Terrachidia_Marroc_20-31 Janvier 2104

Terrachidia_Marroc_20-31 Janvier 2104

Terra Brasil 2014_Outubro 2014

Terra Brasil 2014. Universidade Federal de Viçosa - Minas Gerais - Brasil. Outubro de 2014.
Mais informações em https://www.facebook.com/terrabrasil2014?fref=ts

Conferência EARTH WORKS_ 14 de Novembro_ Lisboa

A Conferência terá a participação de Eike Roswag, arquteto distinguido com o Prémio Aga Khan para a Arquitetura. A introdução estará a cargo da arquiteta portuguesa Mariana Correia, Membro do Comité de Direção do World Heritage Earthen Architecture Programme da UNESCO.

Na sequência da cerimónia do Prémio Aga Khan para a Arquitetura, decorrida em Lisboa no passado mês de Setembro, esta conferência procura abordar a Iniciativa Habitat desenvolvida em Cabo Delgado (Norte de Moçambique) no contexto mais alargado da Arquitetura de Terra.

O evento terá lugar no Centro Ismaili, na Avenida Lusiada nº1, em Lisboa (metro laranjeiras), pelas 18h00m e é aberto ao público, mas deverá as presenças deverão ser confirmadas através do email rita.andrade@akdn.org ou 213 949 110/13.

10 anos da Associação Centro da Terra_23 Novembro 2013

A 18 de Novembro de 2003 foi registada, através de escritura pública, a constituição da Associação Centro da Terra. Com um inicio de atividade e uma comissão de instalação a funcionar durante o ano de 2002, concretizava-se assim no ano final do ano seguinte um projeto que pretendia reunir sob uma mesma instituição todos aqueles que profissional ou pessoalmente pretendem “(…)desenvolver, preservar, regulamentar, e o que mais seja pertinente, ao retorno efectivo e viável de uma tradição que resiste a desaparecer (…)”- a Construção com Terra Crua.

A direção propõe a comemoração dos 10 anos de atividade do CdT no próximo dia 23 de Novembro.

O programa proposto inclui visitas a novas edificações com terra crua, um almoço convívio, a inauguração oficial do centro de documentação do CdT na biblioteca municipal de Santiago do Cacém e uma conferência com dois oradores convidados. 

VISITAS_ 9h00-13h00

Partida da sede do CdT na Cova do Gato, Abela, em autocarro

Visita a duas obras novas em taipa, uma na Ribeira da Azenha, entre Porto Côvo e Vila Nova de Milfontes e outra em São Luís, com projetos da autoria dos arquitectos Martin Trueb e Rui Graça, respectivamente.

A partida decorrerá às 9h00 em ponto e o regresso à sede está previsto para as 13h00.

ALMOÇO_ 13h30-15h30

Almoço típico dos mestres taipeiros.

Sede da Associação Centro da Terra, Cova do Gato, Abela, Santiago do Cacém.

(O almoço tem um custo de 7 Euros para não sócios do CdT)

INAUGURAÇÃO DO CENTRO DE DOCUMENTAÇÃO_16h00-17h00Biblioteca municipal Manuel da Fonseca, Santiago do Cacém

Será inaugurado neste dia o centro de documentação, exclusivamente dedicado à temática da Arquitectura de Terra, resultante de um protocolo estabelecido entre o CdT e a Câmara Municipal de Santiago do Cacém.

Todos aqueles que queiram fazer uma doação de espólio documental (livros, teses, vídeos,etc.) poderão aproveitar este momento para entregar os documentos diretamente no novo centro de documentação.

Localização da Biblioteca Municipal de Santiago do Cacém: 
Rua Engenheiro Costa Serrão

7500 Santiago do Cacém

CONFERÊNCIAS_ 17h00-19h00

Auditório da Biblioteca municipal Manuel da Fonseca, Santiago do Cacém

_Conferência por Mariana Correia: "Arquitecturas de Terra em Portugal no séc. XXI: herança e perspetivas de futuro."

_Conferência por Christof Ziegert: “Earth building status report from the perspective of ZRS, Christof Ziegert”

A participação em todas as atividades é gratuita para sócios mas carece de inscrição prévia.

