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10
A moment
of magic
I first met Robert Plattner near
Boksburg in November 1992
for a demonstration of a new
building system that he and
his partner, Jochen Kofahl,
were promoting
I was there on the recommendation of Mike Snaddon
of Press Trading. Robert fired up the motor on the M2,
poured some sieved soil into the top chamber and after a
little legerdemain produced a building block made entirely
of soil. So on the side of the road near the East Rand
Mall, Robert produced a building block and I became one
of many over the past 25 years who have been instantly
converted by the sight of a Hydraform block rising, as if
by magic, from the forming chamber after a few simple
moves.
Robert explained that the real article needed a cement
component and how the blocks fitted together in the new
Hydraform Building System but he needed to say little
more as I was sold on the product and system.
After some haggling, I agreed to take the agency for
the Press Group in Malawi and an excellent decision it
turned out to be. We achieved a number of coups, first
with Habitat for Humanity and later when Ian Robertson
Glasgow won the contract to supply two million blocks for
the GTZ Malawi School project.
Further meetings explained that the idea had been born
after Jochen had seen a massive adobe brick machine
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