Benefit of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics Approach on the Modeling of Early-Age Behavior of Rammed Earth Building

Rammed earth has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint and limit the energy consumption in the building sector due to its sustainable characteristics. Still, its use is not generalized due to a lack of understanding of the material behavior, notably its sensitivity to water. The coupled hydro-mechanical behavior has been recently studied in the framework of unsaturated soil mechanics, using suction as the parameter to represent the hydric state. This dependency of the mechanical behavior on the hydric state leads to uncertainty of the drying period required to progress in the construction process. Notably, the drying period before building the next floor is unknown. To determine the drying period, thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled finite element method simulations were carried out on a single wall by using the unsaturated soil mechanics approach and safety criterion recommendations from the practical guide for rammed earth construction in France. It was determined that it takes significant time for the construction of additional floor both in ‘summer-like’ and ‘winter-like’ environmental conditions, whereas the walls were far away from the ultimate failure state. Thus the drying periods were overestimated. It was concluded that the safety criterion from the practical guide is very conservative and drying periods can be reduced without significantly compromising the safety factor.

Renewal of the Abject; Manure-facturing in the Horowhenua District

<p>Two prominent issues are affecting the vitality of regional settlements in the New Zealand context. Firstly, urbanisation has meant the migration of young workers and professionals to creative and economic urban centres, leaving demographic gaps in the regions and a dwindling population. Secondly, the exploitation of regional landscapes by cities has led to severe degradation of extensive wetland ecosystems. Wetlands drained for farming, large-scale deforestation and industrial settlements established to support agriculture and forestry contribute to the artificial landscape morphology. New Zealand’s waterways and lakes now suffer from eutrophication; an enrichment of nutrients caused by dairy run-off and increased sediments, characterised by a build-up of organic matter producing toxic algae bloom. Titled ‘Renewal of the Abject’, this project is a speculative design that aims to reconcile the problematic relationship between the dairy industry and the environment. Architectural infrastructure and landscape renewal present an opportunity to challenge current urban planning tendencies in the Horowhenua District. The project proposes to reinvigorate small towns with a self-sufficient and forward planning urban framework. Levin, a prominent industrial town at the centre of the Horowhenua District, clings to the vital transport connection between Wellington and Auckland, feeding off the economic lifeline of passing traffic. With the proposed changes by NZTA to create a State Highway One Bypass east of Levin, the CBD may suffer economically leading to population decline. Lake Horowhenua, west of the town centre, was once the heart of the District with an abundance of food and natural resources. It is now considered one of the worst lakes in New Zealand based on its poor condition. Integrating infrastructure and megastructure challenges modernist attempts to zone cities by function and aims to build clean infrastructure integrated into compact urban areas. Architecture as infrastructure challenges the public understanding of production and manufacturing and their natural consequences. A redefinition of industry for the twenty-first century could improve its detrimental relationship with the environment. Clean infrastructure eliminates the need to build industries on remote brown sites, focusing on the prevention of adverse effects on the landscape and the population’s health and wellbeing. The concept of using manure-loam composite as a structural building material provides new opportunities for cost-effective architecture for towns that are economically struggling. The material is renewable and easily accessed in New Zealand, while rammed earth construction enables future growth and expansion. Using an artistic approach in constructing manure-loam buildings has the potential to produce an aesthetic distinctive of rural New Zealand. ‘Renewal of the Abject’ proposes a Megastructure to enforce a powerful urban connection between the hills and the lake with a self-sufficient spine making use of dairy waste and sewage as a building material. The reimagining of this abject materiality forms a critical discourse throughout the project influencing additional design explorations. This thesis explores current thinking around urban planning, Material production and reuse, and architectural detailing through design-led research. Perhaps, presenting an issue of scope where design exploration entered different academic fields, touching upon charged lines of research, rather than solely interrogating the architectural discipline. Proposing a megastructure in the Horowhenua district would seem counterproductive in this degraded landscape. However, compacting urban sprawl into a dense core along the eastwest axis sets out a development framework that conserves land and maximises public activity at the centre of a currently sleepy town. The megastructure can expand along this line, servicing the functions of Levin in a self-sufficient manner, unlike a typical New Zealand strip town that feeds off services along the main highway. Integrating infrastructure and megastructure challenges modernist attempts to zone cities by function and aims to build clean infrastructure integrated into compact urban areas. Architecture as infrastructure challenges the public understanding of production and manufacturing and their natural consequences. A redefinition of industry for the twenty-first century could improve its detrimental relationship with the environment. Clean infrastructure eliminates the need to build industries on remote brown sites, focusing on the prevention of adverse effects on the landscape and the population’s health and wellbeing. The concept of using manure-loam composite as a structural building material provides new opportunities for cost-effective architecture for towns that are economically struggling. The material is renewable and easily accessed in New Zealand, while rammed earth construction enables future growth and expansion. Using an artistic approach in constructing manure-loam buildings has the potential to produce an aesthetic distinctive of rural New Zealand.</p>

