Project: Mokcheon
Posted by Jason Vlasak over 10 years ago
On the property here in Mokcheon, amongst the other building skeletons is an outhouse, one side for #1 and the other for #2. Well, #1's not the priority to put in to function (got plenty of trees!) but #2 is, as we don't want to give the neighbors a show!
The structure is a concrete structure, squat style (urinal on side #1), both evacuating into tanks buried in the ground beneath. It is in function, despite the doors and windows being long gone (wooden frames, surrendered to ants) but at a loss in nutrient. To counter this, the renovation will be to convert it into a composting toilet (à la bucket).
One of the first steps in this renovation process is refitting all of the openings, ie: redoing the windows and doors with ant resistant materials, and replacing the current vent stack on the tank with a longer black pipe to act as a solar chimney to induce a real flow of air in this space.
Thus, for the windows, one of the main criterion was privacy--there're offices less than 10m away. A few options passed through our heads, hanji (mulberry paper, cutting and arrangement techniques traditional to Korea), but there would be extra protection from the ants necessary. Redoing the glazing could be done, but boring. Frame choices would be limited to aluminum or PVC (yuck), or alternatively simply concreting it in by hand (bit of a botch job). Stained glass panels (with cut designs) briefly passed through my thoughts, but I don't have a grinder or many materials sources here.
What was settled upon was to refit the opening, earthship style, on the cheap. The window is small (no wider than 60cm, and only 12cm of depth), so I chose small "vitamin drink" bottles as the material, plenty in abundance in the recycling bins at the school where I worked last year (whenever parents/guests visit the principal, often the choice of beverage offered is either a green tea or a vitamin drink). Their bottoms are 42mm in diameter and the bottles total approx 15cm in length. When I say that this was done on the cheap, I mean that I did not cut the bottles to mate bottoms to create "bricks," rather the bottles were used whole since (a) this is an exterior wall whose (b) exterior surface is hidden and (c) it is not a space which is climate controlled. Yes, the openings are exposed to the elements, but I will affix a scrap of plexiglas lying around over the exterior to minimise water ingress.
The entire process for one window took us (two people) a Sunday afternoon to accomplish, maybe a dollar's worth of cement and 4 of sand, and while my wife was working the outside position, she kept on asking "are you sure all of this labor is worth this result?" Alas, when we switched positions with her working the inside surface, this inquery ceased.
More news to come with the continual progress...
목천동에서 여기땅에 빈건물 여러개 있어요. 하나는 실외 화장실 입니다. 우리의 목천동에 놀을때에 해우소 필요해잖아요--그래서 그 벌써있는 장비 리모델링 천천히 시작 하갰어요.
첫 스텝은 원래 창문 바꾸기--옛날 창문들 나무 프레임 사용했으니까 개미들 다 먹었다! 이렇게 다시 만들때에 씨멘트와 비타파워 빈병이랑 "창문을 만들렀어요."
아래 이미지로 전 상태와 후에 완료 상태 볼 수있어요. 3월에 하면서 봄 꽃 나오고 있어요.
계속 설치 하면서 업데이트 하갰어요--다시 구경 오세요!
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