Robert Holton: Earth Construction (Compressed Earth Blocks)

Robert Holton’s research on compressed earth blocks investigates how locally sourced earthen materials can support more sustainable, affordable, and equitable forms of housing in the US Gulf South. Across a series of architecture studios and technology-based courses at Louisiana State University, Holton frames earth construction as a response to several interconnected regional challenges: the shortage of affordable housing, the rising cost and carbon impact of industrialized building materials, the lack of skilled construction labor, and the increasing severity of climate-related storms in hot, humid coastal environments. Rather than treating earth as a material limited to historic or vernacular construction, the projects reposition compressed earth blocks as a contemporary architectural system capable of addressing material performance, environmental responsibility, and social accessibility.

The work began with an investigation into the properties of Southern Louisiana soil. Students tested local earth compositions, including sandy loam, loamy sand, and silty clay, to determine whether they fell within acceptable ranges for construction. Because some soil samples were near the margins of ideal building composition, students explored stabilizers and additives to improve strength, durability, and workability. These included cement, sand, hay, bagasse, coir, coconut fiber, and other natural materials. Bagasse, a by-product of the regional sugarcane industry, became especially significant as a sustainable additive that could strengthen blocks while reusing agricultural waste. Through crushing, sifting, mixing, compressing, curing, and testing, the research established a hands-on material process grounded in regional resources and climate conditions.

A central focus of the projects was the design and fabrication of interlocking compressed earth blocks. Students developed custom block geometries using molds, wood inserts, and manual compression methods such as the CINVA-Ram press. These blocks were designed not only as structural units, but also as spatial and environmental devices. Variations included L-shaped, T-shaped, U-shaped, diamond, H-shaped, Duck, Bow Tie, and Zig Zag blocks. Each geometry tested different possibilities for stacking, interlocking, bonding, porosity, light filtration, airflow, surface texture, and assembly logic.

The L-shaped wall, inspired by the windcatchers of Yazd, Iran used mirrored courses and angled voids to appear solid from the front while allowing light, air, and views to pass through from oblique angles. The H-shape block used vertical holes and all-thread rods to create a mechanically fastened wall without mortar, allowing light and air to filter through the assembly. The Duck block used horizontal voids and PVC fastening to create a more solid wall surface with improved dimensional accuracy. The Bow Tie block produced a deeper, textured surface through larger three-dimensional units, while the Zig Zag block relied on interlocking tabs and grooves, creating an undulating wall with strong visual depth but greater fabrication difficulty. Other assemblies explored solid surfaces, deep relief, undulating walls, and mechanically fastened systems.

The research also addressed the question of who can build with compressed earth blocks. Traditional masonry often depends on skilled labor and mortar-based construction, both of which can be costly and difficult to access. Holton’s projects therefore explored dry-stacked, interlocking, and mechanically fastened assemblies that could be constructed by students or minimally trained individuals. Mechanical systems using PVC voids, all-thread rods, anchors, nuts, and coupling devices allowed several wall prototypes to be assembled without mortar. These experiments demonstrated that earth block construction can become more accessible while still producing structurally stable wall assemblies. At the same time, the work revealed ongoing challenges, including block tolerance, surface irregularity, drying time, cracking, mold precision, and the need for further testing at larger building scales.

Together, these projects position compressed earth block construction as both a material research agenda and a design methodology. The work connects local soil, regional industry, student fabrication, architectural geometry, and housing prototypes into a broader argument for ecological and social responsibility. By combining full-scale making with architectural design, Holton’s research demonstrates that earthen materials can be reimagined for contemporary housing, offering a low-carbon, cost-conscious, and contextually responsive alternative to conventional construction in the US Gulf South.

Citations:

April 7, 2026

Shido Soil Museum

Design Office——HIRAMATSUGUMI

Shido Soil Museum was designed by HIRAMATSUGUMI, an architecture practice based on Awaji Island, Japan. They are exploring a form of architecture that naturally emerges from the land on which we now stand—architecture in its essential state. The project was developed in collaboration with Kinki Kabezai, a long-established manufacturer of earthen wall materials, as a space dedicated to the exploration, display, and public rethinking of soil as an architectural medium.

Project Information

Location: Awaji, Hyogo, Japan
Completion: 2022
Opening: 2023
Area: approx. 181 m²
Program: Museum / exhibition space / material experience center

Shido Soil Museum is not conceived as a conventional museum, but as an immersive environment where soil becomes the main subject of space, material expression, and public engagement.

Overall Concept

The project reconsiders soil not as a hidden or secondary construction material, but as a visible and experiential medium. Rooted in the idea of “Jimon”—patterns and traces formed by geological movements, topography, and the surface of the earth—the museum translates the imagery of strata, erosion, rupture, and terrain into architectural space.