+ info em: http://centrodaterra2013.blogspot.pt/

Windhover Contemplative Center_Stanford University_USA

The centre intended for quiet reflection is due to complete in spring 2014

Designed by San Francisco-based firm Aidlin Darling Design, The Windhover Contemplative Center on the campus of Stanford University broke ground at the end of July. The project is slated for completion by next spring.

The company, recipients of the Smithsonian's 2013 National Design Award, used Nathan Oliveira's meditative Windhover paintings as inspiration to design the one-storey, 4,000 sq ft spiritual retreat to promote personal renewal. The space is intended for quiet reflection throughout the day and will provide a place of refuge from the intensity of daily life for Stanford students, faculty, and staff members.

The Center is located in front of Roble Hall, adjacent to a natural oak grove. The extended progression to the building's entry through a long, private garden sheltered from its surroundings by a line of tall bamboo, will allow visitors to shed the outside world before entering.

It will include three rooms featuring five large paintings by the late artist Nathan Oliveira. Within, the space opens fully to the oak glade beyond, while louvered skylights wash the 15 to 30 ft-long paintings with natural light, unifying art, architecture, and landscape. Thick rammed earth walls and wood surfaces will further heighten the visitor's sensory experience from an acoustic, tactile olfactory as well as visual perspective.

Benches and cushions will be strategically placed to allow members of the Stanford Community to quietly view the paintings inside, as well as the oak grove and the Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden outside. The building, enclosed in glass, will allow viewing of the Oliveira paintings from the exterior as well as from within, at all hours of the day and night.

Water, in conjunction with landscape, will be used throughout as an aid for meditation; fountains within the main gallery and the courtyard will provide ambient sound, while a still pool and garden to the south reflects the surrounding trees. The Center is being designed in conjunction with Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture.

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=23194

ICREC2015: The First International Conference on Rammed Earth Construction

ICREC2015: The First International Conference on Rammed Earth Construction

ICREC2015 will bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners in order to communicate the latest developments in the design and analysis of rammed earth structures.

The Organising Committee is looking forward to welcoming everyone to sunny Perth for four days of stimulating and productive discussion.

Workshop

A two-day workshop will be held at Trinity College at The University of Western Australia (UWA), aimed at  communicating advances in the design and construction of rammed earth structures to engineers and practitioners.

UWA is recognised as a leading international university and is one of the most picturesque in the country, with its beautiful sandstone buildings amongst heritage-listed gardens. The campus is located along the bank of the Swan River adjacent to Matilda Bay, 3km south of the Perth CBD.

Perth is home to first-class restaurants, galleries, boutiques and tourist attractions, first and foremost over 80km of white sandy beaches commanding an uninhibited view of the cool blue waters of the Indian Ocean.

Conference

Following the workshop, a two-day conference will be held in Margaret River, aimed at disseminating and discussing recent advances in rammed earth research. The Margaret River region is a relaxing and refreshing break from urban life which hosts the largest concentration of rammed earth buildings and structures in WA, as well as some of the State’s best wineries and restaurants.

Call for Papers

Authors are invited to submit abstracts of no more than 300 words by February 10, 2014. Recommendations con- cerning the format of full papers will then be made availa- ble.

Abstracts and full papers should be submitted online via the conference website: www.ecm.uwa.edu.au/icrec2015.

Full proceedings will be available for all workshop and con- ference attendees. Papers must be submitted in a final form no later than August 30, 2014.

Suggested Themes

Papers are invited addressing issues in the following topics:

 - Durability assessment·

 - Material characterisation/soil suitability·

 - Rammed earth in seismic areas·

 - Structural and thermal performance·

 - Traditional and stabilised rammed earth structures/ procedures·

This list is only intended as a guide. We welcome any contributions relevant to rammed earth construction.

Invited Speakers

Keynote lectures will be given by:

 Charles Augarde (Durham University, UK)

 Stephen Dobson (Ramtec, Australia)

 David Easton (Rammed Earth Works, USA)

 Rongrong Hu (Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, China)

http://www.ecm.uwa.edu.au/research/?a=2384270

Arquitectura de Adobe_Argentina

Arquitectura de Adobe_Argentina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JliRB8rVzB0&feature=share

Dissertação Mestrado_Desenvolvimento e caracterização de argamassas de cal aérea e terra_Naila Jamú

