GreeNest partner PILIKO presented research on light clay at the 30th edition of FESTA DELLA TERRA (Earth Festival) 2026, held from 14 to 20 September in the village of Casalincontrada near Chieti, Italy. The event connected traditional architectural knowledge with contemporary challenges: maintenance, sustainability, innovation, planning, and community participation.
PILIKO’s Zeta Chrysafaki presenting at FESTA DELLA TERRA 2026.
On 18 September, Zeta Chrysafaki, co-founder of PILIKO, introduced their work in Crete, ranging from hands-on workshops and exhibitions to documenting Greece’s traditional earthen buildings and collaborating with municipalities on their restoration and reuse.
The presentation also highlighted GreeNest’s research into light clay, a natural building material made from straw, clay and water. Within the project, light clay is being tested in timber-framed modules and as brick infill in the prefabricated EcoTechWall. She shared lab results and showed the bricks being installed at the Athens Sandbox.
The talk also looked at what happens to light clay at the end of a building’s life. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) findings highlighted that the straw stores carbon and that reusing the material preserves much more of that benefit than sending it to landfill. The talk closed with a preliminary study that estimated much lower emissions from material production for a light-clay house design than for a comparable concrete design.
The festival is organised annually by CED-Terra (Permanent Documentation Centre for Raw Earth Houses), a long-standing collaborator of PILIKO in the field of traditional earthen architecture in Italy and Greece. Since 1996, the festival has brought seminars, workshops and meetings dedicated to healthy building and living to Casalincontrada. The event highlighted CED-Terra, PILIKO, and GreeNest's shared interest in innovative construction techniques using raw earth, CO₂-neutral materials, and sustainable building systems.