Rather than presenting soil as a nostalgic or purely vernacular material, the design frames it as a contemporary spatial language. Walls, floors, and surfaces evoke excavated ground, exposed layers, and cracked earth, turning the building into a spatial interpretation of the land itself.

Soil as a visible and experiential medium

Material Use and Construction Details

The project makes extensive use of Awaji soil, drawing on the island’s long history of earthen construction and craft. Soil is employed not only as a building finish but as the central medium through which color, texture, thickness, and tactility are expressed.

What is especially significant is that the project does not rely on a single earthen technique. Instead, it presents a broad spectrum of soil-based applications, including rammed earth elements, layered earthen walls, thick plastered surfaces, carved textures, and earthen flooring. Through these varied treatments, soil is revealed as a material of both technical and sensory richness.

Museum director Junji Hamaoka also works at Kinki Kabezai

One of the most compelling aspects of the museum is its use of localized wall-making techniques to produce distinct spatial atmospheres. Certain walls recall rammed earth construction, where compacted layers create a sense of geological depth and mass. Others are formed through thick earthen plaster and hand-finishing techniques, allowing cutting, scraping, cracking, and layering to remain visible on the surface.

1. One-Cut Rammed Earth Wall (一刀版築塀)

This wall directly adopts the logic of traditional Japanese rammed earth construction. Soil is placed into formwork and compacted layer by layer, producing a dense, stratified mass. A deliberate vertical cut is then introduced into the wall, intensifying the image of a fractured geological layer.
This technique emphasizes mass, compression, and stratification, while turning the wall into a spatial representation of tectonic rupture.

2. Red-Ochre Wall (赭土の壁)

This wall is made by mixing a small amount of iron oxide into Awaji soil. Its surface is then carved and shaped with a trowel to produce textures resembling a cut mountainside or exposed earth section.
Here, the focus is less on structural mass and more on color modulation and sectional expression, allowing the wall to evoke the visual depth of geological terrain.

3. Dragon-Scale Wall (龍鱗壁)

The Dragon-Scale Wall is formed through repeated plastering and carving, generating a highly articulated surface texture.
Rather than presenting soil as a flat finish, this method highlights its capacity for ornament, rhythm, and tactile richness, transforming the wall into a textured field that captures light and shadow.

4. Magnificent Collapse (土崩壮麗)

This technique uses an unusually thick earthen coating to evoke the dramatic face of an excavated cliff or collapsed earth section.
Its significance lies in its exaggerated thickness and sculptural presence, pushing earthen finishing beyond conventional wall treatment and toward an effect of erosion, weight, and exposed terrain.

5. The Bare Skin of the Earth (大地の素肌)

In this treatment, common additives such as reinforcing fibers or stabilizing materials are intentionally reduced. The wall is allowed to dry and crack naturally through the interaction of soil and water alone.
Instead of concealing fragility, this method turns shrinkage, cracking, and imperfection into the very expression of the surface. It presents earth in a more raw and vulnerable state, where instability itself becomes an aesthetic quality.

6. Earthen Steps of Hierarchy (土階八等)

This installation takes its motif from the four-character phrase “Doka Santō”—a reference to the humble palace life of Emperor Bi of Qin, who is said to have governed an era of peace while living simply. Drawing from this idea, the design expresses a presence that is materially modest yet spatially dignified, like a palace in character.

This technique is less about wall-making itself and more about the symbolic use of earthen mass as architectural form. By shaping soil into stepped geometry, it gives earth a sense of monumentality and ceremonial presence, showing how a humble material can still convey gravity, order, and spatial authority.

7. Awaji Armor Wall (淡路鎧壁)

This work adopts the yoroi-kabe technique—traditionally used in earthen boundary walls for cultural heritage sites and vernacular architecture—but reinterprets it here by reversing its usual vertical orientation. Through this inversion, the wall more strongly emphasizes a sense of weight, density, and the raw ruggedness of the earth.

8. Fertile Earthen Floor (豊沃の土間)

The dramatically undulating earthen floor represents the earth itself as a swelling, rising ground plane. In doing so, it overturns the conventional assumption that an interior earthen floor should be finished flat according to architectural norms.

9. The Rust of Clay Tiles (窯土の寂び)

This work incorporates Awaji clay roof tiles, one of the island’s local ground-based industries. The tiles on the wall are intentionally left unfired so that, over time, they darken with age, expressing a weathered quality akin to the patina and quiet austerity associated with a tea room.

This technique is especially compelling for its emphasis on time and material aging. By refusing to complete the tiles through firing, the project allows change, darkening, and imperfection to become part of the design. It presents earth not as a fixed finish, but as a medium that continues to transform, carrying associations of patina, memory, and wabi-sabi-like atmosphere.

Sensory Experience and Related Activities

The museum also hosts a range of hands-on art workshops that invite visitors to touch and work with soil. In the café, several foods are designed to mimic the visual appearance of earth, and some even incorporate edible soil-like material, including diatomaceous earth.

