There is a construction materials company based in Austria that looks to the forgotten practices of the past for inspiration and Sami Akkach, who works as an architect there, tells us what they have been doing lately. PURE Walls are Prefabricated Stabilized Rammed Earth elements, giant blocks that can be used to build structural, load-bearing … Read more
It took 2 years and 3.5 million pounds of dirt just to create the two-foot-thick rammed-earth walls of this 6,000-square-foot home designed by Lake Flato Architects for Ashlyn and Dan Perry outside of Marfa, Texas. “Part of the reason that rammed earth was the chosen construction method was due to the thermodynamic properties. Because of … Read more
David Easton passed away in February this year at 72. Since the ’70s, he advocated for and experimented with earth as a building material. In a 2018 interview he described how he learned about Rammed Earth and why he chose to try it. “I found a book on the rack of a natural food store … Read more
Building with adobe — a material created by mixing clay-rich soil with straw, sand, and other organic materials — has been in use since 8300 BC. It is popular in arid and semiarid places where wood is scarce. The word “Adobe” derives from the Arabic “al ṭūb” meaning “the bricks.” Adobe buildings are low energy, … Read more
Narayan Acharya builds eco-friendly buildings in Nepal through his startup named Sustainable Future. His company has already constructed over 50 buildings. “We use rammed earth technology to construct the buildings. These techniques were used by our ancestors to build their houses,” Acharya says, “We just improvised the techniques used by them for the better output … Read more
This article and documentary film are about building an underground complex that is far from being a natural building project. But I am posting this because I think that there are worthwhile things that can be learned. Sheltered: Underground and Off the Grid is a full-length documentary that chronicles the building of the largest underground … Read more