by On the island of Læsø, located off the coast of Denmark, there are houses with roofs made of seaweed. These roofs are up to a meter thick, and the way they hang over the walls the house appears to be wearing a cloak. Apart from their humongous size, they look a lot like thatch but seaweed is far more durable. Some of these roofs are over 300 years old. They are a unique feature of the island of Læsø.
The practice of building roofs with seaweed—actually a marine grass called eelgrass—dates back to the time when the island of Læsø had a flourishing salt industry. The island was practically soaking in salt. The ground water had over 15 percent salt, and during the hot dry summers they crystallized out of the ground naturally in large salt meadows. Hundreds of salt kilns were built on the island to refine the salt. They needed fuel which was provided by the island’s limited woodlands, until a day came when the islanders had cut down the last tree. With no wood left to fire the kilns, Læsø’s salt industry collapsed. With no trees left to break the wind, Læsø’s villages were buried in sandstorm. The air became full of sea salt and they inhibited the growth of any kind of plants, even grass.
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The practice of building roofs with seaweed—actually a marine grass called eelgrass—dates back to the time when the island of Læsø had a flourishing salt industry. The island was practically soaking in salt. The ground water had over 15 percent salt, and during the hot dry summers they crystallized out of the ground naturally in large salt meadows. Hundreds of salt kilns were built on the island to refine the salt. They needed fuel which was provided by the island’s limited woodlands, until a day came when the islanders had cut down the last tree. With no wood left to fire the kilns, Læsø’s salt industry collapsed. With no trees left to break the wind, Læsø’s villages were buried in sandstorm. The air became full of sea salt and they inhibited the growth of any kind of plants, even grass.
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