Building with straw has many advantages.
One of these is the high insulation of the material and the ease of processing. Surprisingly, straw buildings are particularly fireproof compared to wood constructions because there is little oxygen in the straw bales. Furthermore, they are particularly earthquake and windproof.
The principle is quite simple. Straw is packed either in a straw bale machine or by hand into square cubes. Manually this can happen by molding in a box. Then the bales are held together with strings. The cords can also be made of straw. For the construction of an igloo, it is advisable to produce the blocks as small as possible. For larger buildings or straight walls, the bales can be larger.
When constructing an igloo, a supporting structure in the form of a geodesic dome may be used. This structure can be made either with wood or with thin PVC pipes. However, it is also possible without a supporting substructure to build a straw igloo.
The single straw bales are arranged in a circle around the center. The radius of each layer decreases in size. The individual bales of straw must be connected to each other by a cord.
At the end, the igloo is plastered with mortar or clay to withstand the weather better.