Category: RESOURCES

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Bahareque (alternatively spelled bareque, also known as quincha)

Casa de pau a pique, or a bahareque house in Brazil.

Bahareque is the Spanish name for what is known in English as wattle and daub, a method of building where wet loam is applied to an interwoven mesh of twigs, branches, bamboo, etc. Specifically, bahareque (also known as quincha) is a subset of the thrown loam technique, where the wet loam is applied by hand onto the organic skeleton. The loam of earth (a combination of clay, silt, and soil) and aggregate, usually straw. Bahareque describes a wide range of building techniques and types, and can be separated out into various local traditions across South America.

Traditional bahareque wall.

Originally combined with palm frond roofs, bahareque was often topped with tiled roofs after European colonization. It can be used in combination with other earthen architecture technologies, as seen in the image below.

Solar do Major Novaes, constructed with adobe on the lower floor and wattle and daub on the upper floor.

Bahareque is currently being explored as a low-cost housing typology. There are questions as to how well it can withstand seismic activity, but it is often proposed as a housing solution for earthquake stricken regions. Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Brazil have all introduced engineered bahareque (or cement bahareque) following devastating earthquakes.

In Ecuador, where the matrix and frame for bahareque architecture is made of guadua bamboo, one of the strongest bamboo subspecies, there is promising contemporary research proving that bahareque is superior to masonry architecture both for earthquake safety and from a sustainability standpoint.

Bahareque houses designed by ARUP and REDES, before the plaster is applied to the bamboo matrix.
Construction documents of bahareque houses designed by ARUP.

References:

[1] http://www.crockerltd.net/adobe_big_one.htm

[2] https://www.seismico.org/bahareque

[3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282701710_Engineered_bamboo_houses_for_low-income_communities_in_Latin_America

[4] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311583390_Design_Guide_for_Engineered_Bahareque_Housing/download

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WASP: Gaia

WASP (World’s Advanced Savings Project) has pioneered an innovative approach to sustainable architecture with their 3D-printed house called Gaia. This eco-friendly structure represents a significant advancement in sustainable construction and showcases the potential of using natural, locally-sourced materials in 3D printing technology.

Demonstration Video

First Layer Video

Materials and Composition

Gaia is built primarily using a mixture of:

  1. 25% local soil (30% clay, 40% silt, 30% sand)
  2. 40% chopped rice straw
  3. 25% rice husk
  4. 10% hydraulic lime

This composition utilizes natural waste materials from rice production, making it an environmentally conscious choice.

Construction Process

The house was 3D printed using the Crane WASP, a specialized 3D printer designed for on-site construction. The printing process took approximately 100 hours to complete 30 square meters of wall with a thickness of 40 cm.

Design and Performance

Gaia incorporates:

  1. Natural ventilation systems
  2. Thermo-acoustic insulation
  3. Bioclimatic efficiency

The structure maintains a comfortable temperature year-round without the need for heating or air conditioning systems, showcasing its energy efficiency.

Environmental Impact and Cost

Gaia demonstrates remarkable sustainability:

  1. Near-zero environmental impact
  2. Total material cost for the walls: €900
  3. Biodegradable construction materials
  4. Minimal carbon footprint

Significance and Future Implications

WASP’s Gaia project represents a significant step towards addressing global housing needs sustainably. By utilizing local materials and advanced 3D printing technology, this approach offers:

  1. A potential solution for rapid, low-cost housing construction
  2. Reduced environmental impact compared to traditional building methods
  3. Adaptability to various geographical locations and climates

The success of Gaia has led to further developments, such as the TECLA project, which aims to create even more sustainable and scalable housing solutions.

WASP’s Gaia project demonstrates the viability of combining an ancient building practice and material (earth) with modern 3D printing technology, and might demonstrate one way to create sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective housing.

Sources

  1. https://www.designnuance.com/the-first-3d-printed-house-gaia-built-with-earth/
  2. https://www.3dwasp.com/en/3d-printed-house-gaia/
  3. https://www.archpaper.com/2019/04/gaia-house-facadesplus/
  4. https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/wasp-showcases-3d-printed-bio-building-at-we-are-nature-event-176687/
  5. https://www.3dnatives.com/en/wasp-moves-towards-sustainable-construction-by-3d-printing-soil/
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TECLA House

TECLA House, designed by MCA and engineered by WASP.

The TECLA House is a collaboration between Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA) and World’s Advanced Saving Project (WASP). The name “TECLA” is a portmanteau of “technology” and “clay,” and references Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, specifically the fictional city of Thekla, were construction never ceases.

