This is a 1/2″ = 1′-0″ scale section model recreating Déchelette Architecture’s Quatre Cheminées project at 17 Rue des 4 Cheminées, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris, France. The modelers – Josh Kuh, Ezra Levitch, and Sean Strebel – were particularly interested in the hybrid construction of the building, which utilized concrete, stone, rammed earth blocks, and CLT. As noted by the architects, the use of concrete was minimized while the other three materials were sourced locally. Our interest in building this model comes, at least in part, by an interest in incorporating earthen building materials and techniques in a design and construction industry that does not yet fully embrace their use. Additionally, utilizing the strengths and aesthetics of earth in conjunction with those of other building materials highlights the benefits of each and results in a higher quality building overall.
Our model utilized actual rammed earth blocks at a miniature scale. The process began by recreating Quatre Cheminées as a 3D digital model in Rhino, from which dimensions were taken for modeling. Soil was sourced locally on the UC Berkeley campus, sifted, mixed with a small amount of water, and rammed by hand using a purpose built, adjustable wood mold. Blocks were then left to dry. The concrete and stone base was 3D printed in several parts, while wood, acrylic, foam core, and Bristol round out the remaining materials.
We assembled the parts using wood and Zap-A-Gap glues. The rammed earth blocks were then plastered over by hand with additional mud from the original earth mix. Gray and pink portions of the model were painted to show different materiality (insulation, concrete, stone, steel).
A project by Marcos Vargas, Lourdes Aguayo Francia, Vicente Angel Saavedra
Peter Zumthor’s Bruder Klaus Field Chapel
The Bruder Klaus Chapel by Peter Zumthor, known for its use of concrete and its spiritual significance, inspired this project, which reimagines the chapel using rammed earth in hopes of offering a new perspective on the chapel’s form and spiritual significance. Through this material change, we emphasized the tactile and temporal qualities of the earth while maintaining the original architectural intent. Earth’s natural properties and historical significance in architecture highlight both the processes and challenges of working with rammed earth, from material sourcing to final assembly.
Recreation Section Front Elevation Model Photo
To embody the spiritual and material significance of the original chapel, our team chose to recreate the oculus section. Selecting this feature was crucial for exploring how architectural practices and traditions can express a spiritual narrative.
Recreation Section Side Elevation Model Photo
The dirt used in the project was collected from the back of Wurster Hall. Unfortunately, due to rain, the dirt was wet and could not be sifted through conventional means. As a result, the material was sifted by hand to remove larger particles and debris. Once prepared, the dirt was compacted into a mold designed to shape the wall’s mass.
The oculus element was formed using wooden dowels arranged around a clay cone. The dowels were secured inside a 3D-printed mold, which acted as a guide for stacking and compacting the rammed earth in layers. As the construction progressed, the 3D-printed mold was incrementally removed, and the clay cone was dug out to create the final oculus shape.
Initially, it was intended to burn the dowels to leave a charred imprint on the rammed earth, but the wet soil caused the dowels to detach. To address this, the dowels were coated in chalk prior, which created a residue resembling ash and transferred a faint wood grain texture on some areas of the rammed earth.
A project by Yu-Shao Wu, Siyu Liang, and Rachel Sherr
An experiment in digital rammed earth.
Rammed earth is an ancient technology for building with earth. Though some modern rammed earth structures rely on additions like cement to increase compressive strength, rammed earth can, with the correct soil content, form load-bearing walls.
Timber formwork for rammed earth. Photograph from Rammed Earth Consulting.
Traditionally, rammed earth is created using timber formwork. Perhaps the most common is a mobile formwork module that is moved along a wall, compacting a few feet of earth at a time. Each layer is compacted successively, sometimes with overlaps, which can increase the strength of the structure.
3D printed earthen wall with embedded staircase, designed at IAAC and realized by WASP.TOVA, a 3D printed earthen dwelling designed by IAAC and realized by WASP.
