Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

8.5
8.6 Traditional wet
loam construction,
northwest Ghana
(after Schreckenbach,
no date)
8.7 Typical dwelling,
northwest Ghana
(after Schreckenbach,
no date)
a compound built using a similar primitive
technique.
In northwest Ghana, 40-cm-thick walls
have been constructed with wet loam clods
using another traditional technique. Here,
they are built up in layers so that each successive
layer slightly overlaps the previous
one (8.6). The rooms of these houses are
more or less rectangular, and have rounded
corners (8.7).
In north Yemen, multi-storeyed houses have
been built using a wet loam technique
called zabur (8.8, 8.9 and 8.10). Here, clods
of straw loam are shaped by hand and
thrown with strong impact to build the wall
in such a way that they are compacted and
adhere to the base, forming a homogenous
mass. The surface is often beaten and compacted
by hammering with a kind of wooden
trowel.
A technique of building using loam clods
called “cob” was widespread in southwest
England beginning in the 15th century, and
was used at least until the 19th century,
especially in Devon. Hill describes this technique
as follows: a man stands with a threepronged
pitchfork on the plinth of the wall,
while a second man forms clods as large
as two fists. The second man then throws
the clods to the first one, who catches them
on his pitchfork and, walking backwards,
throws them onto the wall. Where necessary,
he also compacts the wall with his feet.
In this way, layers 50 to 60 cm in height are
built up. To give an even finish, the surface
is sliced. Wall thicknesses are generally
45 to 60 cm (McCann, 1983). Illustration
8.12 shows a house, one still inhabited, at
8.7
8.6
8.3
8.4
73
Direct forming