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau Mestre em Engenharia Civil – Perfil de Construção
_Naila Sofia Pereira Jamú
Licenciada em Ciências da Engenharia Civil
Desenvolvimento e caracterização de argamassas de cal aérea e terra_A influência da terra como ligante
Orientadora: Maria Paulina Faria Rodrigues, Professora Associada, 
Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias da Universidade Nova de Lisboa

‘Copyright” Naila Sofia Pereira Jamú, FCT/UNL e UNL 

RESUMO

As argamassas são muito importantes na reabilitação devido às suas múltiplas utilizações e têm de apresentar características compatíveis com os suportes. Os factores negativos que têm vindo a ser descobertos relativamente ao uso do cimento estão a incentivar o estudo de materiais mais tradicionais e também mais sustentáveis. A incorporação de terra argilosa nas argamassas de cal aérea insere-se numa vertente ainda sistematicamente pouco conhecida e a necessitar de trabalhos de investigação, que pode potenciar particularmente a sua aplicação na reabilitação e em construções de terra.

No presente estudo foram formuladas cinco argamassas distintas, partindo de um traço volumétrico 1:2, com diferentes percentagens de incorporação de terra argilosa como substituição parcial do ligante (cal aérea). Realizaram-se caracterizações às argamassas no estado fresco e no estado endurecido, após cura em condições de referência em laboratório com aspersão nos primeiros 4 dias de idade, em provetes correntes de argamassa e em aplicações sobre tijolo. A argamassa de referência sem terra e uma das argamassas com terra foram também aplicadas e ensaiadas num murete de taipa previamente caracterizado. Os ensaios decorreram, na generalidade, aos 90 dias de cura, mas as aplicações em suporte de tijolo também foram ensaiadas aos 28 dias de cura.

Observou-se que pequenas quantidades de terra argilosa melhoram a trabalhabilidade e aplicabilidade das argamassas e, para além de vantagens ecológicas e económicas, trazem vantagens em termos de resistências, em relação à argamassa de referência de cal aérea. A condutibilidade térmica é afectada negativamente mas há melhorias na absorção de água (capilar e sob baixa pressão). 

Verificou-se também que quantidades muito elevadas de terra argilosa comprometem o comportamento das argamassas em relação à maioria dos parâmetros estudados.

http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/10256/1/Jamu_2013.pdf

CIAV2013_7ºATP | VerSus_ Workshops de Construção com Terra

No dia 19 de Outubro a Associação Centro da Terra promove 3 workshops de construção com terra, integrados nas actividades do 7º Seminário de Arquitectura de Terra em Portugal e da Conferência Internacional de Arquitectura Vernacular – CIAV, a decorrer de 16 a 20 de Outubro em Vila Nova de Cerveira.

Os workshops decorrem em simultâneo e abordam, recorrendo essencialmente à prática, três técnicas de construção com terra e outros materiais naturais: rebocos de terra | paredes de taipa | construções com fardos de palha. O workshop sobre construção em taipa será ministrado pelos formadores do ArquitecturasdeTerra.

Os workshops terão como língua oficial o português embora, uma vez que são de carácter prático, os formadores irão fornecer explicações de enquadramento teórico dos trabalhos em inglês, caso haja formandos estrangeiros. 

Para mais informações visitem o blog ciav2013workshops.blogspot.pt 
ou contactem pelo mail: info@centrodaterra.org

--
On the 19th of October 2013, Centro da Terra will promote three workshops, integrated in CIAV - International Conference on Vernacular Heritage & Earthen Architecture, at Vila Nova de Cerveira.

Each workshop refers to a different construction technique: earthen plasters, rammed earth and building with strawbales. Workshops will take place simultaneously and are essentially practical. The official language is Portuguese, however a brief framework can be provided in English.

