Building with Earth: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture

layers of lime paint (15.52) in order to pre-
vent rotting of the material and to stabilise
the surface and make it waterproof.
As part of a cooperative research project of
the BRL with UFM and CEMAT from
Guatemala in 1978, a 55 m^2 low-cost proto-
type house was erected in Guatemala using
earth-filled hoses for the walls. This tech-
nique, developed during experiments with
the earth-filled hose technique described
earlier, and adapted to local conditions in
Guatemala (15.53to 15. 55), shows very
good earthquake resistance due to its duc-
tility. Here, the hoses, measuring 10 cm in
diameter, were made from cotton fabric,
and were filled with volcanic soil containing
mainly pumice. They were dipped into lime
milk (in order to prevent rotting of the fab-
ric), and then stacked between twin vertical
posts erected at distances of 2.25 m.
Additional stability was provided by bam-
boo rods fixed vertically at a spacing of 45
cm within each panel. After the walls were
stacked, they were finished with two layers

of lime paint. The roof structure rests on

independent posts located 50 cm away

from the walls on the inside. The material

costs of this structure were only about one

half the cost of a comparable house made

of cement concrete blocks.

Walls built of fabric hoses filled with mineral

lightweight loam are described in chapter

10, p. 90 and chapter 14, p. 133.

148 Earthquake-resistant building

15.51 to 15.52Prototype

building, Kassel, Germany

15.53 to 15.55Low-cost

housing prototype, Gua-

temala, 1978

15.51 15.52

15.54

15.55

15.53