As earthen architecture moves into the digital realm, with 3D printing rigs capable of producing entire houses made of digital earth, rammed earth must follow. Rammed earth can be digital in two ways: 1. the earth is rammed via a digital process, and 2. the formwork for the rammed earth is created via a digital process.
Anna Heringer’s METI Handmade School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh.
Per current research on the subject, the first way of creating digital rammed earth is rare. It would require a high degree of sophistication in robotics and computer programming to create the automated processes required. The latter method is more common, and more achievable. This is also the method we settled on to experiment with digital rammed earth.
Speculative rendering of rammed earth by Scarlett Lee.
Inspired by a few precedents of various earthen architecture technologies, both digital earthen architecture and rammed earth, we created a new design. We incorporated elements from Anna Heringer’s METI school in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, and two projects by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), both realized using Crane WASP, a large scale 3D printer specifically designed to print earth. These two projects are TOVA, a small 3D printed dwelling, and a thesis project that embeds a staircase within a 3D printed earthen wall. Additionally, our digital formwork was inspired by the speculative renderings of earth artist/architect Scarlett Lee.
Splayed open 3D printed formwork for digital rammed earth.3D printed formwork for digital earth.
Our model explores the tectonic relationship between timber and rammed earth, particularly the horizontal members that penetrate the rammed earth wall as part of the formwork. We elected to leave these members embedded within the wall, and they serve as supports for the roof and staircase. In this way, we have maximized the structural role of the rammed earth wall, while also exploring innovative ways of incorporating digital strategies into this ancient technology.
Gomaa, Mohamed et al. “Automation in Rammed Earth Construction for Industry 4.0: Precedent Work, Current Progress and Future Prospect.” Journal of cleaner production 398 (2023): 136569-. Web.
The observatory in the desert was a project brought on by the Contemporary Architects Association that sought to revive tradition of clay and mud construction in the Esfahan Village in Iran with a beautiful communal piece. This work is described thoroughly in the following post. What is there not to love about this project? In this work of art, meticulously arranged mud bricks and rammed earth wallsmake a seamless experience.
Our group, Eryn King, Lucy Knopf and Camilla Faustinelli were blown away by this project when it was presented by one of the students in the class Earthen Material Practices in Contemporary Art and Architecture . We just had to recreate it.
The final pushed groups to build a model at 1/2” = 1’scale, focusing on a specific building technique with earth we had studied.
Our group decided to focus on the mud brick.
For such an endeavor, we decided to change the design a bit. Because we weren’t going to focus on rammed earth walls, we made all of the construction using mud bricks even if the interior circle is supposed to be a rammed earth wall in the actual project.
Construction process:
Collecting the mud : Mud for the bricks was collected in the San Pablo coastline area, as well as a backyard in Elmwood, Berkeley.
Making the bricks: Mud was pressed into silicone molds, then left to dry in the sun for several days.
Building: With a concrete base, we stacked the bricks in a 45 degree angle on the outside, and not angled on the inside to act as the rammed earth wall on the actual project. This is where texture and consistency of our collected dry mud came to play, making some pieces more fragile than others.
Building this observatory was a meticulous project, but it’s incredible how making something makes you understand why it’s so special. What a beautiful project. Our group hopes to one day see the project in person.
Senj (سنج) is a traditional Afghan wood framing technique. It is a lightweight, flexible, and modular system designed to be placed on upper levels of structures within earthquake prone regions of Afghanistan.
Amin House Restoration, Kabul, Afghanistan 2004-2005. https://www.archnet.org/sites/5585Filling of timber parapet frame with mud-bricks. Amin House Restoration, Kabul, Afghanistan 2004-2005. https://www.archnet.org/sites/5585
The frame is constructed with poplar poles on a flat surface and is joined together to create square or rectangular walls. The horizontal poles are around 15-20cm in diameter, and the vertical/diagonal poles around 10-15cm. They are joined by mortise and tenon about 1m apart, where they are then filled with sun-dried bricks, placed at a diagonal relationship between the vertical and diagonal poles.
