Block by block, a backyard pile of snow became a pointed tower about 15 feet (4.5 metres) tall. Reddit user Dynamitekatie shared the build in early 2014: a roommate gathered snow and shaped the blocks over roughly two weeks, then lit the entrance at night so the doorway shone out in the dark.
The backyard snow-block tower, step by step
The photographs follow the project from the inside out. Rows of blocks rise around a low doorway, and a final “plug” closes the top of the cone. From outside the result looks less like a classic dome and more like a tall, pointed spire.
Two weeks is a lot of snow. Every block had to be packed, cut and lifted into place, and the higher courses needed a ladder, which appears in one of the photographs beside the walls.
How real igloos work: the Inuit snow house
The backyard tower borrows its method from the igloo, the snow house of the Inuit of Canada’s Central Arctic and the Qaanaaq area of Greenland. Traditional builders cut blocks with saws and long knife-like blades, then trim them into five- or six-sided pieces that lock together. The blocks lean on each other and need no internal support while the walls go up.
A traditional igloo follows a catenary curve, closer to a paraboloid than a half-sphere. That shape helps the walls resist buckling as the snow settles and compresses.
The right snow, and how warm it gets inside
Not all snow builds well. Wind-blown snow is best, because the wind packs and interlocks the ice crystals into a dense, firm slab. Soft snow that fell in still air is too loose to hold a block’s shape.
Snow is also an excellent insulator. With outside air as cold as −45°C, body heat alone can keep the inside of an igloo between −7°C and 16°C. Traditional builders add a short entrance tunnel to cut wind and heat loss, and raise the sleeping platform, since warm air collects near the roof.
Scale, light and the finished spire
Two details in the gallery show the scale. In one photograph two people stand beside the entrance, dwarfed by the walls above them. In another, someone holds the ladder against the walls. Look up from inside and the courses of blocks close in towards the plug at the top.
At night a light inside makes the entrance shine out across the dark yard, and the pointed outline of the tower stands out clearly against the sky.
Building your own snow structure
Keep a homemade snow structure low and wide, check the walls every day as temperatures change, and never sleep in one without someone outside who knows you are there. For a practical guide to shelters, read how to build a snow cave to keep warm, and for another winter build, see this dad’s backyard project.
Related reading
- Iglu-Dorf: Snow Rooms, Carved Interiors and Alpine Settings
- Kakslauttanen’s Glass Igloos: A Room with a Sky View
Sources
Photographs: Dynamitekatie.
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