Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

14.80 Bedroom, private
residence in Kassel,
Germany
14.81 Wash basin, private
residence in Kassel,
Germany
14.81
formaldehyde in the joint mixture prevents
this, it should be mentioned that this chemical
is carcinogenic.
Even the wall behind the shower can be of
loam, as long as the shower curtain wraps
around to prevent it from getting splashed,
see 14.80. Illustration 14.78, shows a ”loam
wallpaper“ over a bath tub. Old curtain fabric
was dipped into clayey loam slurry and
slapped onto the wall and sculpted with
the fingers. This surface can easily be made
water-resistant by coating it with waterrepellents,
double-boiled linseed oil, waterglass
or other paints and coatings.
Built-in furniture and sanitary objects
from loam
As already indicated, the plasticity of loam
allows not only for the building of exterior
walls, ceilings and floors but also of built-in
furniture. For this, loam elements when still
wet are particularly suitable as they can be
given a great variety of shapes; they also
open up new aesthetic possibilities.
The bedroom wall shown in 14.80 is both
an external wall and a built-in closet. It is
built from stranglehm elements (see chapter
8, p. 77). The side partition walls of the
wardrobe also buttress the exterior wall.
The bamboo rod, built in during construc-
14.80
tion, acts as a hanger rod, and also stiffens
the side partition walls. On another external
wall of this bedroom, shown in 8.25, p. 77,
niches and ledges for storing personal
effects were carved out of the stranglehm
wall.
Shelves can be easily fixed between stranglehm
walls (see chapter 8, p. 77) or lightweight
loam-filled hoses (see chapter 10,
p. 90). Illustration 14.79 shows such shelves
and a mirror integrated into the wall.
Illustration 14.82 shows a bathroom whose
central shower, adjacent planter and bath
tab are covered by loam-filled hoses.
Even washbasins can be built from unbaked
loam. The example shown in 14.81 is made
of a special sandy loam with high binding
force, in which shrinkage cracks were totally
avoided. To this mixture 6% double-boiled
linseed oil was added. After drying, the
basin was coated with a layer of linseed oil.
The example in 14.79 was used for fourteen
years without signs of deterioration.
In both cases, trap and drain fittings were
mounted in a small ceramic bowl, around
which the loam was arranged. It is sculpted
of unbaked loam stabilised by 6% of
casein-lime glue. Both washbasins proved
to be waterproof.
133
Designs of building elements