Drawings from the book Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture p.154
The infilled brick frames are then plastered with a mud and straw mixture on both the interior and the exterior facades. It seems that over time, however, the diagonal poles have been integrated into the complete frame, plastered over and completely hidden. Notice this drawing:
Drawing showing the exposed poplar diagonal pole, from the book Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture p.153Drawing showing the exposed poplar diagonal pole, from the book Traditional architecture of Afghanistan p.187
The diagonal bracing pole is left exposed outside of the plaster, as seen in these photos:
Vernacular Housing of Kabul, 2006, https://www.archnet.org/sites/5610.Vernacular Housing of Kabul, 2006, https://www.archnet.org/sites/5610
Here on the left side wall, all poles have been plastered over and no remnants of the structure are exposed. Could the strength have increased by having the diagonals be integrated into the frame, rather than existing on the exterior of it?
Amin House Restoration, Kabul, Afghanistan 2004-2005. https://www.archnet.org/sites/5585
In Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture, the authors state that diagonal poles are *nailed* at the exterior corners to stabilize the frame, not integrated within the frame itself. It is beautiful to witness the underlying structure with the poplar poles exposed as such in the older buildings, and saddening to see that design decision disappear over time. Even more so it is a shame the patterning that the bricks create are also plastered over and disappear. We wonder how senj technology can be re-contextualized contemporarily to become a textural, aesthetic, modular device while also supplying firm, structural integrity to a design.
Thank you so much to Professor Ronald Rael for opening the doors of knowledge, wisdom, research and discovery of ancestral design within the context of Architecture at UC Berkeley.
As architecture students, we (Sascha Fawaz and Pedram Modaresi) built a dome structure/prototype merging pottery vessels with clay construction. Inspired by the Reviving Al Nazlah Center (Oriental Group Architects and Hamdy El-Setouhy) in Egypt, our installation transforms clay pots into architectural elements.
Our project focused on using pots as modular units for construction, integrating them into both the facade and roof. Domes and curved surfaces formed the core of our design, emphasizing spans and spaces that feel timeless yet innovative.
We were fascinated by the dialogue between ancient techniques and modern design sensibilities in the precedent project, reflecting a deep respect for craftsmanship while pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with humble materials like clay and pottery. It not only bridges the gap between past and present but also exemplifies the potential for sustainability, cultural revival, and community empowerment through architecture.
We layered clay and pottery in sequential phases. Our initial dome structure received embedded pots, adhesive coating with strong glue, and curing time.
We added a second clay layer to strengthen the form, followed by targeted drilling to reveal the pots from the interior of the dome . We filled joints with a second layer of clay for more stability and sanded the surface for a refined finish.
The completed dome sits on a brick foundation, raising it above ground level. Our project demonstrates the potential of traditional materials in contemporary architecture, combining ancient pottery techniques with modern structural approaches.
The Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Center is an earthen amphitheater serving the South Sudanese refugee community in Northern Uganda. This art center was designed in collaboration with Hassel Studios, To: Studios, architecture practice LocalWorks, and engineering firm Arup. This space was created as a community gathering space, a performance venue , and a music school; with classrooms, music training spaces, and a recording studio.
The design of the amphitheater utilizes local and easily accessible materials for it’s walls which are made from hand pressed earth bricks. The earthen walls are protected from weathering by its roof structure. The positioning of the bricks allows daylight and ventilation to permeate all spaces. These specific brick patterns have a relationship with music. The brick absorbs and diffuses sound in the performing space, classroom, and recording studio, further optimizing the spaces acoustically.
The center roof design is shaped like a funnel, which collects to rainwater This rainwater then provides water to the community and supports essential facilities such as the tree nursery and vegetable garden located outside the center.
Bidi Bidi allows for a a place for dance, music and performance; a unionization between refugees and local communities in Northern Uganda. Allowing for a cultural connection from refugees’ birth countries, the art center creates a space for love and peace.
