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MUMEMO

Mumemo is a blog about a training course carried out in Mumemo (Maputo, Mozambique) on earth construction by two Portuguese architects, Miguel Mendes and Teresa Beirao, during May and August 2006. The project was created for the inhabitants of a new village, created as a resettlement for the victims of the massive floods in the year 2000. The course gave students a wide and solid knowledge about earthen construction and three main techniques (rammed earth, adobe, compressed earth blocs) as well as provided them with the ability to direct similar courses in other communities. During the course, a small 50m2 house was built.

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Buy The Book–Earth Architecture

Earth Architecture, the best-selling book born from this blog, has received several reviews. Buy Earth Architecture and read what others are talking about:

“…an excellent and thoughtful survey of earthen structures across the world and throughout building history.”—Geoff Manaugh, BLDGBLOG

“…an excellent book that outlines the history and explores in-depth contemporary uses of earth in architecture….a powerful corrective to those commentators that view buildings made of earth, or the matter that constitutes earth buildings (mud, sand, gravel, soils), as primitive, poor, or crude.”—David Gissen, Architectural Historian

“Earth Architecture compellingly underscores the need for us to rethink how we can build sustainably by using old techniques in new ways.”—Azure Magazine

written in “simple, descriptive prose, each project is traced in a way that creates an anthology and motivates the reader to further study and research. The book is rich in content and draws in other authors, architects, historical buildings and periods.”—Building Design

“…a satisfying survey both for the professional “mudder” and for those who want a quick scholarly survey of earthen buildings from all over.”—Architects Newspaper

A “Must Have”—WorldArchitectureNews.com

“…contains a wide range of modern earthen residences from the simple to the stunningly opulent. A beautiful book for earth-based building enthusiasts.”—GreenMuze.com

“…brings to the fore earth architecture and its positive impact on architectural design….an important addition to any architect’s library for its important subject matter and the quality of projects included.”—A Daily Dose of Architecture.com

Earth Architecture “charts a grand history of architectural beauty crafted from one of the humblest of building materials”.—The Age, Melbourne

Buy Earth Architecture if you live in the following countries::

[ U.S. | Japan | Germany | U.K. | France | Canada | Australia ]

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Yakhchal: Ancient Refrigerators


Yakhchal in Yazd Province

By 400 BC, Persian engineers had mastered the technique of storing ice in the middle of summer in the desert. The ice was brought in during the winters from nearby mountains in bulk amounts, and stored in a Yakhchal, or ice-pit. These ancient refrigerators were used primarily to store ice for use in the summer, as well as for food storage, in the hot, dry desert climate of Iran. The ice was also used to chill treats for royalty during hot summer days and to make faloodeh, the traditional Persian frozen dessert.

Aboveground, the structure is comprised of a large mud brick dome, often rising as tall as 60 feet tall. Below are large underground spaces, up to 5000m³, with a deep storage space. The space often had access to a Qanat, or wind catchand often contained a system of windcatchers that could easily bring temperatures inside the space down to frigid levels in summer days.


NimVar Yakhchal


Image Credit


Image Credit


Image Credit

The Yakhchal have thick mud brick walls that are up to two meters thick at the base, made out of a special mortar called s?rooj, composed of sand, clay, egg whites, lime, goat hair, and ash in specific proportions, and which was resistant to heat transfer. This mixture was thought to be completely water impenetrable.


Meraji Yakhchal

The massive insulation and the continuous cooling waters that spiral down its side keep the ice stored there in winter frozen throughout the summer. These ice houses used in desert towns from antiquity have a trench at the bottom to catch what water does melt from the ice and allow it to refreeze during the cold desert nights. The ice is broken up and moved to caverns deep in the ground. As more water runs into the trench the process is repeated.


The twin ice-pits on Sirjan, Kerman Province, are surrounded by high walls and were constructed 108 years ago with mud-brick, the ice-pits are surrounded by high walls.

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EarthCo Megablock™

The EarthCo Megablock™ is a construction delivery system that combines onsite manufacturing with a simple and efficient mechanical placement. The system converts local soils into giant modular building blocks—a small block can measure 18” wide by 12” tall is over 14 feet long and weighs more than 1 ton.


Example of an compressed and extruded Megablock™

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Earthquake Resistant Housing

Specialist earth builder, President of the Earth Building Association of Australia, and guest researcher in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Peter Hickson, has combined one the world’s most ancient building techniques, “cob” construction, with modern engineering methods to develop a model house as part of an effort to createlow cost earthquake resistant housing for millions of people around the world. Hickson’s house introduces many new technologies, but what makes his system unique structurally is the addition of internalbamboo reinforcing and the use of structural diaphragms. Read more about Hickson’s research.

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Earthquake Proofing Traditional Peruvian Houses

Since 1970, Peru has been hit by five powerful and deadly earthquakes. The latest struck Peru’s coast exactly two years ago with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale. It fiercely shook the capital Lima, but its devastating epicentre was about 200km (124 miles) to the south, near the town of Pisco, a small fishing port built largely of adobe – mud bricks which Peruvians have used for thousands of years. For Peruvian engineer Marcial Blondet, it was the devastating quake in 1970 that first motivated him to develop earthquake-resistant buildings, particularly for those who could least afford them. Mr Blondet and his team found a solution in an industrial plastic mesh used by mining companies to hold back earth on slopes. It is strong, cheap and easy to use. Securely enveloping a normal mud-brick home in the mesh can prevent the walls from collapsing in an earthquake. The building wobbles but it does not fall down.

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Modern Rammed Chalk


Credit: The White balance

Dan Brill Architects has designed a £50,000 extension to an Edwardian home on the outskirts of Winchester using rammed chalk. The chalk, which makes up the soil of the site was considered as it is a traditional technique in the region and because of the large amount of excavation required to accommodate the addition.


Credit: The White balance

The clients, who wanted something contemporary and innovative, appreciated rammed earth and more so the pristine appearance of the stark, white chalk walls. The material has been used in modern construction in the Pines Calyx project. It was also used in the construction of eight experimental cottages at the Department of Industrial Science and Research at Amesbury between 1919 and 1921. Construction is slated for later this year.

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Oaxaca School of Plastic Arts by Mauricio Rocha

The Oaxaca School of Plastic Arts was designed by Taller de Arquitectura—Mauricio Rocha at the request of artist Francisco Toledo, in collaboration with the Benito Juárez University. An important premise incorporated into the project was the presence on the plot of land of a Mixtec ball game, used on weekends by players.

Several campus construction project occurring at the same time made available a tremendous amount of earth, inspiring Rocha to construct several of the buildings within complex out of rammed earth. This enhanced the quality of the exterior courtyards and created a comfortable micro-climate within the building optimal for Oaxaca. Other buildings are made of stone and create a series of inhabitable terraces.

Exterior courtyards suggest a floor layout in the shape of a chessboard, where the alternation between mass and space in the walkways creates a variety of views and paths.

Read more about The Oaxaca School of Plastic Arts.