Sources:

April 7, 2026April 7, 2026

Salara Hotel, Baja California

Salara Hotel located in Baja California Sur, Mexico is a hotel that was designed by Taller Héctor Barroso, with the vision to connect living with what emerges from the sand. Consisting of various residences ranging from 14,000 to 20,000sqft, it establishes a shared environment of both community and nature.

Completed residential unit

All the buildings are created with rammed earth. Allowing the natural raw materials that are available on site such as earth, chalk, lime or gravel, allowed a cost effective method to creating these vacation homes. The rammed earth also regulates the interior heat within the residences.

Creating the foundation and establishing electrical.

Development of the rammed earth walls on site

Process of rammed earth.

http://https://youtu.be/URJH8uQTKL8?si=wngOB8NsXI2QHAeG

The main focus of the use of material not only focused on sustainability but allowing guests to interact with light shade and surrounding vegetation as well as highlighting aspect of the geological features.

Proposed space highlights the geography of Baja alluding to the material.

Exterior pathways to each unit

Pathways connect the various 10 spaces allowing those to relax in their lifestyle while accessing each others units in community. The sand covered court allows for local tournaments and spaces to bring one another together.

Continue reading “Salara Hotel, Baja California”

March 31, 2026March 31, 2026

Voute Nubian (Organization)

Voute Nubian (Association la Voûte Nubienne) is an organization founded by Berkinabe farmer Séri Youlou, and French mason Thomas Granier in 2000, serving to utilize the ancestral construction technique— the Nubian Vault— to meet the housing needs of rural areas in several Sahelian nations.

Owing in large part to the economic and environmental consequences of neocolonialism, which have engendered mass poverty and a scarcity of wood resources throughout the Sahel region, housing is often precarious or inaccessible for many. In response to this, the Voute Nubian organization seeks to utilize the Nubian Vault as a self-supporting construction technique that does not require cement, timber, or sheet metal and can create roofing systems entirely out of earth.

Nubian Vault construction has many additional advantages, including locally sourced and easily accessible materials, extreme durability, high thermal and acoustic performance, as well as its simplicity.

This process not only ensures that the readily available and inexpensive earth of the construction site can be used to create a comfortable and structurally sound home without the added costs of formwork or expensive materials, but also that workers can be professionally trained as experts in this production technique enabling the creation of skilled labor and the spread of the Nubian Vault as a technique.

For more information on the history of the Nubian Vault, and its revival as a contemporary architectural strategy in earthen construction:

What is the Nubian Vault?

New Gourna – Hassan Fathy

March 31, 2026March 31, 2026

Natural Mateirals Lab, Columbia University

Natural Materials Lab, Columnbia University

Overview

The Natural Materials Lab at Columbia University is a research platform dedicated to the development and application of natural and low-carbon materials in contemporary architecture.

The lab focuses on materials such as earth, plant fibers, and bio-based composites, investigating how these materials can be integrated into modern design, fabrication, and construction processes.

Rather than treating natural materials as traditional or vernacular remnants, the lab positions them as active components in future building systems—capable of generating new architectural forms, structural logics, and environmental strategies.

Research Leadership

Lola Ben-Alon is an Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP, where she directs the Natural Materials Lab and the Building Science and Technology curriculum.

Her research focuses on earth- and bio-based building materials, including their life cycle, fabrication methods, and environmental performance.

She received her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University and holds degrees in Structural Engineering and Construction Management from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.

Her work has been widely published and exhibited internationally, contributing to the advancement of sustainable and low-carbon construction research.

Research Focus

Rather than presenting projects individually, the work of the Natural Materials Lab can be understood through a set of interconnected research directions, each demonstrated through selected projects.

1. Designing Material Systems: Earth–Fiber Composites

The lab focuses on developing composite material systems by combining earth with plant fibers and bio-based additives.

Projects such as:

demonstrate how these combinations improve:

structural behavior
flexibility
fabrication potential

Rather than selecting materials after form is defined, these projects suggest a shift toward material system design as a generative process.

2. Fabrication as Form Generation

A central research theme is the integration of fabrication processes into design logic.

Projects including:

explore how:

additive manufacturing
digital weaving
and analog forming techniques

can directly generate geometry and structure.

These works reposition fabrication not as a post-design step, but as a primary driver of form.

3. From Mass to Lightweight and Porous Systems

The lab challenges the conventional perception of earth as a heavy, monolithic material.

Projects such as:

investigate how earth-based materials can be transformed into:

porous systems
ventilation structures
lightweight envelopes

These explorations expand the role of earth from mass construction to environmental and spatial filtering systems.

4. Expanding Material Research Beyond Architecture

The lab extends material research beyond conventional building applications into broader ecological and bodily contexts.