Location: Bidi Bidi, Uganda
Completed Year: 2024
Collaborators: LocalWorks, Arup, The Landscape Studio, To.org
Design team: Xavier De Kestelier, Joanna Lesna, Sarah Huc, Nikolaos Argyros, Jonathan Irawan
Architects: Mauricio Rocha, Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha
Area: 91,493 ft²
Year Built:2001
City/State: Iztapalapa, Mexico City
Country: Mexico
Located in Iztapalapa, Mexico City, the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired is designed to address the unique sensory and social needs of its users.
The center was established as part of the government’s initiative to address the pressing need for services in one of the city’s most densely populated and underserved districts. Iztapalapa not only has one of the highest populations in Mexico City but also the largest concentration of visually impaired residents making this essentially very critical.
Photograph by Luis Gordoa
Constructed from volcanic rock, the boundary wall encloses the complex on all sides, acting as both an acoustic barrier and a retaining wall for earth relocated from nearby areas. While its exterior is minimal and unadorned, the interior facade transforms into varied banks that shift in shape, height, and orientation, forming a series of intimate courtyards. These enclosed outdoor spaces enhance sensory experiences, offering quiet, reflective areas for users within the bustling district.
Drawing Courtesy of Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio RochaDrawing Courtesy of Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha
Materiality is vital in this project as it enhances spatial perception, activating the senses as sources of experience and information. Organized into rectangular prisms with concrete frames and flat roofs, each section varies in size, light intensity, and material weight to make spaces easily identifiable. Rammed earth was also chosen for its contrasting textures to the volcanic rock to provide tactile cues that aid navigation.
Photograph by Luis GordoaDrawing Courtesy of Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha
The floor plan functions as a series of “filters” extending from the entrance, beginning with administrative offices, a cafeteria, and utility spaces. This layout, combined with sensory materials, allows users to navigate intuitively.. Overall, this thoughtful space prioritizes accessibility and engagement, creating an environment that fosters independence, and comfort.
References:
Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired / Taller de Arquitectura-Mauricio Rocha.” ArchDaily, 11 Aug. 2011, www.archdaily.com/158301/center-for-the-blind-and-visually-impaired-taller-de-arquitectura-mauricio-rocha?ad_medium=gallery.
Based in Monterrey, Mexico, Diseño Norteño is an architecture firm celebrated for merging modern innovation with the cultural heritage of northern Mexico. Their projects are designed to respect the natural environment, utilizing local materials and reinterpreting traditional techniques with a contemporary twist. With a multidisciplinary team, they have become known for creating spaces that reflect regional identity while delivering functional and forward-thinking design solutions.
Photo by Diseño Norteño
The “OJA” project, located in the serene landscapes of Coahuila, Mexico, showcases Diseño Norteño’s dedication to sustainability and elegant design. “OJA” serves as a harmonious retreat, blending seamlessly with its natural surroundings. The project draws inspiration from traditional northern Mexican architecture, adapted to a modern context, to create a sanctuary that respects and enhances its environment.
Photo by Diseño Norteño
Key materials used in the “OJA” project include compressed earth, which is a contemporary twist on traditional earthen construction. This material not only provides excellent thermal insulation, keeping the indoor environment comfortable year-round, but also minimizes environmental impact by utilizing locally sourced resources. Recycled wood plays a significant role as well, adding warmth and a rustic charm to the interiors, creating inviting spaces that feel both cozy and grounded. Additionally, local stone is incorporated for its durability and aesthetic qualities, establishing a strong connection between the building and its natural surroundings. This thoughtful selection of materials enhances the visual appeal of the structure while reinforcing the project’s commitment to eco-friendliness and sustainability. By choosing materials that are both beautiful and environmentally responsible, “OJA” embodies a harmonious relationship between design and nature.
