This ancient building material is making a comeback

The idea of a straw building might bring to mind a medieval homestead, or perhaps the fairy-tale dwelling of The Three Little Pigs. Used since the 19th century—typically as a rural, rustic building material—straw has been a DIY solution for affordable, earth-friendly construction. But a new wave of contemporary straw designs, as well as more industrial-scale efforts to expand the availability of straw as a building material, have modernized this traditional method of making a home. In...