Projects include:

These works examine how materials interact with:

philosophy of nature/culture
the human body
environmental systems

This expands architecture into a multi-scalar material ecology, where materials operate across building, body, and environment.

Teaching and Pedagogy

The Natural Materials Lab integrates research with teaching through a series of seminars, workshops, and technical courses at Columbia GSAPP.

Courses such as Making With Earth, Down to Earth, and TECH: Construction and Life Cycle combine theoretical frameworks with hands-on experimentation, allowing students to engage directly with natural materials across multiple scales.

Through material testing, full-scale prototyping, and environmental analysis, the lab promotes a material-driven design approach, where construction, performance, and fabrication are understood as integral to the design process.

Sources

https://www.arch.columbia.edu/research/labs/17-natural-materials-lab

https://lola-ben-alon.com/

Columbia Professor Takes a Down-to-Earth Approach to Building Materials

Lola Ben-Alon Encourages Compassion for Digitization

March 31, 2026May 21, 2026

Earth USA

Earth USA is the biennial international conference on earthen architecture organized by Adobe in Action (AinA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It brings together architects, engineers, builders, and researchers to share advances in clay-based construction. Earth USA began in 2003 as “Adobe USA,” first held at Northern New Mexico College by the Adobe Association of the Southwest and dedicated to Paul Graham McHenry, and it has continued on a biennial basis since then. In 2011, the name formally changed to Earth USA for the sixth conference, held in Albuquerque, and since 2013 all subsequent conferences have taken place in Santa Fe. Key milestones include the adoption of a broader earthen-material scope beyond adobe, as well as expanded international participation.

The Scottish Rite Center hosts the conference, reinforcing the event’s Southwestern adobe heritage. The Santa Fe venue also underscores the material focus: the Alhambra Theater is a pink adobe stucco building, and local expertise in adobe construction is abundant. Site tours have included Pueblo ruins, ancestral Spanish missions, and owner-built adobe homes throughout northern New Mexico. Typical Earth USA activities have featured on-site workshops, such as plastering demonstrations, as well as earthen installations; for example, past Earthbuilders’ Guild teams have built mud-brick stages and art displays on-site. In sum, the conference’s materials and form revolve around clay-rich architecture, celebrating both the traditional thick earthen walls of Santa Fe’s historic districts and cutting-edge earth technology.

Earth USA is run by AinA, a New Mexico 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to adobe and earthen-building education. AinA was founded by Mike Lopach and launched Earth USA to empower owner-builders. For Earth USA 2026, AinA’s Lisa Morey and Dan Krause co-preside on the board of AinA, and the Executive Director is Kurt Gardella, a certified adobe instructor who studied under Quentin Wilson at Northern New Mexico College. Gardella holds adobe construction certifications and leads AinA’s certificate program. He has been “a major organizer of Earth USA” while also teaching owner-builder courses. Lisa Morey is a civil engineer and designer, and co-founder of Colorado Earth LLC. She is the author of Adobe Homes for All Climates and holds a patent for reinforced adobe brick walls. Dan Krause is a retired ASU professor who became enamored with adobe while living in Arizona. He designed and built two of his own adobe homes, earning AinA’s Adobe Construction certificate in 2020. Collectively, the organizers combine academic and practical expertise to network experts, educate practitioners, and advance earthen construction worldwide.

Each Earth USA conference follows a structured program with three days of presentations and posters, along with associated social and field activities. The format typically includes a Friday welcome keynote, all-day podium and poster sessions from Friday through Sunday, and Sunday afternoon tours to regional earth-building sites. For example, Earth USA 2024’s schedule featured invited talks on topics ranging from flood-proof adobe shelters to waste-earth reuse and seismic earth block design, alongside panels on owner-builder case studies and clay plaster techniques. All conferences include a Friday night reception sponsored by the Earthbuilders’ Guild and guided tours to adobe missions, historic homes, and new earth projects on Sunday. The scope of subjects is broad, and organizers note that the program reflects a wide field of interest, including adobe, rammed earth, compressed earth block, cob, and essentially any method that uses clay as a binder.

Key themes encompass the use of sustainable materials, including earth plasters and stabilized blocks; advancements in modern fabrication techniques such as 3D printing and robotics in earthen architecture; building science considerations ranging from thermal performance to seismic resilience; historic preservation; and social projects focused on affordable housing and owner-builder training programs. For instance, Earth USA has featured a keynote from, “Mud Frontiers,” by Ronald Rael (UC Berkeley) on 3D-printed earth architecture, as well as a session on a Ghanaian rammed-earth housing prototype, “Kente House,” by Angeles Hevia. Other sessions have addressed codes and policy, including Ben Loescher on U.S. earthen masonry standards and Stephen Colley on adopting adobe in building codes. Topics also include education, such as introducing clay into architecture curricula, and innovation, including rotational tampers for rammed earth.

