Eartha

EARTHA, The East Anglian Regional Telluric Houses Association, is an organization whose aims and objectives are to encourage the development of expertise and understanding in all aspects of earth building in the east of England by:

Establishing a network of people from various professions and trades all of whom have an interest in the study, maintenance and promotion of earth buildings in the east of England: through links with ICOMOS it will join with other networks in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

Providing a forum for discussion of issues relating to earth building in the east of England.

Providing advice on the repair and maintenance of earth buildings through an information service, the publication of technical guidance and the organisation of practical demonstrations, exhibitions and seminars.

Establishing mutually beneficial links with groups and individuals working with earth buildings in the other parts of the Britain and abroad.

Collaborating with other networks to prepare and publish information manual covering all aspects of the construction, repair and maintenance of earth buildings including composite structures, daubs, renders and plasters.

Encouraging and supporting training in the field of earth building and associated skills.

Encouraging the revival of appropriate earth building techniques for new building construction and investigating the potential of the material for low energy buildings.

L’Association Nationale des Professionnels de la TERRE Crue

L’Association Nationale des Professionnels de la TERRE Crue fédère les acteurs et actrices de la construction en terre crue en France. Elle regroupe des artisans et des chefs d’entreprise, des producteurs de matériaux, des architectes, des ingénieurs, et des organismes de formation professionnelle. Elle accueille aussi des représentants d’organismes régionaux (parcs…) ou d’autres associations développant des activités dans le domaine de l’architecture de terre (valorisation des patrimoines nationaux, architecture contemporaine, recherche sur les matériaux et les techniques…).

http://www1.accorhotels.com.au/Novotel-Ningaloo/default_en.aspx

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/11/emw570973.htm

Modern Concrete Grew from Traditional Rammed Earth

In the book Concrete: The Vision of a New Architecture Peter Collins describes how the origins of modern concrete evolved from technological developments pertaining directly to the traditional use of rammed earth in France. He writes:

“…when concrete did again come into use as a building material, it evolved from an entirely independent, and much more humble origin: pisé [rammed earth]. The peculiarity of pisé construction thus lay not only in the economy of using earth as a building material, but in the process whereby a building was moulded into shape, and it was inevitable that sooner or later some far-sighted individuals should appreciate the revolutionary possibilities of this method of construction, and seek to extend it by improving on the material used. The most obvious improvement was to increase the cohesion of the earth by mixing in a binding material such as mortar, and this had in fact already been done by [Jean-Baptiste] Rondelet when repairing the château in Ain. It was left to others to experiment with suitable hard aggregates, and produce modern concrete, or, as it was termed in French, béton. The first of the pioneers was an ingenious but ambitions building labourer named François Cointeraux.” – Peter Collins, Concrete: The Vision of a New Architecture (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2004), 20-21.

The Future of Mud: A Tale of Houses and Lives in Djenne

The Future of Mud: A Tale of Houses and Lives in Djenne, a new film by Susan Vogel and presented by the Musée National du Mali, is the story of Komusa, master mason and heir to the secrets of Djenne architecture. He hopes his son will continue the family profession and maintain their world heritage city – but Djenne is connected to a global world now, and competing ideas about the future have arrived. Documentary footage and staged scenes tell an intimate story of family tensions, contemporary building practices, and the precarious future of the renowned mud architecture of Mali.

Treehugger writes of the film:

A “collective connection to earthen architecture is best seen in the film’s footage of the annual re-plastering of the town’s pride, the Great Mosque, which is the world’s largest earth building, in addition to being a distinguished UNESCO World Heritage site. The first earthen structure here on this site dates back to the 13th century and is re-plastered every year. The day-long, annual festival is truly a communal affair, with plenty of foreign tourists gawking on and filming the orderly chaos.”


photo of the Great Mosque of Djenne by Ferdinand Reus

The Future of Mud: A Tale of Houses and Lives in Djenne
Co-Produced with Trevor Marchand and Samuel Sidibé.
Edited by Harry Kafka. Music by Issa Bagayogo. In Bamana, French, English with English subtitles. Color, 58 minutes. Distributed by FRIF.com. Available fall 2007.

AkTerre

AKTerre is a French construction company specializing in rammed earth construction that promotes the ecological, historic and aesthetic qualities of earth construction.