For additional information contact info@centrodaterra.org

Workshop Conoscere la terra cruda_Serrenti_Sardegna_21-29.09.2013

Workshop  Conoscere la terra cruda

Itinerario alla scoperta dell’uso della terra in Sardegna

SERRENTI 21-29.09.2013

L'Associazione Nazionale Città della Terra Cruda in collaborazione con il DICAAR (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale e Architettura di Cagliari), il Laboratorio Arti della Terra di Serrenti, la rete dei comuni del progetto CIVIS (Serrenti, Serramanna, Samassi, San Gavino Monreale, Pabillonis, Gonnosfanadiga e Arbus) promuove dal 21 al 29 settembre 2013 il workshop "Conoscere la terra cruda - Itinerario alla scoperta dell'uso della terra in Sardegna". La proposta è rivolta innanzitutto agli studenti di architettura e ingegneria, ai progettisti e a tutti gli appassionati della terra cruda, secondo un'offerta di ospitalità turistica presso l'itinerario turistico culturale "Le Città della Terra". I partecipanti avranno la possibilità di cimentarsi oltrechè con la terra cruda, con il pane, con la terra cotta, e poter visitare il patrimonio architettonico tradizionale in terra cruda, i beni culturali e paesaggistici, e conoscere il patrimonio eno-gastronomico del Campidano.

Programma

Sabato 21 settembre

SERRENTI | Laboratorio Arti della Terra | presentazione workshop

PABILLONIS | visita alla casa Museo | laboratorio con la terra cotta

Domenica 22 settembre

SERRAMANNA | visita al centro storico alle sue case in terra cruda

SAMASSI | Degustazione prodotti tipici locali | visita alle case in terra cruda

Lunedì 23 settembre | Laboratorio Arti della Terra di Serrenti

Ore 8:30 – 13:30 laboratorio | introduzione: terra materiale da costruzione

Pranzo

Ore 15:30 – 17:30 laboratorio | terra, acqua, grani – la materia trifasica – il test Carazas

Martedì 24 settembre | Laboratorio Arti della Terra di Serrenti

Ore 8:30 – 13:30 laboratorio | tecniche costruttive – l’adobe

Pranzo

Ore 15:30 – 17:30 laboratorio | adobe - produzione

Mercoledì 25 settembre

GONNOSFANADIGA | laboratorio del pane | degustazione prodotti tipici locali

ARBUS | visita la Museo del coltello | visita alla spiaggia di Piscinas

Giovedì 26 settembre | Laboratorio Arti della Terra di Serrenti

Ore 8:30 – 13:30 laboratorio | tecnica del pisè

Pranzo

Ore 15:30 – 17:30 laboratorio | tecnica del pisè

Venerdì 27 settembre | Laboratorio Arti della Terra di Serrenti

Ore 8:30 – 13:30 laboratorio | muratura in adobe

Pranzo

Ore 15:30 – 17:30 laboratorio | graticcio - torchis

Sabato 28 settembre | Laboratorio Arti della Terra di Serrenti

Ore 8:30 – 13:30 laboratorio | costruzione d’archi

Pranzo

Ore 15:30 – 17:30 laboratorio | costruzione di cupole

Domenica 29 settembre

Ore 8:30 – 13:30 laboratorio | intonaci e finiture

Pranzo

SAN GAVINO MONREALE | visita edifici in terra cruda | cena con prodotti tipici locali

Docenti:

arch. Maddalena Achenza, PhD

arch. Wilfredo Carazas Aedo

Costo d’iscrizione € 350,00 studenti - € 450,00 altri

Il costo d’iscrizione comprende: iscrizione al corso, assicurazione infortuni, pernottamento in camera doppia, pranzi e visite guidate.

Le iscrizioni devono pervenire entro il 15 settembre 2013

Partecipanti: minimo 15 fino ad un massimo di 20.

Modalità d’iscrizione con bonifico bancario intestato a:

Associazione Nazionale Città della Terra Cruda

IBAN | IT 72 S 07061 04800 000040128654

Causale: workshop progetto CIVIS

Per informazioni:

Associazione Nazionale Città della Terra Cruda

info@terracruda.org

+39.070.9382084 - +39.328.8384201

Arch. Maddalena Achenza

labterra@unica.it

+39.329.6271365

locandina_workshop_civis.jpg

EBUK 2014 Conference_UK

Earth Building UK 2014 conference.

The conference will be held in the delightful Weston room at Norwich Cathedral on Friday 14th February 2014, and the theme is to be:

Training in Earth Building: From Design to Construction. 

EarthBuildingUK 2014 Conference announcement PDF

Theme

Earth Building in the UK is developing with new build and heritage projects protecting and enhancing our approaches to earth as a building material.  Skills are being developed for the design of earth buildings, the methods of construction and approaches to conservation.

