Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

Michael E. Reynolds built several residences
in New Mexico, USA, having walls made of
discarded car tyres filled with soil dug out of
the foundation. Only the top tyre was filled
with concrete to which a wooden ring
anchor was fixed. The interior surface was
covered with expanded metal mesh reinforcement
and then plastered.
Earth-filled bags
The Building Research Laboratory (BRL),
University of Kassel, Germany, tested several
approaches to building walls of earth- or
sand-filled bags or hoses. Illustration 14.5
shows a dome built in 1977 of sand and
earth-filled hoses of polyester fabric; 14.6
shows the wall of a low-cost housing prototype
built in Kassel in 1978. In the latter
case, the hoses were made of jute fabric
covered by several layers of lime wash to
prevent rotting.
The California architect Nader Khalili further
developed this idea utilising endless hoses,
usually used to make bags for sugar or flour.
Illustrations 14.7 and 14.8 show the filling
and the ramming process; 14.9 displays a
built example in Brazil.
Intermediate floors
Traditional loam floors
In traditional German timber frame houses,
the intermediate floors were filled with
loam to increase fire resistance, sound insulation,
and sometimes thermal insulation as
well. The traditional techniques described
here are very labour-intensive and, therefore,
are used nowadays in renovation work
only if required by historic landmark preser-
14.7 Filling of hoses
14.8 Ramming of hoses
14.9 Residence, Brazil
14.10 Rammed earth
flooring on joists
14.11 Spalier flooring
14.12 Flooring made of
straw loam rolls
14.13 Vertical section
through timber flooring
with infill of green bricks
14.14 Earthen jack vault
flooring
14.9
vation codes.
14.7
14.8
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Designs of building elements