Renewal of the Abject; Manure-facturing in the Horowhenua District

<p>Two prominent issues are affecting the vitality of regional settlements in the New Zealand context. Firstly, urbanisation has meant the migration of young workers and professionals to creative and economic urban centres, leaving demographic gaps in the regions and a dwindling population. Secondly, the exploitation of regional landscapes by cities has led to severe degradation of extensive wetland ecosystems. Wetlands drained for farming, large-scale deforestation and industrial settlements established to support agriculture and forestry contribute to the artificial landscape morphology. New Zealand’s waterways and lakes now suffer from eutrophication; an enrichment of nutrients caused by dairy run-off and increased sediments, characterised by a build-up of organic matter producing toxic algae bloom. Titled ‘Renewal of the Abject’, this project is a speculative design that aims to reconcile the problematic relationship between the dairy industry and the environment. Architectural infrastructure and landscape renewal present an opportunity to challenge current urban planning tendencies in the Horowhenua District. The project proposes to reinvigorate small towns with a self-sufficient and forward planning urban framework. Levin, a prominent industrial town at the centre of the Horowhenua District, clings to the vital transport connection between Wellington and Auckland, feeding off the economic lifeline of passing traffic. With the proposed changes by NZTA to create a State Highway One Bypass east of Levin, the CBD may suffer economically leading to population decline. Lake Horowhenua, west of the town centre, was once the heart of the District with an abundance of food and natural resources. It is now considered one of the worst lakes in New Zealand based on its poor condition. Integrating infrastructure and megastructure challenges modernist attempts to zone cities by function and aims to build clean infrastructure integrated into compact urban areas. Architecture as infrastructure challenges the public understanding of production and manufacturing and their natural consequences. A redefinition of industry for the twenty-first century could improve its detrimental relationship with the environment. Clean infrastructure eliminates the need to build industries on remote brown sites, focusing on the prevention of adverse effects on the landscape and the population’s health and wellbeing. The concept of using manure-loam composite as a structural building material provides new opportunities for cost-effective architecture for towns that are economically struggling. The material is renewable and easily accessed in New Zealand, while rammed earth construction enables future growth and expansion. Using an artistic approach in constructing manure-loam buildings has the potential to produce an aesthetic distinctive of rural New Zealand. ‘Renewal of the Abject’ proposes a Megastructure to enforce a powerful urban connection between the hills and the lake with a self-sufficient spine making use of dairy waste and sewage as a building material. The reimagining of this abject materiality forms a critical discourse throughout the project influencing additional design explorations. This thesis explores current thinking around urban planning, Material production and reuse, and architectural detailing through design-led research. Perhaps, presenting an issue of scope where design exploration entered different academic fields, touching upon charged lines of research, rather than solely interrogating the architectural discipline. Proposing a megastructure in the Horowhenua district would seem counterproductive in this degraded landscape. However, compacting urban sprawl into a dense core along the eastwest axis sets out a development framework that conserves land and maximises public activity at the centre of a currently sleepy town. The megastructure can expand along this line, servicing the functions of Levin in a self-sufficient manner, unlike a typical New Zealand strip town that feeds off services along the main highway. Integrating infrastructure and megastructure challenges modernist attempts to zone cities by function and aims to build clean infrastructure integrated into compact urban areas. Architecture as infrastructure challenges the public understanding of production and manufacturing and their natural consequences. A redefinition of industry for the twenty-first century could improve its detrimental relationship with the environment. Clean infrastructure eliminates the need to build industries on remote brown sites, focusing on the prevention of adverse effects on the landscape and the population’s health and wellbeing. The concept of using manure-loam composite as a structural building material provides new opportunities for cost-effective architecture for towns that are economically struggling. The material is renewable and easily accessed in New Zealand, while rammed earth construction enables future growth and expansion. Using an artistic approach in constructing manure-loam buildings has the potential to produce an aesthetic distinctive of rural New Zealand.</p>

Raw Earth Construction Perspectives in Italy: An Overview Through the Rehabilitations of Casa Fenu in Villamassargia, Sardinia, and Casa di Teresa in Casalincontrada, Abruzzo

A detailed analysis of the rehabilitation processes of two publicly owned buildings in Sardinia and Abruzzo is taken as a basis for describing the background, difficulties and possible future developments of raw earth as a building material in Italy. Earthen construction techniques, despite a rich tradition and extensive documentation, are still considered outdated, and their use today requires a fortunate confluence of contextual factors. Archival research, literature review and a study of manuals were coupled with an examination of urban plans and public policies, as well as interviews with experts and stakeholders. This multi-approach research shows that there is a strong need to appropriate traditional knowledge so as to translate local skills into viable solutions able to meet today’s needs. The key issue may be investment in training and dissemination. The mindset of the artisan, that of the homo faber (Sennet 2008), needs to be more widely associated with action toward sustainable local development.

Evaluation and Analysis of Unit Prices of a Rammed Earth Construction System

The tapial is part of the traditional construction worldwide, which uses environmentally friendly materials of natural origin such as raw earth, wood and water for its manufacture. The construction technique was used for the construction of habitable spaces, which are part of the ancestral construction system of our country; Despite the above, no updated studies on the costs required in the construction process have been identified in Ecuador. This is mainly due to the constant development of new technologies that introduce new construction systems to the market that use industrialized materials for their manufacture. Therefore, this document evaluated and analyzed the unit prices of the items involved in the construction of works using mud as its main component. Field and exploratory research was applied, through the application of surveys to a sample of 97 professionals of Civil Engineering and Architecture in the city of Cuenca, as well as 30 professionals with experience in construction of the indicated construction system. The Unit Price Analysis determined that the average cost of a 140 m2 typical house is $ 46,236.64 with an estimated cost of $ 330.26 per square meter; Similarly, the study determined a maximum cost of $ 53,172.14 USD with a value of $ 379.80 USD per square meter and a minimum value that represents $ 39,301.14 with a cost per square meter of $ 280.72.