Massimo Moretti, WASP founder.
Mario Cucinella, MCA founder.

 

The materials used in the TECLA House include local clay and soil, water, rice husks, and a binder (which constitutes less than 5% of the total mixture). This makes it a true “0km building,” meaning the materials are sourced directly from the site on which the dwelling is built. WASP, an Italian 3D printing firm, brought their technological expertise to the project. Founded in 2012 by Massimo Moretti, WASP unveiled Crane WASP, their flagship 3D printer, in 2018. Mario Cucinella, the principal architect on this project, designed a morphology inspired by the potter wasp and based on the research of the School of Sustainability (SOS), Cucinella’s post-graduate school.

Sketch for the TECLA House by Mario Cucinella.

 

Interior view of the TECLA House.

TECLA was built with 350 layers of 3D printed earth. The configuration of the walls was dictated by the humidity and temperature of the climate, and SOS made several infill case studies optimized for different geographical locations.

Detail of the TECLA printing process.
Diagram of the infill configuration of TECLA.

 

Crane WASP imagined as a modular system of infinite extent.

The TECLA House is the first dwelling built using multiple 3D printers working simultaneously and collaboratively. This project was the proof of concept for the Crane WASP. WASP claims that Crane WASP is an infinite 3D printer, whose print area of 50 square meters can be extended in a modular fashion to cover a printing area of arbitrary size.

The two Italian firms built their prototypical TECLA house in Massa Lombarda, Italy, but the idea is that the house can be reproduced anywhere. WASP advertises their “Maker Economy Starter Kit,” which can be purchased online and fits inside a single shipping container. TECLA can be reproduced in “200 hours of printing, […] 150 km of extrusion, 60 cubic meters of natural materials for an average consumption of less than 6 kW.” Interested parties can also purchase an entire Crane WASP rig for €160,000.

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Gramazio and Kohler: Remote Material Deposition

Gramazio and Kohler is a research group based in ETH Zurich, Switzerland, who consider the “interlinking of data and material and the resulting implications for architectural design” [gramaziokohler.arch.ethz.ch]. Working between material, manufacturing logic, and the design process, the group uses technology, robots, and programming as a means to define a new architectural expression.

Remote Material Deposition Sitterwerk Timelapse

Interrogating methods and workspace limitations of the construction/build process, Remote Material Deposition literally builds from afar; “remote material”, as in material situated at a distance, and “deposition” as the ejection, depositing, and/or build up of a material.

Ballistic trajectories of light projectiles through bulb exposure

A robotic catapulting device, which is hooked up to a camera sensor installed at a birds-eye view, is installed within in a confined workspace. The catapulting device is loaded with loam projectiles, a composite soil made of clay, sand, and silt. The material in this process must be able to adhere to its fellow material upon impact, and harden after. For this reason loam (mud, earth) was chosen as the primary building material. The loam is shaped in cylinders, as to maximize the colliding forces of impact in order to adhere to the existing materials that were “shot” before it. Below is a diagram of the workspace.

Since uncertainties are bound to occur with the depositing, or lack of depositing, of the loam projectiles the over head sensor captures the mistakes, uncertainty, and data from the build, sends that information back to the design system (computer), and adjusts for the next round of projectiles. Although a defined proposal for design is used to set up and initialize the machine, the construction and build process becomes the design process; the two are linked in a feedback loop.

Design + Feedback loop

The use of earth/loam in this context is necessary for the method of construction applied, the adherence of projectiles, however the material and concept of this application can exist independently. What would the process of “ballistic architecture” look like at a much larger scale, if material were not a condition?

Consider the word “ballistics”: missiles, bombs, destruction. Countries such as Palestine and Afghanistan  (and so many more) have had entire historical and cultural identities destroyed through ballistic warfare and destruction of their architecture and built infrastructure. It is an incredible thought to place Gramazio and Kohler’s work in the context of ballistic creation. Instead of destroying each other through missiles and projectiles, can countries and nations build each other instead?

Size: 12 m × 12 m and a ceiling height of 7 m (interior construction space)

Year: 2014

Photos: ETH Zurich, Gramazio and Kohler, Michael Lyrenmann

Architects: Gramazio and Kohler

Students: unknown

References:

[1] https://gramaziokohler.arch.ethz.ch/web/e/lehre/277.html Gramazio Kohler website

[2] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317340911_REMOTE_MATERIAL_DEPOSITION Conference Paper

[3] https://vimeo.com/100784860 Production video

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IAAC: Open Thesis Fabrication

image of 3d printing robot making curvy cellular forms out of clay
Image Source: OTF Booklet

Open Thesis Fabrication is a six-month applied research program for postgraduates at the Institute for advanced architecture of Catalonia.

