Uploaded on 2018-02-21 by Christopher Pickering

This is a photo of the copper mine in Falun, Sweden. The orange-coloured material is the iron oxide by product of removing the copper. Just to the left of this photo is a small factory which refines this pigment to produce 'Falu red' paint. The Dalarna region of Sweden is famous for its small red cottages with white window frames and it is Falu red that is used to paint the wood. This has become a tradition since this pigment preserves the wood better and makes it sustainable and resistant to the moist, cold climate. While this is not a building material on its own, it has enabled the use of wood in building all over Scandinavia, Russia and Canada. The supply of wood is plentiful in these regions but until treatments like Falu red paint emerged, these local raw materials could not be used. To continue to promote its use the Falu red company has a prize each year for the best architecture which has used their paint. http://falurodfarg.com/om-oss/rodfargspriset/