Ma Terre Première Pour Construire Demain

Ma Terre Première Pour Construire Demain is an exhibition on earth raw as a building material as it pertains to environmental, economic and aesthetic of today and tomorrow. The first exhibition of this magnitude on the subject, Ma Terre Première Pour Construire Demain reveals the full potential of this granular material found in geology, physics, architecture and art. The exhibition was produced in collaboration with the research laboratory of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble, CRATerre. Ma Terre Première Pour Construire Demain is co-produced with four regional agencies as the host in turn until 2013: The Flying Strasbourg, the Science Forum Villeneuve d’Ascq, the Pont du Gard and Confluence Museum in Lyon.

Bâtir en Terre

The French language book, Bâtir en Terre, by Romain Anger and Laetitia Fontaine was published as part of the exhibition Ma Terre Première Pour Construire Demain (Earth Today for Construction Tomorrow). The book presents the unique heritage of earth construction, from the mythical Shibam in Yemen The “Manhattan of the desert to the strange group of Hakka houses in China. The book includes projects from Europe and documents the achievements of contemporary architects, fascinated by the qualities of the material. The book offers simple and fun experiments to understand physio-chemical properties of earth from which could arise ways to develop alternatives to industrial materials like cement. [ Preview the book here ]