Earth USA is attended primarily by architects, engineers, and builders interested in sustainable construction, but also by anthropologists, code officials, and environmental advocates. The gatherings are intentionally international and multidisciplinary, as reflected in a speaker roster that includes talks on building practices from India, Japan, and Norway. Attendees leave with a sense of community, supported by nightly informal receptions and a vibrant email newsletter, EarthUSA News, which keeps participants connected year-round. In sum, Earth USA operates as a volunteer-driven conference in which the organizing committee handles logistics and content curation, while academic partners disseminate the findings.

The program is fully documented in the conference proceedings and often carries American Institute of Architecture (AIA) continuing-education credits. Speakers come from universities, nonprofits, governments, and industries worldwide, and recent years have seen participants from 15 to 20 countries. Poster sessions provide a venue for shorter papers on topics such as material testing, vernacular research, and life-cycle analysis. Throughout, the conference emphasizes process, including peer-reviewed abstracts, international volunteer committees, and field demonstrations, as much as the building form itself. Many sessions delve into construction processes such as mix design, compaction, and curing, while others focus on form-finding and earth structures shaped by heritage or innovation.

As an organization, AinA solicits abstracts internationally through a call for papers reviewed by experts and publishes proceedings. For 2026, for instance, abstracts were due in February 2026 and full papers in June 2026. Registration is open to professionals, students, and owner-builders. Earth USA’s inclusive approach is also reflected in its leadership; for example, owner-builder Ethan Novikoff both presented and served on the AinA board, bridging practitioner and organizer roles. Sponsorship comes from allied nongovernmental organizations and firms such as the Earthbuilders’ Guild, the SFCC Adobe program, supporting organizations, and architecture firms.

Earth USA presents a clear consensus that earthen materials are inherently sustainable, resilient, and culturally rich. Many presenters emphasize earth’s low carbon footprint and ease of reuse, as well as its climate-comfort benefits, thermal mass, and humidity buffering. There is a shared mission to reclaim these traditional techniques in a modern context. From an architectural perspective, the conference inspires both reflection and action. It demonstrates how ancient building methods can inform contemporary design, for example, how Pueblo-style thick walls inspire passive climate control, or how combining fibers and modern stabilizers can make cob livable in cold regions. On the technological side, sessions on 3D-printing clay and new tamping machines point toward a future in which even large-scale earth building is industrially feasible. The Earth USA community also exchanges practical solutions; one talk, for instance, detailed how to guide a cob house through building inspections, while others described integrating adobe into U.S. building codes. In conclusion, Earth USA galvanizes the earthen-construction movement. It has inspired new international collaborations, spurred educational initiatives, and reinforced advocates’ resolve to promote sustainable, beautiful architecture that can be made from the ground.

Citations:

March 31, 2026March 31, 2026

Clayworks

Introduction

Clayworks is a UK-based manufacturer of natural clay plasters and finishes. It is widely used by architects and interior designers to create low-carbon and healthy interior surfaces. The company is based in Cornwall and works on projects internationally.

Image may contain Clothing Footwear Shoe Adult Person Pants Child Hat Plant Furniture Table Head and People — Adam (centre) examines custom clay plaster samples made in the studio with Clayworks colleagues Alex Mulligan and Jessica Morris. Dean Hearne

Headquarters: Cornwall, United Kingdom
Founders: Adam Weismann and Katy Bryce
Core products: clay plasters, rammed earth finishes, and natural wall and ceiling coatings
Main markets: residential, retail, hospitality, restaurants, and cultural spaces

Background

Our Story Clayworks was developed from the founders’ background in natural building and earth construction techniques.

After working with traditional earth materials in different regions, they established the company in Cornwall around 2010.

Their goal was to combine traditional clay construction knowledge with contemporary architectural and interior design needs.

Products & Features

Interior Clay Plaster

Clayworks produces a range of clay plaster finishes focused on wellbeing, enhancing interior atmosphere.

Their finishes are available in a wide range of colours and can be customized for different project types and scales.

They offer both classic finishes with balanced texture and refined aesthetics, and custom finishes that explore more innovative and expressive surface effects.

Exterior

Clayworks’ exterior finishes combine clay and lime to improve durability in outdoor conditions, offering both classic and custom solutions, including rammed earth finishes, for flexible and high-performance applications.

Custom Clay Finishes

These custom finishes explore unique textures and effects, tailored to meet the specific vision of each project. They emphasize innovation and experimentation, creating distinctive surfaces that enhance both aesthetics and function.

Rammed Earth

Clayworks’ rammed earth finishes reinterpret traditional rammed earth construction, which is typically heavy and difficult to use in urban contexts.

Instead of thick structural walls, they offer a thin 7–10 mm surface layer that replicates the layered appearance of rammed earth.

This makes it a lightweight, customizable, and more accessible solution for contemporary construction.

Projects

Clayworks is used in hospitality, retail, restaurants, commercial and residential projects.

