In a somewhat ridiculous leap of faith, I am about to start building a cabin with very little money or carpentry skills, using bent wood from tall, skinny trees.

I'm not sure how it's all going to happen yet, but I have a location, and an architect mentor who is coaching me through the process. 

I'm using a method inspired by Indigenous architecture. It was developed by Richard Kroeker and Mi'kmaq elder Albert Marshall. They designed the west wing of Albert's home in Eskasoni, which became the birthplace of two-eyed seeing. In a way, the building method is the embodiment of two-eyed seeing, borrowing from ancient building technology used to make longhouses and birchbark canoes, updated to be accessible to build today.

Bentwood architecture is so-called because it uses trees from the land without milling - young, tall, skinny trees that are bent into shape. over a form, and bolted together in pairs to form a truss, as you can see below.

Advantages of Bentwood Construction

Although I have been very interested in earth building, such as cob and earth bags, (and even did my architecture internship at a firm that specialized in earth construction) I decided on this method because it has many advantages, the most relevant for me is that it is more affordable than typical construction, and that it is less labour intensive than earth construction — although perhaps it will just be a different type of labour.

According to Richard Kroeker, the building

"...would use locally available small diameter spruce trees and small dimensioned, locally sawn wood. The houses could be built with local skill, addressing high unemployment in these regions, and would minimise the amount of material that need to be shipped in from outside. The wall system would avoid cavity wall problems of mold growth and leave the structure exposed for continuous monitoring. "

To summarize the benefits: 

• uses local material
• can use a sustainable method of harvesting trees (selective rather than clearcut)
• trees are readily available in many areas of Canada
• can be built without highly technical skills
• trusses can be built off-site and are easily moved

The Bentwood Construction Process

My first step will be to build a form to bend the trusses over. because they must be bent when freshly cut or they will stiffen. When the form is ready, I will select my trees for harvest, peel them, and bend them into trusses.

After the trusses are in place, the rest of the structure is layered on.

From the trusses outward, the layers are:

• 1x3 or 1x4 horizontal strapping
• insulation (or multiple layers to reach desired R value
• building paper
• vertical strapping
• horizontals to support shingles
• shingles

The Plan

I'm going to start by building the form over which I will bend the trees. I'll need to bend them soon after cutting, or they will stiffen. 

I'll also be making a form to bend small pieces into a wave shape for the truss webbing. 

Then I'll put the trusses together. 

I haven't decided on the foundation yet. One of the biggest issues is weighing this building down because it is very lightweight. 

A Research Project

Although I'll be roughly replicating Richard Kroeker's studio, I'll also be experimenting to improve one aspect of the construction to make it more affordable, and accessible to remote communities.

The two trees of the trusses need to be held apart with spacers, which can be made in several ways. Shown below are three methods: a short piece of wood held in place with metal, a piece of wood bent in a wave to create a webbing, and a metal bracket. 

The early bentwood designs used metal braces to hold the short pieces in place, but I will be experimenting with steam-bending the webbing out of strips of hardwood in an attempt to develop a method that reduces construction cost, and embodied energy of the building. 

A big part of Richard Kroeker's motivation in developing this method is to make housing more accessible in northern Indigenous communities where conventional building materials are extremely expensive. An affordable construction method using green wood where softwood trees are abundant minimize the amount of material that need to be shipped in from outside. They can also be built with local skill, which would address high unemployment in these regions. 

There is a growing housing crisis in much of Canada, and developing this method and establishing it as a recognized construction method could make housing much more accessible and affordable to anyone with access to land and trees. 

How you can help