Denmark’s 300-year-old homes of the future

Denmark’s 300-year-old homes of the future Thomas Kyhn Rovsing Hjørnet/Alamy Today, only 36 seaweed-roofed houses are left on the island On Læsø, houses are thatched with thick, heavy bundles of silvery seaweed that have the potential to be a contemporary building material around the world. So, of course we are very proud of the heritage.” Torstengrieger/Getty Images Eelgrass is a carbon neutral building material when harvested and used locally Around 40 to 50 women would work on the roofs together. Thomas Kyhn Rovsing Hjørnet/Alamy Today, only 36 seaweed-roofed houses are left on the island “When I was a kid, 50 years ago,” said Johansen, “everybody was sleeping on eelgrass in Denmark. “You can come to Læsø and I can show you your own history from your country” because it was once commonly used around the world – everywhere from the Dutch Wadden Sea where it was used for building sea walls to New England where homes were insulated with Cabot’s Quilt, a thermal and sound insulator made of dried eelgrass.