Across these spaces, their clay finishes create warm, tactile environments,
strengthen material identity, and improve indoor comfort.

Retail

Designed in-house and supported by sustainability, interior, and built environment specialists, the COS Flagship store in Mexico combines the country’s rich artisanal craft traditions with more sustainable design.⁠ Their rustic interior and exterior finishes draw inspiration from Mexico’s golden cornfields, adding depth, texture, and a strong sense of place.⁠

Commercial Projects

On’s London office uses Clayworks’ rammed earth clay plaster to create a strong, natural material presence within the space.

The hand-applied finish forms a sculptural staircase and layered surfaces inspired by local geology, enhancing both texture and atmosphere.

Sources:

clayworks

Clayworks are bringing plaster back to the fore | House & Garden

March 30, 2026March 31, 2026

TERRA

The Master

The European Master in Earthen Architecture and Construction (TERRA) is a unique programme dedicated to advancing knowledge and professional practice in earthen architecture and construction. Its first edition will take place in the 2026/2027 academic year as a funded Erasmus Mundus Joint Master.

TERRA is a one-year, full-time programme (60 ECTS) awarding a double Master’s degree, jointly delivered by the University of Minho (Portugal), the Technical University of Valencia (Spain), the Graduate School of Civil, Environmental and Urban Engineering from the National School of Public Works (France), and the University of Florence (Italy). The programme is held on a rotating basis among partners. Students complete their coursework at one university and develop their dissertation at another. The language of instruction and examination is English. The curriculum is structured around five core areas:

Earthen Architecture and Building Culture
Earthen Materials
Functional Design and Sustainability
Structural Analysis and Design
Conservation of Earthen Buildings

Through an excellence-driven academic and research environment, students will develop a comprehensive and interdisciplinary skill set to address the complex challenges of earthen architecture and construction. Graduates will be equipped to stand out in a construction sector increasingly focused on sustainable solutions and in a rehabilitation market that demands specialised technical expertise.

Objectives

The TERRA is a highly specialised Master programme designed to educate a new generation of professionals capable of leading the transition towards sustainable construction practices. Graduates will be prepared to develop innovative earthen construction solutions, analyse the structural and environmental performance of earthen buildings, and implement conservation strategies for the rehabilitation of earthen architectural heritage.

The programme fosters a truly integrated approach between Architecture and Civil Engineering, grounded in a robust scientific foundation and aligned with the current global challenges in the construction sector. In addition to professional practice, graduates will be well prepared to pursue advanced research or doctoral studies in the field of Earthen Architecture and Construction.

Partners

Full Partners

The TERRA consortium brings together four leading higher education institutions of excellence, jointly awarding a double Master’s degree to its students.

University of Minho Guimarães, Portugal (Coordinator)

Technical University of Valencia Valencia, Spain

Graduate School of Civil, Environmental and Urban Engineering Lyon, France

University of Florence Florence, Italy

Associated Partners

The TERRA Master’s programme is supported by a broad network of Associated Partners worldwide (up to 39 until now), including higher education institutions, research and development institutes, industry partners, associations and non-governmental organizations. The Associated Partners play a relevant role in Master’s activities by:

Delivering lectures and seminars
Co-supervising dissertations and hosting students during the dissertation period
Contributing to the development of course materials
Supporting graduates’ employability prospects

Programme Structure

The TERRA Master integrates the expertise of four leading European Higher Education Institutions in areas related to Earthen Architecture and Construction: the University of Minho (Portugal), the Technical University of Valencia (Spain), the Graduate School of Civil, Environmental and Urban Engineering at the National School of Public Works (France), and the University of Florence (Italy). Together, these partners deliver a high-level education programme founded on academic excellence and strong interdisciplinary collaboration.

Students engage with specialists from the complementary fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering through six coursework units (1st semester), hosted by two partner universities per edition on a rotating basis. The Master’s dissertation is completed during the 2nd semester and may be hosted at any of the four partner institutions. Students are required to complete their coursework and dissertation at different locations.

The mobility track is based on students’ preferences while ensuring an adequate balance among partner institutions and observing specific eligibility criteria. The curriculum remains identical across all mobility tracks, ensuring academic consistency and equivalence of learning outcomes

The programme also includes an Integration Week where all students will meet together at a partner institution not hosting coursework in that edition. Furthermore, a TERRA workshop series will be launched following the first edition to promote networking and collaboration among students, alumni, lecturers, researchers and professionals in the field.

The TERRA mobility scheme follows a two-edition cycle, with the full rotation (including the Integration Week), achieved after four editions, enabling students to visit up to three partner institutions during their studies. The table below summarises the full mobility cycle, including coursework, dissertation, Integration Week and TERRA Workshop.

