Borrowed From the Earth: Midwest Rammed Earth Architecture

This thesis explores the material rammed earth and its potential for application in the Midwest, specifically in Southern Ohio.Examining the specifics of rammed earth construction in this context will generate conclusions that have a broader application.Rammed earth construction has been used for hundreds of years in various locales for its many advantages including low material cost, low-energy processing, recyclability, indoor environmental quality, and uniquely beautiful aesthetic.The technique produces massive walls that can help mitigate temperature fluctuation, moderate indoor humidity levels, and dampen sound.Despite these advantages, there are numerous difficulties encountered in contemporary rammed earth construction, particularly in the United States.Rammed earth is highly susceptible to moisture and accepted codes and standards of practice in the U.S. reflect a general lack of acceptance of the method.To guide this exploration, the material has been approached from two distinct yet intertwining points of view: the technical and the experiential.It is in the union of these that a building project emerges, and, through detailing, interprets the unique characteristics of the material and its context."Soils, and consequently clay minerals, are the support of the most fundamental activities of mankind: agriculture, ceramics and housing.Even today about 40% of the Earth's inhabitants live in dwellings composed in part by earth, i.e., clay assemblages with other materials.Therefore, the question of the origin of clay minerals is as important as that of the origin of humanity" (Velde and Meunier, 2008).