Building with Earth: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture

Blocks of earth produced manually by

throwing wet earth into a formwork are

called “adobes” or “mud bricks” or “sun-

dried earth blocks.” When moist earth is

compacted in a manual or powered press,

the compressed elements so formed are

called “soil blocks.” In their unbaked state,

bricks produced by an extruder in a brick

plant are called “green bricks.” These three

types of blocks are usually the same size as

baked bricks. Larger blocks, compacted in a

formwork by ramming, are called “rammed

earth blocks.”

Some countries have standardised measure-

ments for these blocks. The two sizes used

most commonly in Germany, for example,

are:

NF (normal format) = 71 x 115 x 240 mm

2DF (double thin format) = 113 x 115 x 240

mm.

Illustration 6.1shows different shapes and

sizes of green bricks produced industrially

by an extrusion process common in the

German market. Specific applications of

these different types of blocks in walls,

floors, vaults and domes are described in

chapter 14.

History

Building with earthen blocks is widespread

in all hot-dry, subtropical and moderate

climates. Earth block buildings dating from

8000 to 6000 BC have been found in

Turkestan (Pumpelly, 1908), and ones from

ca. 4000 BC in Assyria. Visible even today

in Upper Egypt are monumental structures

about 3200 years old, such as the huge

earth block fortification wall of Medinet

Habu and the vaults of the storage rooms

in the temple area of Ramses II near

Gourna (1.1).

The technique of making vaults and domes

from earth blocks without supports during

construction (centring or shuttering) was

known to many cultures (see chapter 14,

p. 117). For centuries, Pueblo Indians in Taos,

New Mexico, built their houses using the

earth from the sites themselves, the water

from nearby streams, and straw from the

fields (6.3).

The historical core of the city of Shibam,

Yemen, covering about 20,000 m^2 and

accessible only through a single gateway,

was built entirely in adobe. Many houses

61 Working with earthen blocks

6Working with earthen blocks

6.1Industrially pro-
duced green bricks,
Germany
6.2Ancient core
of the city of Shibam,
Yemen

6.2

6.1