is magic. Mud is fun. Mud can also be…
4 Issue Digital Subscription
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Straw-bale Codes, Testing, Research

| Online Articles | No Comments
compiled by Joyce Coppinger, Andre de Bouter, Lars Keller, Chris…

Straw Bale Construction Resources

| Online Articles | No Comments

A History of Straw Bale Resurgence

| Online Articles | No Comments

Earth Plasters and Aliz

| Online Articles | No Comments
by Cedar Rose

Three Sustainable Building Essential Books (Book Review)

| No. 70, Spring 2017 | One Comment
Read reviews of the first three books in the Sustainable Essential Building…

The EcoNest Home (Book Review)

| No. 69, Winter 2016 | No Comments
The EcoNest is a type of building and a movement…

In Defense of Straw

| No. 69, Winter 2016 | No Comments
by Kyle Holzhueter

Japanese Earthen Plaster Exchange – Bringing the Outdoors In

| No. 69, Winter 2016 | No Comments
by Emily Reynolds

Update on Strawbale and Light Straw-Clay Codes in the United States

| No. 69, Winter 2016 | No Comments
by Martin Hammer
Issue No. 71
Winter 2022
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