Been doing a lot of pondering the last couple of months on  whether to use glass bottles or something else to fill these gaps with. And I’ve been hanging on to my dream to build with bottles for as long as I could. Below, you’ll see why (pictures and walls not mine): it looks gorgious! In the end, I decided to give up on my dream. For now.

The practical problems we would have, are too many:1. Variety. There aren’t many different colours of bottles in the Gambia: brown, green and transparant and that’s basically it. And they are already being recycled over and over again.2. Cutting them. They all at least need to have the same length and the necks would have to be cut off and polished so there would be no sharp edges left to work with. So, how to cut glass in a safe and proper way in a place where there’s no electricity? We would need some serious powertools and protective work clothes to do the job. 3. The craftsmanship in the Gambia. Although I’m really happy with the work so far; where it comes to building with bottles, it needs to be done neatly to get this great effect. Now, Gambian workmanship is usually pretty rough and not very much attention is put into detail.  It feels a little selfish, but I decided not to put my house up for the experiment. The crooked wall socket is my witness. Which is put straight, by now, as I’m assured….. Alternatives: I’ve seriously considered asking my friends in Holland to save their nice empty bottles, cut them to shape in my father’s tool shed, while in Holland, transporting them to the Gambia and build them into the house. But in the end, declared the whole plan far too complex. So what’s left is compromise: We’re going to use transparent glass blocks and as a matter of fact, they are being built into the house right now. In a different way, though. Pictures will follow.