Building with Earth: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture

Textile walls with loam infill

A BRL research project begun in 1977

examined various approaches to forming

walls using textile components filled with

clayey soil, pumice or sand.

Illustration 15.47shows the dome structure

built in 1977, from earth-filled polyester

hoses.

Two newly developed systems were tested

in a prototypical low-cost house intended

for earthquake-prone areas in developing

countries. The first, illustrated in 15. 5 0, con-

sisted of walls formed by two layers of jute

fabric. Thin wooden posts are hammered

into the ground, and the fabric fixed to

these from the inside. The space between

is filled with soil.

The research also showed that wall ele-

ments of this type without infill can be pre-

fabricated to lengths of up to 10 m and

then folded and rolled up into small bundles

(see 15.48and 15.49).

The second system consists of hoses of

jute fabric filled with pumice or sandy soil

(15. 51). The fabric is covered with several

147 Earthquake-resistant building

15.42Manufacturing
custom-tailored adobes
15.43Preparing bamboo
arches
15.44Test vault
15.45Vault with post-
tensioned membrane
cover
15.46Design for an
orphanage in Bam, Iran
15.47Dome, Kassel,
Germany, 1997
15.48 to 15.49Prefabri-
cated wall elements
15.50Prototype building,
Kassel, Germany, 1978

15.47

15.48 15.49

15.50