El X Congreso Internacional de Arquitectura de Tierra

El X Congreso Internacional de Arquitectura de Tierra tendrá lugar los días 27, 28 y 29 de septiembre, en Cuenca de Campos, provincia de Valladolid. El día 27 el congreso comenzará en Valladolid, en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura. El 28 y el 29 nos desplazaremos desde Valladolid a Cuenca de Campos. Se disfrutará de una visita al laboratorio y un taller de tierra a cargo de José María Sastre. El grupo TIERRA os anima a participar en el congreso, como asistentes y sobretodo presentando ponencias, con el objeto de poner en común nuestros conocimientos.

www5.uva.es/grupotierra/2013xcongreso.html

Stone Spray Project

Stone Spray Project from Stone Spray on Vimeo.

The Stone Spray Project is a revolutionary robotic construction method which uses soil as the base material and a liquid binder to solidify the soil granules. And uses a jet spray system to deposit the mix of soil and binder, for constructing architectural shapes.

Stone Spray is a project by architects Petr Novikov, Inder Shergill and Anna Kulik. The project is done in the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and supervised by Marta Male-Alemany, Jordi Portell and Miquel Lloveras. With professional advisors: Santigo Martin from Vortica and Guillem Camprodon from Fab Lab Bcn.

RESTAPIA 2012: International Conference on Rammed Earth

RESTAPIA 2012 is an international congress on rammed earth, its conservation and, in general terms, on earthen constructive techniques and its conservation. It will take place on June 21st,22nd, 23rd 2012 at Valencia. This meeting aims to incentive sharing the restoration experiences of both monumental and non monumental architectural heritage made in the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the world in order to learn from all these interventions and derive conclusions and perspectives for the future. Thus, it aims to represent an important milestone at international level in the reflection about the conservation and restoration of rammed earth architecture and earthen architecture in general.

The program of RESTAPIA 2012 includes keynote lectures given by international experts on the topic and the presentation of papers and posters during June 21st and 22nd 2012, and an added day of technical visits on June 23rd 2012.

La Ermita de Viguera


Photo: Sebastian Schutyser

The ermita of Viguera in La Rioja, Spain, captured here with a pin-hole camera by photographer Sebastian Schutyser, was constructed in the 13th century and contains important mural paintings within. An overhanging rock cliff protects the ancient adobe structure from the elements, which is only accessible by steep 15 minute climb from the nearest road. Schutyser writes of the ermita:

The Spanish word ermita [English: hermitage], has a similar structure and meaning in all languages derived from Latin. It always refers to an uninhabited or isolated place, a location for spiritual retreat. In Romance languages it comes from the Latin word eremus, tracing back to the Greek eremos, which means deserted. In Spain, their use has shifted throughout the centuries, but they have always been isolated sanctuaries or chapels. Hermits inhabited them in seclusion, or in other times, in small groups. Other hermitages were built by pilgrims, who tried to invoke divine protection on their journeys. Finally, some hermitages were erected for pastoral cults, or to house religious brotherhoods. At present many still have the cult of a saint celebrated in them once a year.

The photo is part of a larger photographic collection of ermitas by Schutyser, 575 Romanesque and Pre-Romanesque ermitas total, who is hoping to assemble a book from these photographs.

Read more at: [ BLDGBLOG | UTATA ]

Piscina Municipal de Toro


Photo: Héctor Santos-Díez

Vier Arquitectos, comprised of Antonio Raya, Christopher Crespo, Santiago Sánchez and Enrique Antelo, are the designers a municipal swimming pool in Toro (Zamora), Spain. A unique quality of the facility is that its exterior walls have been constructed of rammed earth, a traditional technique updated on a contemporary building typology.


Photo: Héctor Santos-Díez

The building, comprising three volumes, two for dressing and one more for the pool’s, supporting thermal collectors used to heat the pool water and showers, and extra water from the cleaning process, which is stored in a reservoir and reused in irrigating the landscape.


Photo: Héctor Santos-Díez

Low-energy materials were used throughout and the design for the pool received the first prize for ex eaquo de Edificación Sostenible in Castilla y Leon in its first edition.


Photo: Héctor Santos-Díez

El Faro: The Citizens’ Initiative Pavilion


Photo credit

The architectural project of the Citizens’ Initiative Pavilion building is the work of the architect Ricardo Higueras for the Zaragoza Expo 2008.

The pavilion building will be based on energy efficiency, recycling and sustainability. Both the building’s shape and its use are based on the traditional ceramic pitcher. The materials used are natural and come straight from the earth: straw, wood, and clay. Prefabricated clay-plastered panels were attached to a super-structure to enclose the pavillion. More photos in the photo gallery. [ Previously ]

The Citizens’ Initiative Pavilion

The Citizens’ Initiative Pavilion, known as El Faro, is the work of architect Ricardo Higueras. Designed to be constructed for the Expo Zaragoza 2008 the pavilion is to represent society’s vigour and ability to innovate in the face of the challenges posed by water.

The section gives information on the Pavilion’s onsite location, its spaces and building features. Inspired by traditional ceramics, the pavillion will be constructed with natural materials like bamboo and mud mixed with straw.