The program focus is on combining additive manufacturing with construction technology to create sustainable architecture with key areas of research in robotic manufacturing, material research, and performance-based design.

The program works with non-governmental organizations to develop designs for use in African humanitarian contexts and is comprised of architects, engineers, designers, and professionals with previous knowledge of digital fabrication and computational design.

It’s learning objectives are for program participants to:

  • Gain experience in large-scale 3D printing
  • Develop skills in digital fabrication, computational design, and material research
  • Learn to provide architectural solutions considering various aspects of construction

This is achieved through the implementation of three phases, Exploration, Prototype Design Charettes, and Prototype Construction.

chart that displays the phases of implementation and timeline
Image Source: OTF Booklet

Examples of projects that have been completed include:

  • Digital Adobe – A 2-meter wide and 5-meter-high printed clay wall [2017-2018]
  • Terraperforma – A façade design of parametrically constructed modules optimized for solar radiation, wind behavior, and structural 3D printing [2016-2017]
  • Digital Urban Orchard – A wooden pavilion made with digital and robotic fabrication divided into a wooden structure, aquaponic system, and silicon skin designed to capture the ideal solar radiation for winter and summer.
  • Minibuilders – a family of small-scale construction robots that are capable of constructing objects larger than itself in order to address the limitation found in additive manufacturing that often constrains the proportions of fabricated objects to the size of the machine.
Image Source: OTF Booklet
Image Source: OTF Booklet
Image Source: OTF Booklet

 

Image Source: OTF Booklet
schematic and images of mini robots being used to produce clay structures larger than the size of the machine
Image Source: OTF Booklet

For more information regarding tuition fees, how to apply, grading systems, etc., be sure to check out IAAC OTF resource guide: https://iaac.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/OTF_Booklet_2019-22-07-2.pdf

 

 

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The Great Mosque of Djenne

The Great Mosque of Djenne, east facade.

 

The national emblem of Mali.

Originally built during the 13th century CE, the Great Mosque of Djenne was rebuilt in 1906, and remains the largest mud brick building in the world to this day. It is located in the town of Djenne, which is situated near the Bani River in Mali. It is considered the preeminent example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture, and served as a center of Islamic knowledge for centuries before it fell into ruins. The Old Towns of Djenne were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, including various other mud buildings and archaeological sites in addition to the Great Mosque. The Great Mosque has been featured on Mali’s national emblem since it was adopted in 1961.

Photo taken by Edmond Fortier in 1906.

The Great Mosque is located in the city center of Djenne, adjacent to the marketplace. It is built on a raised platform or mound of earth 3m tall, and measuring 75m by 75m. This platform protects the Great Mosque from damage when the nearby Bani River floods. Rain does damage the mosque, though usually only causing cracks that are addressed through regular maintenance. Unusually heavy rain can cause greater damage, as was the case in 2009 when the upper portion of the south tower of the east facade collapsed. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture funded repairs in 2010, and the mosque has been fully restored as of the present day.

La fete de creppisage, the annual festival when the Great Mosque is fully rendered and repaired.

The Great Mosque is maintained through an annual festival, “La fete de crepissage,” where community members participate in the rendering of the building. The mud plaster used in this annual process is mixed in large pits, and left to cure and ferment for several days before it is ready to use. Young men and boys climb the toron, the rodier palm clusters protruding from the facade of the mosque that serve as scaffolding, while the young women and girls bring water to aid in plastering. More senior masons observe the young men as they smear a new layer of mud plaster over the mosque, and later check the work to ensure that it is smooth and even. The festival begins with a race to see who can bring the first bowl of mud plaster to the mosque, and ends with the workers washing the plaster off in the remaining water.

Detail view of the exterior wall of the Great Mosque.

The Great Mosque is constructed entirely from mud, excepting the toron. Mud forms the bricks, the mortar, and the plaster with which the mosque was originally built. These bricks are made of banco, a combination of grain husks and the traditional West African brown mud that forms much of the earthen architecture of the region. The qibla, or prayer wall, of the mosque faces east, toward the central square of Djenne and toward Mecca. The qibla is roughly a meter thick and punctuated by three main towers, with small minarets at either end. The wall derives additional support from the eighteen pilasters, each ending in a conical pinnacle.

