Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

Farmhouse, Wazirpur, India
Architects: Gernot Minke, Kassel, Germany,
and DAAT, New Delhi, India
Completion: 1993
Area: 206 m 2
Walls: Stone columns with adobe infill
Roof: Double layer of sand stone slabs with
air cavity
The single-storeyed house, with a floor area
(including veranda) of 206 m 2 , is mostly
set into the earth berms towards the north
of the lake. The south side is exposed to
the winter sun and is shaded against the
summer sun by overhangs and louvers.
The rooms are arranged around a central
patio containing a small pool with plants.
This enables cross ventilation for all rooms
and cooling by evaporation. The plan was
generated by a pattern of octagons and
squares. The structural frame consists of
load-bearing stone columns which support
beams and stone slabs to form slightly
domical enclosures over all rooms. A light
coloured stone roof above this structure
creates an air cavity and thus reflects solar
radiation and provides shade to the thin
roof below. The infill walls are built with
adobes (handmade mud bricks). Wherever
the berms cover the external face, an air
cavity is formed by an inclined stone slab
resting against the wall. All external surfaces
of the building have either air cavities
or summer shading by overhangs and louvers.
The stone louvers of all windows are
designed to take over the function of the
usual steel security grill, and at the same
time provide sun shading as well as the
reflection of daylight into the rooms.
Additional cooling in the summer months
is provided to all rooms by an earth tunnel
system. The distance from the 2 kW fan
to the building is about 60 m. The section
consists of two masonry ducts at average
depths of 3 m below surface. The maximum
air velocity is kept to 6 m/sec.
The elements of passive climatisation are
shown in the drawing below.
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Built examples