The 2014 EBUK conference “Training in Earth Building: from design to construction” will be held in Norwich on 14th February 2014. The broad conference theme includes education and training in building with earth, training in the structural and thermal design of earth buildings, training in safe and reliable construction methods and in the appropriate use of earth as a building material.

The conference will showcase design, construction, conservation and research in the UK. Papers and presenters will engage with the conference theme and broader context of building with earth in the UK.

Location and Booking

The 2014 EBUK conference is in the Weston Room at Norwich Cathedral on 14th February.

Norwich is in the heart of the East Anglian earth building region, and the conference will be followed by tours to earth buildings in East Anglia, kindly hosted by Eartha.

More information and booking details to follow shortly – for now save the date!

First Call for Submission of Papers

We invite proposals from the earth building community that broadly align with the conference theme, and in particular to share experience of earth building design and construction, with reference to training, and enhancing the experience of building with earth.

We invite submission of short abstracts (c. 300-400 words). Abstracts must include author, title and affiliations. 

Those selected will be asked to produce full-length papers (c. 8 pages, including graphics, tables and references).

Deadline for abstract submission:     16th September

Abstracts for to be submitted to:      conference@ebuk.uk.com

Rammed Earth_San Rafael de Mucuchíes_Venezuela

This image in Venezuelan Vernacular Architecture book is accompanied by the following caption:

"The pisoneros in the mud and manners have disappeared from the Andes. This is a photo taken in the fifties in San Rafael de Mucuchíes (State of Mérida) "

The Mérida State is in the region of Andes Venezuelans. The region is characterized by a climate considerably warmer than the rest of the country, reaching the arctic climate in snowy areas.

The state capital, the city of Merida, was founded in 1558 as part of New Granada at an altitude of 1600 m.

The photograph is a frozen moment in the construction of a rammed earth wall. The technique consists on a wood-mobile formwork scaffold on which are uploaded the  the "zurroneros" and "pisoneros".

Construção em taipa no Alto Atlas, em Marrocos_2006

© citoyendumode

Construção em taipa no Alto Atlas, em Marrocos_2006

A construção em taipa é ainda hoje um saber construtivo comum junto das comunidades locais do Alto Atlas, em Marrocos, transmitido de geração em geração entre famílias de mestres construtores. Os materiais e recursos utilizados são apenas aqueles que estão disponíveis no local, da terra argilosa, às madeiras e rebocos naturais.  

Le pisé bien pensé pour un bâtiment BBC_Dora Courbon

Le pisé bien pensé pour un bâtiment BBC

Le bourg de Marsac-en-Livradois dans le Puy de Dôme (63) s’est doté en 2011 d’un « Espace rural » en bois et en pisé. Un bâtiment qui a valu à son architecte Boris Bouchet et à la commune le « Grand prix » du premier palmarès national des architectures en terre crue (1). Grâce à une mise en oeuvre originale du pisé, l’équipement public répond aux normes BBC.

Dans le parc du Livradois-Forez, le pisé fait partie du patrimoine. Mais de nos jours les réalisations avec ce matériau sont anecdotiques. Pour montrer l'exemple et encourager l'entretien des bâtiments en terre crue existants, la commune de Marsac-en-Livradois a tenu à ce que son nouvel Espace rural de services de proximités, destiné à accueillir un centre de santé et un commerce de proximité, soit en pisé. 

"Si l'on fait un bilan technique et économique, le pisé n'apparait pas comme un matériau performant" admet Boris Bouchet, l'architecte du projet. En effet, à l’instar de la pierre, le pisé est un mauvais isolant thermique. Avec des murs de 50 cm d’épaisseur (une valeur standard), l’Espace rural n’aurait même pas atteint les exigences de la RT 2005, alors que l’objectif de la commune (le maître d’ouvrage) était de produire un bâtiment BBC.

Il n'empêche, le pisé a aussi ses qualités : avec une inertie importante et une capacité à réguler l’hygrométrie, il concourt naturellement au confort thermique. Pour ne pas altérer les vertus du matériau, la solution d’une isolation classique par l’intérieur avec un pare-vapeur a été immédiatement écartée car elle aurait empêché, l’été, la restitution de l’humidité absorbée par les murs durant l'hiver. Quant à une isolation par l’extérieur, elle aurait masqué le pisé dont on cherchait précisément la mise en valeur.

