Slab Houses

Research: Slab House Pinterest Board

How can you create a multi-sided, slab-built, roofed house that expresses your personality and interests?

My house used a ‘cracking stucco’ effect to reveal different parts of my personality and interests. I showed waves to express my love of the ocean, and I carved skis into one to show my love for skiing. I also put small objects on the windowsill of the side windows. I put plants on one side and books to show my reading hobby and a loaf of bread on the other side to show my interest in baking. I also made the house green, my favorite color. Some cracks fold onto the other side, pulling the viewer's eyes around to the other side, and the windows on the side are big enough to see the objects in the other window, creating a pull to the other side of the house. I think that worked well. I could have improved the design by glazing the inside of the house because you can see so much of it through the windows. It looks a little messy and unfinished right now. Doing that would have created a more cohesive and neat look.

I scratched my clay and put water on the sides of the house before connecting them. That helped them stay together, but I also added coils on the inside of the house where slabs met to glue it together. When the clay got harder and dryer, I started applying slip along with scratching when I attached pieces like the plants. This helped the leather-hard clay stick to the wet clay. Next time, I should try to smooth the clay together better. At some points, you can see where a slab was connected to another slab.