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The wooden molds–which were lined with shoot steel and edged with 3/4″ angle iron–clamped onto the foundation and were reinforced with 4 X 4 uprights. These boxes were light enough for one man to move and their metal lining was a considerable improvement because it left the sections of wall smooth. You’ll need three pieces of 4 X 8 plywood to make an L-shaped form. In addition to this house, other homes in Brazil's countryside are Rio House by Olson Kundig, Minimod Curucaca and Catuçaba house by Studio MK27. Walls are composed of straw-coloured bricks from a local pottery studio that removes clay that is rich in aluminium from the region's floodplains. "All the characteristics of hardness, thermal inertia, colour, brightness, tactile quality are factors due to the physical and chemical characteristics of that specific soil," the studio added.
Rain erosion test
Rammed earth has unique properties as the core of the Great Wall. According to historical records, the rammed earth core of the Great Wall was built together with the wall bricks during the masonry process of the Great Wall. Using a rammer, multiple people lifted and then dropped it to ram the soil to form a dense structure. Some reinforced sections were mixed with lime, glutinous rice pulp, etc., to enhance the strength of the wall.
Why do we celebrate Earth Day?

Standing just above us, no more than 10 meters away, a family of deer watched us all say hello. It was at that moment that I began to fully appreciate how much rammed earth homes allow you to live fully surrounded by nature, including the walls that protect you. The Weather Network's new series, "Building Better," delves into the fresh and inventive approaches people and businesses are adopting to construct in response to our current climate challenges. In this episode, reporter Michael Vann heads to Sooke, B.C., to step inside an ancient building technique that is seeing a sustainable resurgence. Through mastering the basic principles and techniques, builders can create structures that not only stand the test of time but also tell a story of the earth from which they arose.
Thermal Mass
Despite the misconceptions, Mboup knows that every region in the world has a long history of working with its local biosourced materials to construct buildings. Reinvesting in such practices presents a unifying opportunity for people all across the globe. The outcome of Hand Over’s practices is architecture that deals less in embodied carbon. Predictably, the complexity of a project influences cost—curved or angled walls are going to be more expensive than their conventional counterparts because the rammed earth method is labor-intensive.
Characteristics of the local erosion resistance of the rammed earth wall
Tembo Tembo lodge hides among landscape of South African game reserve - Dezeen
Tembo Tembo lodge hides among landscape of South African game reserve.
Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
I then drove spikes in about every two feet and covered their heads with the second smooth coat. You’ll need a new set of forms when you begin to ram the dirt walls. The planks, however, turned out to be too heavy for one man to handle, and my wife was about to have a baby … so I followed the bulletin’s diagram but made new forms from 5/8″ marine plywood.
Rammed earth structures are a great option for low-maintenance or off-grid living, but some will find conventional materials to be a better option in modern times. Natural construction methods like rammed earth construction often are not included in traditional building codes. This can make it difficult to get approval to build this type of wall or house in some regions. In other areas, the structures are permitted under unconventional construction codes, but you will need to pay a specialized engineer to ensure structure surety which can be costly.
Innovative Lab of Architecture & Art / CLAB
The result is a home whose natural cooling capacity omits the need for mechanical equipment. Figure 16 is a scanning electron microscope image of the parent soil layer sample A3, magnification 500–5000x. It can be seen from the figure that the soil mass is in sheet structure, and the particle size of the soil mass is about 5 μm.

Rammed earth is considered to be strong in compression and suitable for load bearing construction. It is possible to introduce reinforcement to the walls similar to concrete, however this must be carefully designed due to possibility of cracking and difficulty ramming around the reinforcement bars. Temporary frames are used to create the necessary structure and filled with soil. Today, construction workers use pneumatically powered tools to compress the soil into its final form rapidly, but this would have been an incredibly laborious process in the past. The price of a rammed earth wall is generally a bit more than poured concrete, but cost is dependent on location.
rammed earth villas by formafatal emerge over costa rican coast - Designboom
rammed earth villas by formafatal emerge over costa rican coast.
Posted: Wed, 08 Mar 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) pushes the boundaries of sustainable architecture with the Bio-Block Spiral, unveiled at the Chicago Architecture Biennial. This innovative pavilion showcases a groundbreaking material — algae-based bio-concrete — developed in collaboration with Prometheus Materials. Bio-Blocks have the potential to revolutionize the industry by offering a zero-carbon alternative to conventional concrete blocks. This translates to a significant reduction in carbon footprint, with the Bio-Block Spiral itself eliminating one metric ton of CO2 emissions compared to traditional construction. NAREBA, a not for profit entity, offers the opportunity for its members to share in the passion for working with earthen materials and to contribute to the advancement of RE construction. NAREBA builders share a resource base of over 150 years of collective building experience and have committed to building RE walls with the highest standards in the industry.
A true expression of the landscape they rest on, rammed-earth homes are constructed of compacted soil molded in plywood forms. A robust and energy-efficient material, rammed earth also has a striking, striated appearance, taking on natural color variations. The residences below demonstrate how the impressive building technique has been adapted to environments all over the world. The findings of this study not only have applications in the protection of the Great Wall against rainwater erosion but also offer a viable method for the conservation of similar rammed earth heritage sites.
The 2,600-meter high residence integrates with the local reforestation effort by utilizing recycled materials (including 50% from a salvaged Quito house) and fostering a collaborative build with local workers. Water conservation is addressed through rainwater collection for decks and irrigation, while a green roof houses solar panels that generate 100% of the home’s electricity. Casa Quinchuyaku combats erosion through strategic water infiltration techniques and utilizes a dry bath system that converts waste into compost, showcasing a commitment to minimizing environmental impact. As we celebrate Earth Day 2024, the focus remains on fostering a healthier planet. In the architecture industry, this translates to buildings that tread lightly, minimizing their environmental impact.
Adobe, however, requires dry weather so that the bricks can harden (cure) enough to build walls. Hand Over doesn’t use steel in any of their buildings, instead relying on wall-bearing systems that don’t require columns or beams. They keep use of cement to a minimum but do incorporate the material (which can have a high environmental impact depending on how it’s produced) as they must, Rostom explains, depending on what building codes require. The hardest part of rammed earth construction is getting the soil mix right and building the forms.
You mustn’t have too much clay either or the finished wall will shrink and crack. Making rammed earth involves compacting a damp mixture of subsoil that has suitable proportions of sand, gravel, clay, silt, and stabilizer, if any, into a formwork (an externally supported frame or mold). The rammed earth construction method has been used for centuries, with the earliest examples dating back to neolithic ages. While materials used for construction have changed, the general methodology remains the same..
An important factor affecting its durability is the freeze–thaw process. In the future, we will carry out research on the impact of freezing and thawing on the durability of rammed earth sites. Learn to build the small earth-bermed and energy-efficient home that was featured in issues 84 to 87 of Mother Earth News.
Terrell likes the combination of rammed earth on the bottom floor and a straw-bale upper floor; she has also seen CLT-panel roof versions. Most of these geopolymers use highly reactive aluminosilicates like fly ash or slag, meaning that they’re very easy to get to react to create these sorts of bonds. The materials we’re using like clays are aluminosilicates with low reactivity meaning they’re less easy to get to activate in an alkaline environment.
If you want to avoid future issues, make sure to make these test blocks. Better to use a couple extra weeks at the beginning than have a house that won’t stand in the end. It was my first visit to Vancouver Island, and everywhere I turned, I was just astonished by the beauty, nature, and ever-changing weather.
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