Un double mur isolé avec du liège

Au rez-de-chaussée, pour l’arrière du bâtiment (qui correspond au fond du magasin), presque dépourvu d’ouvertures, l’architecte a imaginé un système de double mur en pisé : un mur intérieur porteur de 40 cm et un mur extérieur de 25 cm séparés par 18 cm de liège. Ce dernier a été choisi pour son caractère imputrescible et pour son coefficient de transmission hygrométrique, proche de celui du pisé. Rigide, il a également servi de coffrage perdu lors de la mise en œuvre des murs.

La façade opposée, par laquelle on accède à l’épicerie, est essentiellement vitrée. Des pans de la façade ont néanmoins été réalisés en pisé. Ces murs, simples, ont été isolés par l’intérieur avec 20 cm de laine de roche. "Parce qu'ils sont placés au niveau des locaux techniques et donc pas destinés à être vus, nous n'avions aucun interêt à doubler ces murs de pisé détaille Boris Bouchet. La solution d'une ITE était bien plus économique."

L’ensemble de l’étage (ainsi que la façade nord du rez-de-chaussée) est construit en murs ossature bois habillés d’un bardage en mélèze. Sur cet étage, un mur intérieur en pisé a été réalisé le long de la façade nord, où se situe la salle d'attente pour les patients. L'hiver, ce mur reçoit les rayons du soleil qui passent au travers d'une grande fenêtre de toiture et restitue la chaleur qu'il a emmagasiné.

Dora Courbon |29/07/2013 |

© photos: christophe camus

Fiche technique

Maître d’ouvrage : commune de Marsac-en-Livradois

Architecte : Agence Boris Bouchet Architectes

Equipes : Bet fluides : A.E.S / Economiste : CS2N / Bet Structure : Ettel

Surface : 405 m2 shon

Montant : 800 000 euros HT

‘Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa’_James Morris

For centuries, complex and intricate adobe structures, have been built in the Sahal region of western Africa, including the countries of Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. Made of earth mixed with water, these ephemeral buildings display a remarkable diversity of form, human ingenuity, and originality.

In a fascinating book, published in 2003, titled ‘Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa’, and co-authored by British photographer James Morris and Harvard professor Suzanne Preston Blier, a stunning visual array of these structures is displayed.

In his Preface to the book, Morris writes:

“Too often, when people in the West think of African architecture, they perceive nothing more than a mud hut —a primitive vernacular remembered from an old Tarzan movie. Why this ignorance to the richness of West African buildings? Possibly it is because the great dynastic civilizations of the region were already in decline when the European colonizers first exposed these cultures to the West. Being built of mud, many older buildings had already been lost, unlike the stone or brick buildings of other ancient cultures. Or possibly this lack of awareness is because the buildings are just too strange, too foreign to have been easily appreciated by outsiders. Often they more closely resemble huge monolithic sculptures or ceramic pots than “architecture” as we think of it. But in fact these buildings are neither “historic monuments” in the classic sense, nor as culturally remote as they may initially appear. They share many qualities—such as sustainability, sculptural beauty, and community participation in their conception—now valued in Western architectural thinking. Though part of long traditions and ancient cultures, they are at the same time contemporary structures serving a current purpose.

The mud from which these buildings are made is itself a controversial substance that tests our conventional views of architecture. It is one of the most commonly used building materials in the world, and yet in our urban-dominated society it is seen, effectively, as dirt. Buildings subtly alter in appearance each time they are re-rendered, which can be as often as once a year. Yet the maintaining and resurfacing of buildings is part of the rhythm of life; there is an ongoing and active participation in their continuing existence. If they lost their relevance and were neglected, they would collapse. This is not a museum culture…”

In this review of the book from The Guardian Newspaper, journalist Jonathan Glancey writes:

“What these magnificent mosques prove is that mud buildings can be far more sophisticated than many people living in a world of concrete and steel might want to believe. Mud is not just a material for shaping pots, but for temples, palaces and even, as so many west African towns demonstrate, the framing of entire communities. The very fluidity, or viscosity, of the material allows the architects who use it to create dynamic and sensual forms.