East elevation of the Great Mosque.
Plan of the Great Mosque.

The prayer hall is directly behind the qibla, and takes up roughly half of the interior of the mosque. The other half is an open court which is surrounded on three sides by galleries with pointed archways, one of which is reserved for women. The roof of the prayer hall is made of more rodier palm clusters, which run crossways, and are covered in mud plaster. It is supported by interior walls.

Interior of one of the galleries of the Great Mosque.

In 2005, the Zamani Project spatially documented the Great Mosque, producing 3D scans and GIS analysis of the area. Play with the 3D model produced by the Zamani Project here. Watch an animated tour of the model here.

 

References:

[1] https://zamaniproject.org/site-mali-djenne-great-mosque.html

[2] https://www.archnet.org/sites/6395

[3] https://reportage.org/2000/Djene/PagesDjeneFrames/DjeneFrameset.html

[4] https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/116/

[5] https://the.akdn/en/where-we-work/west-africa/mali/cultural-development-mali

[6] https://edmondfortier.org.br/fr/postal/soudan-djenne-ruines-de-lancienne-mosquee/?highlight=Djenne

 

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JONES STUDIO HOUSES: Sensual Modernism

Jones Studio Homes: Sensual Modernism is a self-imposed limited look at the 40-year-plus career of Eddie Jones. Almost unheard of outside the southwest United States, Jones has quietly accumulated a body of work ranging beyond residential design to include major federal projects impacting the edges of America… to be featured in a soon to be published monograph!

Supported by Aaron Betsky’s insightful forward, plus an enlightening interview with Vladimir Belogolovsky, and comments from many of his famous colleagues, Jones summarizes his lifelong dance with architecture through the personal stories embedded in each house. Refusing to repeat himself, the work tests the reality of gravity on a diverse spectrum of interpretive vernacular responses to climate, landscape and function. Although designed by the same hand, the forms vary as much as the choice of materials. Rammed earth, concrete, wood and metal are explored together and separately yet remain subordinate to Jones’ fascination with glass.

Utilizing photographs, hand-drawings and first-person accounts, the motivations and joy of being an architect are expressed by an exceptional whole informed by many ordinary parts.

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Stuccoed in Time at 99% Invisible

Santa Fe is famous in part for a particular architectural style, an adobe look that’s known as Pueblo Revival. This aesthetic combines elements of indigenous pueblo architecture and New Mexico’s old Spanish missions, resulting in mostly low, brown buildings with smooth edges. Buildings in the city’s historic districts have to follow a number of design guidelines so that they conform with the dominant style. Deviating from those aesthetics can stir up a lot of controversy.

But this adherence to the “Santa Fe Style” hasn’t always been the norm. For a time, there was actually a powerful push to “Americanize” the city’s built environment. Then, over a century ago, a group of preservationists laid out a vision for the look and feel of Santa Fe architecture, and in the process dramatically transformed the town.

Learn more about the controversies and conundrums of what some call Santa Fake, the history of adobe in Santa Fe, and the how preservation and tradition have been at odds with each other at 99% Invisible.

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Building with Cob

 

Building with Cob (2006) by Adam Weismann & Katy Bryce

Before founding a world leading clay plaster company, Clayworks Ltd, Adam Weismann and Katy Bryce specialised in earth building, with a particular love of Cob. The couple built many cob structures, with clients including HRH Prince of Wales, and finished the exteriors in Lime and the interiors in Clay. It was during this time that Adam and Katy developed a particular interest in clay plaster finishes. Their book, Building with Cob: A Step-by-Step Guide (Sustainable Building) shows how to apply this ancient technique in a wide variety of contemporary situations, covering everything from design and siting, mixing, building walls, fireplaces, ovens and floors, lime and other natural finishes, and gaining planning permission and building regulation approval. It also explains in detail how to sensitively restore an old cob structure.

Building with Cob was described by David Pearson (Author of The New Natural House Book) as ‘An inspiring vision and practical guide to one of the most versatile building materials’.

Keith Hall, Editor of Building for a Future magazine, concluded ‘This has got to be the most practical and beautifully illustrated book on earth building every published’.

The highly illustrated book, abundant with photographs, has step by step instructions for creating cob structures as well as information on natural finishes including lime plasters and home-made clay finishes. It also contains advice on how to construct a cob building that complies with modern building standards and guidance on restoring and repairing old cob structures.