Those who would be able to build a home by custom-building, or in the age-old folk tradition of building in a kalaka* (mutual house building by a community), and who are financially able to do so by incorporating natural materials that are cheap but environmentally friendly and energy-saving, face bureaucratic obstacles. As a result, they are forced to resort to more expensive prefabricated industrial solutions, even if they could, because of their practicality, create their own housing.
Balaton-Highlands-style thatched half-timbered house – inspiration picture (if you open the article you will find more fairytale houses!)
On the one hand, the bureaucratisation of construction is completely understandable, I believe that this is the way construction and housing security is supposed to be demanded, but on the other hand, if one can experience the bureaucracy of a prosperous country, i.e. as a way to imagine belonging to some developed country, whereas in contrast, for a good part of the population of such a country, it is an undue financial burden, or decades of indebtedness, in exchange for this construction security.
In the old days, people (family and friends) used to build each other’s houses, and the practice of building was passed down from father to son, using simple natural knowledge. True, with much less modern (but more natural) materials, with more puritan living conditions, but more environmentally friendly. Now, with advances in technology and bureaucracy, all this popular knowledge is disappearing. Whereas even in the 1980s it was quite natural to build a family house with a kalak, now those who dare to do so – are slowly becoming some kind of exotic caveman, admired by the people of the internet.
Continue reading The conflict between natural building materials and modern regulation: how to preserve tradition in the shadow of bureaucracy? →