Morris’s photographic trips through the region in 1999 and 2000 record a world of architecture that, sadly, is increasingly under threat. Perhaps it is mostly poverty rather than culture and memory that keeps this rich and inventive tradition of building alive…”

This book is a treasure trove of imagery and information to any architecture enthusiast.  Critical elements like space, light, and texture are explored in intimate detail, revealing a strong argument for this kind of architecture to be studied, documented, and profiled more wildly.   As Morris sums up his preface: “I am still curious why West Africa’s adobe buildings receive so little serious consideration. If architecture is a cultural expression, perhaps it is the culture from which these buildings have evolved, so alien to the European mind, that keeps it in the academic wilderness, hard for the commentators to place.

Photographs and Preface published courtesy of James Morris.

http://jamesmorris.info/portfolio/butabu/

Rammed Earth Contractors' Workshop 2013_BC_AS_Belgium

Rammed Earth Contractors' Workshop 2013

From 23rd of september to 4th of october, Bc studies is organizing a Rammed Earth workshop for contractors in East-Flanders, Belgium, with techniques learned at Martin Rauch and Craterre.

In this workshop, 4 walls will be built, of which some load-bearing. Earth from the site will be tested and reformulated through the addition of sand and gravel, and rammed into a concrete formwork. The walls are conform the German Lehmbau-norms, and the soon to be French Atex-norms.

Rammed Earth walls are beneficial for the indoor climate of buildings, due to their thermal inertia while still being damp open and water resistant.

The workshop aims at delivering knowledge transfer and capacity-building in Belgium or Europe in contemporary Rammed Earth techniques, with earth from the site, and is specifically directed towards contractors, providing information on machinery, supply chain, soil testing, mixing technique, ramming technique, finishing, rainwater-management, ...

For more information (and the brochure), please contact 

workshop2013@bc-as.org

Interested contractors should be officially registered in Europe, and communicate their interest before 20th of august.

Grand Mosque of Mopti_Mali

The Grand Mosque of Mopti (or Komoguel Mosque), in Mali, was built under French supervision from 1936 - 1943 on the site of a former mosque from 1908.

Inspired by the style of the Great Mosque of Djenne, this fine example of Sudano-Sahelian Architecture is unique in its strong vertical and symmetrical elements. 

This impressive structure has been added to the Unesco World Heritage List and is designated a National Monument by the Malian Government.

© Photo: El-Len

Tschudi Palace_Ciudadela Chan-Chan

Earthen detail at Tschudi Palace, one of the nine earthen palaces of the Ciudadela Chan-Chan Chimu empire, constructed in the fifteenth century. 

© Photo: Claudia Cancino, GCI

Earthen Construction Symposium: Durham 2013

Earthen Construction Symposium: Durham 2013

On July 2nd Durham University hosted a day long event for researchers, architects and engineers to present current academic research and discuss the direction of earthen construction research within the UK and across Europe. The symposium opened with a keynote address by the Chair of Earth Building UK, Dr Paul Jaquin, contained two workshops discussing the future of research into earthen construction research and had six presentations covering a wide range of topics. The symposium organisers would like to thank all who presented and attended for their invaluable contributions to the day and look forward to hearing more about their earthen construction research in the future.

To download a full symposium report click here.

To download the presentation slides please click on the relevant presentation below.

Keynote Lecture: Earthen Construction - Thoughts on the past, present and future: Paul Jaquin (Integral Engineering Design & Chair of EBUK)

The potential of Dynamic Vapour Sorption systems to investigate the moisture buffering of unfired clay masonry: Fionn McGregor (University of Bath)

A future vision of low-cost sustainable housing in Sudan: Biomimicry of Termite Mounds: Amal Balila (University of Reading)

Determining the Fracture Energy of Rammed Earth: Andrew Corbin (Durham University)

Experimental assessment and FE modelling of Rammed Earth built in natural soil: Hossein Nowamooz (INSA de Strasbourg)

The impact of contamination on soils used in earthen construction: Marta Zurakowska (University of the West of Scotland)

The use of XRCT in Earthen Construction Research: Jonathan Smith (Durham University)

It is hoped that the Earthen Construction Symposium will return to Durham in 2014 and will then become an annual event that can be hosted by different institutions across Europe.

Jiaohe Citadel_China

The rammed earth ruins of Jiaohe ancient citadel, in China, protecting the Jiaohe area at the time of the Tang Dynasty (seventh to tenth century).

This military structure was gradually abandoned after the Yuan Dynasty, in the fourteenth century silently remaining as a memory.