Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

15.31
15.30
OSB e = 9 mm
Beam, pine
OSB e = 9 mm
Lightweight loam
Pine e = 2"
Ring beam Ø 5"
Vertical reinforcement
(coligüe) Ø 3", d = 60 cm
Rammed earth
Damp-proofing
Floor
Damp-proofing
Sand
Fine gravel
Coarse gravel
Scale
Stone
Galvanized sheet metal
Wind barrier
Thermal insulation 100 mm
Vapour barrier
Natural ground
Post 5"
Wooden
reinforcement
1 kg alum, 1 kg clayey soil and about
40 litres of water.
In 1998 the BRL developed another reinforced
rammed earth wall system that was
utilised for a low-cost housing project built
in cooperation with the University of Santiago
de Chile in Alhué, Chile, in 2001 (see
15.30 and 15.31). Here too, the idea was to
separate the roof from the wall system and
to use U-shape and L-shape elements,
which stabilise themselves by their shape.
To obtain additional stability, they were reinforced
by vertical rods of coligüe (similar to
bamboo), 3 to 5 cm in diameter. Wall elements
were also always separated by light,
flexible elements, or by doors and windows.
The lower parts of the windows and the
parts above the doors were not built with
solid elements, but of light timber. The
gables were built in lightweight straw-loam
stabilised by wooden elements, similar to
the wattle-and-daub system.
Compacted earth
Stones
Footing (poor concrete)
Reinforcement (coligüe)
15.32
143
Earthquake-resistant building