Compressive Test

Publicerad den mars 11, 2013december 22, 2013 Publicerat i UncategorizedMärkt earth architecture, local materials, natural building, natural materials, rammed earthLämna en kommentar

Hej! We had a long break but we are back. I made laboratory tests at the GeoLab at Chalmers University of Technology. First I made sedimentation tests, and then I selected a soil suitable to ram, it was amazing to achieve a compressive strength of 1.8 N/mm2, is still low I know, but is not so far from the strength required in rammed earth buildings, around 2-4 N/mm2. Lets remember that the soil was not modified from its original state, no aggregates were added for this experiments. Interesting!

-David

Rammed Earth Sample – Video

Publicerad den december 7, 2012december 22, 2013 Publicerat i UncategorizedMärkt earth architecture, local materials, natural building, natural materials, rammed earthLämna en kommentar

Hej igen! EarthLab finally found some clay near Chalmers, so we filled up some buckets and started with the process of ramming earth! The soil is not modified from its natural condition in this example. There are many ways of doing these tests, better ways for sure; but this is for EarthLab a good opportunity to have fun and understand the material. What we used is a carton board as a mould, the first times Shea almost broke the mould because of the force when ramming, in the future we will experiment with ABS pipes or stronger materials. So here is a short video of the process, hope you enjoy it and leave some comments!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzalgvAKc8A&feature=youtu.be

The Chapel of Reconciliation

Publicerad den november 6, 2012december 22, 2013 Publicerat i UncategorizedMärkt earth architecture, natural building, natural materials, rammed earthLämna en kommentar

Hej igen! In October Shea and David visited the Chapel of Reconciliation, a small construction located in the heart of the Memorial. In 1985 the old Church of Reconciliation was demolished due to the works for the Wall. In 1999 a new church was built, Berlin architects Rudolf Reitermann and Peter Sassenroth first proposed concrete and glass, but the parishioners found that the concrete bore too strong a reminiscence to the Wall. In the end, rammed earth and wood were the chosen materials; the walls are built just with clay, sand, gravel and broken bricks from the excavations. Amazing!!