Category: * Compressed Earth Block

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Hassell Studio: The Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Center

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.

The new space in Bidi Bidi will offer an acoustic recording studio and performance space, as well clean water collected from rain.

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

Photography: Mutua Matheka

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Diseño Norteño: Project OJA

Photo by Diseño Norteño

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/

Diseño Norteño. (@disenonorteno) • Instagram photos and videos. (n.d.). Instagram. Retrieved November 5, 2024, from https://www.instagram.com/disenonorteno/

Vega, R. P. (2023, August 22). La arquitectura más allá del centro de México. Mural. https://www.mural.com.mx/la-arquitectura-mas-alla-del-centro-de-mexico/ar2661626

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H2OS

The H2OS project, or Open Source Prototype House for Eco-Villages in Senegal, is a prototype house constructed of compressed earth block, that can harvest and store water supplies for all domestic uses (drinking, cooking, washing, irrigation) and to integrate the scarce water resources in a few artificial walls. The project relies on ancient knowledge such as how to harvest rain water or how to ventilate rooms while incorporating up to date technologies for energy production from renewable sources. Learn more here.

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Primary School Tanouan Ibi

Dutch firm Levs Architecten used compressed earth blocks from local clay mines to build the barrel-vaulted structure of this primary school in the village of Tanouan Ibi.

The architects enlisted students from a nearby university and members of the local community to help construct the building, using the compressed clay bricks to build walls, floors and roofing.

More information at Dezeen.

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Revealing the Potential of Compressed Earth Blocks

Revealing the Potential of Compressed Earth Blocks—A Study in the Materiality of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB): Lightness, Tactility, and Formability, by Egyptian architect Omar Rabie, documents explorations of the potential of CEB while studying at MIT, The Architectural Association and Auroville.

In these two experimental mock-ups, Rabie explored the different possibilities of bondings using one block—specifically how the shape of the single block influences the block bonding patterns in a stack bond and running bond.

This portion of a wall was built of specially formed interlocking blocks to increase friction to test how high friction masonry wall will highly resist lateral loads in comparison to walls constructed with standard blocks. In this case, the blocks are interlocked in the long direction of the wall. This experiment proved that it is possible to freely form more complex CEBs and build walls with an unusual bonds, like this strong zigzag bond.

[ Download Rabie’s entire report here. ]

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Earth Brick Residence

The Earth Brick Residence in Chiba, Japan by Atelier Tekuto is a single story structure comprised of 2,600 compressed earth blocks stabilized with magnesium oxide. The mineral was used for masonry joint for pyramids and Great Wall in China. Its substances are extracted from the ocean or land and can be produced everywhere in the world and resourceful. Also, it is safe as food additive, and harmless enough to return to the ground.

The strength of the bricks is much greater than the traditional sun-baked earth blocks made from animal manure and lime — a process typically seen in developing nations. The different composition used in this project’s earth blocks mean that they surpass Japanese construction standards for strength, one of the most stringent in the world.

The house is the result of The Earth Block Project started in 2008, was developed together with Universities, corporations, and specialists with the idea that construction materials can be made with any soil in the world can be stronger than the existing soil construction materials and return 100% to nature.

[ Read more at Treehugger.com ]

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Youth Center In Niafourang

The Youth Center In Niafourang, designed by Project Niafourang (three architecture students at the Norwegian School of Science and Technology), was built in Niafourang, a small coastal village in the Casamance region of Senegal. The population of Niafourang is around 300 inhabitants and the village is very poor with a high unemployment rate.

The Youth Center in Niafourang contains a computer room/library and a larger multi-purpose room and hosts programs that create opportunities, jobs and development in the village. An important aspect of the project was to involve the local community in both the building and planning stages, in order to create a sense of ownership and pride in the resulting building.

The walls are built using blocks of compressed sand and a small amount of cement. The blocks were hand-pressed using a local machine with sand shoveled from a nearby ditch. Windows are positioned low on the walls with deep frames, so they can be used to sit in. Steel brackets were custom welded in a nearby village and hold the roof construction. The corrugated aluminum roof juts out beyond the walls to prevent rain from entering the building and creates shady areas to relax.

Underneath the protruding roof, a concrete belt surrounds the building creating a shady platform. The roof extends to include a second floor outside the walls of the multi-purpose room. The second floor is accessible by an outdoor ladder and functions as an extension of the library/computer room or the multi-purpose room. Angled wood planks serve as blinds, preventing both rain and direct sunlight.

[ More at ArchDaily]

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Habitat Cabo Delgado

Habitat Cabo Delgado, constructed in Mozambique by Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler Architekten Ingenieure and the Aga Khan Foundation, was founded for the purpose of create more permanent housing solutions using local, natural building materials. Local construction methods were developed and improved upon in ways tailored to local craftsmens’ abilities; thus supporting the local construction culture and reinforcing village identity.

In the first phase of the project, eleven multipurpose learning centres were built to showcase the new construction methods. To facilitate the implementation and dissemination of these techniques, a total of forty local apprentices were trained in ecological building methods – skills they could later use to support themselves financially. As models of low-cost, high-quality, sustainable construction, the learning centres were designed to inspire others to imitate the new style.

The traditional “wattle and daub” technique has been replaced with an earth-block construction method. The new buildings’ rammed-earth and earth-block foundations are stabilised with 10% cement and covered with a moisture barrier to protect them from rain and rising damp. The earth blocks used to construct the walls are stabilised through the addition of straw.

An easy-to-produce triple-layered bamboo beam has been developed for use in roof constructions; the beam is used for nearly all parts of the roof such as ring beams, purlins and triangle trusses. The prefabricated trusses have a span of 6m, enabling the construction of open-plan multipurpose buildings. The bamboo is treated with borax, a natural salt, in order to prevent damage by termites or other insects. Several different traditional palm-leaf roofing techniques are used to construct the roofs. Because locally-available resources like earth, bamboo and leaves are used as building materials, each school displays the colours of its region.