Photo by Diseño Norteño
“OJA” employs several passive design techniques to improve sustainability. The building is oriented to maximize natural light and promote cross ventilation, reducing reliance on artificial heating and cooling. Large windows and strategic shading devices protect the interiors from excessive heat, while modern systems like rainwater harvesting and solar panels further enhance self-sufficiency. Together, these elements create a beautiful, functional space that reflects a harmonious blend of traditional practices and contemporary innovations, reinforcing the project’s commitment to ecological and cultural sustainability.
References
(n.d.). Diseño Norteño – Tijuana. Retrieved November 5, 2024, from https://d-n.mx/
From Personal Experience to Architectural Innovation
Francis Kéré’s journey to build the Gando School Library began with his own childhood experiences. As a young student in rural Burkina Faso, Kéré had to travel 40 kilometers to reach the nearest school, where he studied in poorly lit, badly ventilated classrooms. These difficult learning conditions left a lasting impression that would shape his future work.
While studying architecture in Germany, Kéré made a crucial decision: he would use his education to build a better school for his village. In 1998, he established “Bricks for Gando,” a foundation to support this vision. By 1999, despite significant economic and logistical challenges, he began designing the primary school with support from his community and foundation funds.
Smart Design for Harsh Conditions
Kéré designed the school in 1999 with four key factors in mind: cost, climate, available materials, and building methods. He knew the building needed to stay cool in extreme heat, use local materials, and be built by village residents.
The Building Layout
The school features three classrooms arranged in a straight line. Between them, covered outdoor areas serve as play spaces and extra teaching rooms. This simple layout helps air move through the building while providing shade for outdoor activities.
Natural Cooling System
Instead of using expensive air conditioning, Kéré created an innovative ventilation system. He raised the metal roof above the clay brick ceiling using steel bars and light trusses. This design lets cool air enter through windows while hot air rises through holes in the ceiling and escapes through the gap under the raised roof. The roof extends far beyond the walls, protecting them from rain and creating extra shade.
The walls use compressed earth blocks made from local clay, strengthened to last longer than traditional mud bricks. Concrete beams support the ceiling, which uses more compressed earth blocks with special holes for ventilation. The metal roof protects everything below while helping move hot air out of the building.
Every person who worked on the school came from Gando. During construction, villagers learned new building skills while sharing their knowledge of traditional methods. These skills spread through the community, leading to more building projects in Gando and nearby villages.
Award-Winning Impact
In 2001, the completed school won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The judges praised its “elegant and simple design using basic construction techniques.” More importantly, it proved that buildings could be:
Made entirely from local materials
Built by local people
Comfortable without expensive cooling systems
Strong enough to last many years
Perfect for their climate and community
Beyond the Classroom
The primary school did more than provide a place to learn. It showed a new way to build in hot climates using simple materials and smart design. The success led Kéré to design more buildings in Gando, including teacher housing and later, the library.
The Gando Primary School challenged common ideas about building in Africa. It proved that:
Traditional materials could work better than modern ones
Local builders could create advanced buildings
Natural cooling could replace air conditioning
Simple design could solve complex problems
Architecture could grow from community needs
Growing to Meet Community Needs
The success of the Gando Primary School led to its first expansion just two years after opening. In 2003, faced with rising student numbers, Kéré designed an extension that built on the original’s proven solutions while introducing subtle innovations.
He kept the core elements that worked well – local clay blocks for walls, the signature raised roof for ventilation, and the protective deep overhangs.
However, he refined the cooling system by replacing the flat perforated ceiling with a curved vault design. This new ceiling featured carefully spaced gaps in its brick pattern, creating a more effective “breathing” surface that drew cool air in through the windows while letting hot air escape through the vault. The extension, built again by community members who had gained experience from the first project, showed how Kéré’s sustainable design principles could evolve while staying true to their original purpose.
Reference images from the Al Nazlah Center by Hamdy El-Setouhy
Proposal dome model. Scale: 1/4″=1′ 
Interior of the vaulted ceiling classroom
