Where am I to start? Great theme – but so much to choose from.

Let’s go to Iceland, to Skagafjördur and Glaumbaer farm. For hundreds of years, a farm has been standing here, being changed and rebuilt in periods in the 18th- & 19th-centuries. This style of the turf construction was universal in rural areas of Iceland until about 1900, when it was gradually replaced mainly by reinforced concrete.

The main building is 23m inside – very impressive

The buildings have got thin panels of tree with thick turf in between

The roof is made of the same material

Icelandic grass grows very thick, so enough water on the grass will help the turf last for about 100 years

Glaumbaer farm had the priest of the village living here until 1947. Interesting too, is that the first woman to give birth to a white man in America, had lived here at Glaumbaer. Her name was Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir, and she travelled with Leif Ericsson or one of the following expeditions around the year 1000. So the old documents in Iceland tell us, and they were very good at documentation, the Icelandic people.

More about Glaumbaer here: http://www2.skagafjordur.is/default.asp?cat_id=1123

More interesting architecture here: http://wheresmybackpack.com/2013/08/09/travel-theme-architecture/