TERRA is a one-year, full-time programme. The study plan comprises seven course units:

five sequential units and one project-based learning unit delivered during the 1st semester (September to February), each worth 5 ECTS (i.e. 45 hours of lectures and 95 hours of independent student work)
one dissertation conducted during the 2nd semester (March to July), worth 30 ECTS (i.e. 15 hours of supervision and 825 hours of independent research work).

The curriculum is identical for all students, regardless of their mobility track. Attendance in all seven course units is mandatory, requiring students’ physical presence in the classroom.

Unit 1 (5 ECTS): Earthen Architecture and Building Culture

Unit 2 (5 ECTS): Earthen Materials

Unit 3 (5 ECTS): Functional Design and Sustainability

Unit 4 (5 ECTS): Structural Analysis and Design

Unit 5 (5 ECTS): Conservation of Earthen Buildings

Unit 6 (5 ECTS): Integrated Project on Earthen Construction

Unit 7 (30 ECTS): Dissertation

Professional Perspectives

TERRA graduates will emerge as highly skilled professionals equipped to address the growing global demand for sustainable, resilient and culturally grounded construction solutions. The programme offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary education, combining engineering, architecture, materials science, conservation and sustainability. This broad foundation enables graduates to work across the full spectrum of the construction sector, from designing new earthen buildings to conserving architectural heritage and developing sustainable materials and technologies.

For Application details, check the website.

March 30, 2026March 31, 2026

BC Materials

BC Materials is a Belgian company that develops, produces, demonstrates, and sells earthen building materials. Founded as a workers co-operative and spin-off of BC Architects (Brussels Corporation) in 2018, BC Materials’ goal is to facilitate the replacement of contemporary, standard building materials with earth-based alternatives in European construction. The firm was the “brainchild” of Ken De Cooman, Nicolas Coechelberghs, Laurens Bekemans, and Wes Degreef.

Roughly 60% of earth excavated in construction is wasted due to storage and transportation challenges. To combat this, BC Materials has pioneered a “circular” method of construction with earthen materials that uses urban mineral waste from construction sites and repurposes the excavated earth to make rammed earth structures, compressed earth blocks, and earth plasters/paints. The process of making these products using recycled earth is carbon-neutral, meaning BC Materials’ products are much better for the environment than the aforementioned contemporary alternative building materials.

Rammed earth building, BC Materials was consulted during construction. Image by BC Materials

According to their website, BC Materials is involved in 5 primary activities:

Developing materials and consulting construction partners on their use.
Making bespoke materials.
Designing and prefabricating objects and constructive systems.
Training contractors and craftsmen.
Producing and commercializing a brand of standard circular materials called Léém.

Léém is BC Materials premier product line that attempts to make earthen materials more accessible to both architects and builders. Offering Léém clay plasters and paints, Léém earth block masonry, and Léém rammed earth mixes and tools, BC Materials are working to transform the availability and convenience of circular earthen building materials for use in every-day construction.

Leem Clay Paints, picture by BC Materials

Sources:

BC Materials. BC Materials, https://bcmaterials.org/.

Building with Earth – BC Materials and the Revival of Clay in Construction.” Natura Mater, 10 Dec. 2024, https://www.naturamater.eu/en/post/building-with-earth-bc-materials-and-the-revival-of-clay-in-construction.

“BC Materials.” Regenerative Design World, https://regenerativedesign.world/bc-materials-2/.

February 17, 2026February 24, 2026

Rammed Earth House: Tuckey Design Studio

About the Design Studio

Tuckey Design Studio (UK) explores the cultural, social and emotional connections formed with buildings over time. They seek to transform structures, through adaptive reuse of existing buildings or sustainable new construction, into places that serve their occupants for generations.

Rammed Earth House

Sector: Residential
Client: Private
Location: Wiltshire, England
Area: 810 sq m
Collaborators: Todhunter Earle Interiors, Stonewood Builders (Contractor), Lehm Ton Erde (Rammed earth consultant)

Recently completed in the Wiltshire countryside is a pioneering new build homestead that’s relearnt an ancient building method.

Located on a former brickworks, the series of buildings has risen upon an area of clay rich soil which, alongside recycled aggregate from demolished outbuildings, forms the composition for the rammed earth. The home is one of a few examples in the UK that utilize unstablised rammed earth; a circular construction method involving no cement in the mix.

Castle-like walls inexorably bind the building to its landscape, forming walled gardens and visually offset by Douglas fir and oak timber frames that contrast with the monolithic earth structure. Distinguishing elements include decorative niches embedded in the walls, a spiral staircase, rammed earth flooring in the snug and a ‘storm terrace’ from which to observe the dramatic cloud formations over the West country landscape.

This house should also make clever use of the inside/outside spaces, particularly for entertaining, and feel intimate enough for two, but it could host 20.

