Our project and model arises from a study about the intersection between mud with high clay content used to make adobe bricks and it’s relationship to the earth adjacent materials of wood and rockite.

This project was inspired by a corner in room 5 of the Macha Village Center, which uses all three materials in a very cohesive, layered manner. However, instead of using rammed earth (the earthen material in the Macha Village Center), our adobe was inspired by dried, cracked, sun-baked earth and its unique pattern in desert environments. Our bricks are meant to resemble the rugged natural landscape, as opposed to the clean, uniform look of many adobe brick projects.

We used a cardboard form reinforced with wood panels to create the rockite base. We used a the laser-cutter for the layers of wood. For the adobe, we used 6 thin forms and let the abode crack in natural ways when releasing the material from form. Our adobe was high in clay content, and we mixed in a lemon starry soda hoping to make the bricks lighter in color.

We were interested in our models functionality as a building; however, the unique dimensions of this project make habitability difficult. Our model is best viewed as an art piece, an homage to the ancient technique of adobe brick making and its intersection with common construction materials in contemporary buildings.

The adobe bricks to the right of our model serve as an example of the aforementioned clean, uniform abode bricks and highlight the contrast in our approach to the material.