The result is an H‑shaped plan incorporating five bedrooms, with an additional two in the staff quarters across the drive, and a separate flat on the first floor of a Victorian house that was otherwise mostly demolished to make way for the new homestead. There is a boot room to support equestrian pursuits; a puzzle room for playing games; two walled gardens; and Bachelardian snugs, nooks and landings for lounging and socializing outside the living and dining room areas.

At 810 sq m, sat on a 63-acre estate, the property is large; yet the studio’s clever design and high-spec yet tactile and organic materials afford a comfortably intimate feel.

Sourcing material from the site

When faced with a spectacular view, architects often find it hard to resist the temptation to make it the central focus; think expansive glazing that makes rolling hills visible from every point. But Tuckey believes there can be too much of a good thing: that a view is best when rationed and mediated. “You need to pace it,” he says. “You can have one moment where you get it all, but it also needs to be sliced up and served in small chunks.”

The notion of imperfection set the tone for the project’s most significant design decision: the use of rammed earth. When the client demolished some buildings on the site, an old brickworks, they discovered clay underneath. And rammed earth is durable and energy efficient, also forgiving.

Triple glazing and the thermal mass of rammed earth walls support the sustainability strategy.

Deep windows with timber-lined reveals frame landscape views.

Refining the rammed earth mix

The process is as follows. First you dig up the clay, then you dry it for anywhere between a few weeks and six months – in this case, two or three – before crushing it into a powder. When you’re ready to build, the clay is mixed with an aggregate, which can be gravel or broken-up bricks, blockwork or concrete. Here, the demolished buildings on the site were the first option, but when that didn’t provide the right consistency, gravel was sourced from nearby to correct the balance. The material was then combined with water to form a “dry, biscuity consistency”. The clay and aggregate mix requires 7 per cent water content for optimal results

This was tipped into formwork and compacted from 150mm to about 75mm for the external walls and 100mm to 50mm for the internal ones, to make them tighter and less prone to dusting. The external walls are stratified with layers of pozzolanic lime mortar that act as an erosion check – ‘speed bumps’ for falling water – every 300mm, and every layer on the corners. The most exposed walls are tiled with stone for additional strength. Walls are typically 400mm thick, but range up to a meter, requiring no joints for more than 100m in length.

An oak spiral stair is structurally independent of curved rammed earth walls.

A rich interior palette and hidden technology

Together, the team created features ranging from a wooden spiral staircase to enormous pivoting doors. Creative freedom was balanced with a common understanding of the atmosphere required. The end result comprises spaces that vary from double-height atriums to cozy nooks, creating a sense of discovery and variety. Recessed niches for objects echo the benches carved into exterior walls. The palette is rich and tactile: earth walls finished with a muted, protective casein coating, limestone, oak, copper and clay plaster.

While craft and materiality are the house’s most evident characteristics, it is far from arcane. A lot of technology is hidden within the earthen structure. There’s a fully automated lighting system, a ground-source heat pump for hot water and heating, a photovoltaic slate roof to generate electricity, and troughs harvesting rainwater for watering the gardening – all of which fulfil the client’s expectation of high functionality and sustainability.

Kitchen-diner with custom-made cabinetry.

Inspiration

In terms of the house’s eco credentials, it was unable to obtain Passivhaus certification on account of having too many junctions – perhaps an indication of it being, by most standards, an exceptionally large house for two people. Its true eco legacy, within the context of a country that faces dual housing and climate crises, is the range of possibilities it opens for wider applications of unstabilised rammed earth. Tuckey Design Studio is now working with Stonewood to explore ways of using prefabricated rammed-earth components in a terraced housing project.

Rauch’s company, Lehm Ton Erde, produces such elements in Austria, but he has long maintained that transporting panels across great distances offsets the carbon savings made by using the material in the first place. Instead, Rauch promotes ‘field factories’ situated as close to building sites as possible – a little like Rammed Earth House’s on‑site laboratory, but standardised and at a larger scale. This house marks an important step in demonstrating the viability of unstabilised rammed‑earth construction in the UK.

Design Office——HIRAMATSUGUMI

Project Information

Material Use and Construction Details

1. One-Cut Rammed Earth Wall (一刀版築塀)

2. Red-Ochre Wall (赭土の壁)

3. Dragon-Scale Wall (龍鱗壁)

4. Magnificent Collapse (土崩壮麗)

5. The Bare Skin of the Earth (大地の素肌)

6. Earthen Steps of Hierarchy (土階八等)

7. Awaji Armor Wall (淡路鎧壁)

8. Fertile Earthen Floor (豊沃の土間)

9. The Rust of Clay Tiles (窯土の寂び)

Sensory Experience and Related Activities

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Research Leadership

Research Focus

Teaching and Pedagogy

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Introduction

Background

Products & Features

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The Master

Objectives

Partners

Full Partners

Associated Partners

Programme Structure

Professional Perspectives

Sourcing material from the site

Refining the rammed earth mix

A rich interior palette and hidden technology

Inspiration

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