building with fire 1:1 experimental building construction workshop “a baked insitu mud house� march, 1st - 31st, 2008
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Table of Contents bAKED INSITU MUD STRUCTURES bACKROUND 6 shape development design sketches
9 11
Dome Construction Stacking Insulation Firing the House Assessment of the bricks
14 29 35 36 44
The students of TU Berlin, TU Darmstadt, ETH Zürich and Cornell University participated in the month-long workshop and apart from being involved in the building and firing of this structure, they took up individual research areas for further investigation.
Quantities & estimates
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Rainfall Process schedule
69 73
The direct involvement and overall guidance of Ray Meeker, pioneer of baked insitu structures, who devoted 15 years to developing this technology, is gratefully acknowledged. To Dr. Alka Hingorani, who spent the whole month with us in order to throughly document the project photographically as well as on film, I am also extremely grateful.
Building diary Proceeding without students
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This project was a prototype for a housing cluster for homeless children at Touttipakkam, outskirts of Pondicherry, India. By the end of the workshop, the concerned NGO, ‘Volontariat’ decided to go ahead with the complete project for an orphanage in this technique. The project is now under construction and will house upto 25 children along with their common facilities.
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People involved Material background material register Tool register
97 109 123 129
Brick production
133
Anupama Kundoo
The insitu technique
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Workshop Director
Case Studies
143
Having just submitted a PhD dissertation on the same subject and with the same title, it has been most exciting for me personally to build and test another structure in this technique first hand.
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BAKED INSITU MUD STRUCTURES BACKROUND American Ceramist Ray Meeker, living in India has over several experiments pioneered a technology to bake life-size mud houses insitu to stabilize them by converting them to ceramic, thereby making them water resistant and lasting. The fuel consumption is optimized, as the space in the house is first used as a kiln to bake terracotta building materials produced along with the house, and the heat that would normally be lost into kiln walls are tapped for converting the house walls to ceramic. This technique of brick houses makes cement mortar redundant, and as in these houses, roofs are unnecessary in achieving a stable house. Apart from direct environmental benefits of achieving low impact, high quality houses, there could be several secondary socio-economic benefits of this technology, as it is labour intensive and a producer of building materials rather than a consumer.
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SHAPE DEVELOPMENT Shape of the catenary curve [scale 1:50]
The domes have a catenary shape. Walls are completely avoided. This leads to economy as less volume of building materials are used to obtain the most stable form effectively. Further it results in a structure that is thin enough for the fire to completely penetrate, and composite brick walls composed of fired bricks towards the outside as used in previous structures can be thus completely eliminated.
4 meter dome
3 meter dome 1.50 0.2
1.94 1.90 1.86 1.82
1.46 1.43 1.39 1.35 1.30
The shape of the catenary curve was developed by freely hanging a chain. The lowest point on the chain therefore was the height of the future dome.
1.77 1.72 1.67 1.61 1.55
1.26 1.19 1.13 1.06
Old bicycle wheels procured from the junk market were used as formwork for building the window openings and later reused as window grills.
1.48 1.41 1.33 1.25
0.90 0.79
1.16 1.05 0.91 0.73 0.52 0.00
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0.98
0.66 0.49 0.00
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Design Sketches
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Dome construction Foundation The foundation is built using fired bricks, sand, cement, and aggregate. It is 1,30m deep ; 90cm in the ground and 40cm above ground.
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Based on the designed curve, a halfarch made of steel was created to replicate the form of the chain.. It is held in the center of the domes and allowed to turn around to precisely guide the shape of the mud structure during construction. A central pole is firmly anchored in the center of the structure to support the for arch. A gap of 3 cm was left between the guide and the actual masonry.. Once the dome is successfully built, the steel arch is easily dismantled and removed.
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In both the large and small dome, it was necessary for the steel arch to be anchored down. In the small dome, a footing tied to the ground held the arch. Unfortunately the steel proved too heavy and could lead to small inaccuracies. For the large dome another technique was developed. First a hole for the foundation of the pole was dug and lined with bricks. Then four columns of bricks were formed to hold the steel footing. This was all tied down and then filled with concrete. The footing is near the top of the construction so it is easier to remove after the pole is no longer needed. With most of this dome construction, having an accurate center is extremely important. From here all other walls and surfaces are measured.
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Two layers of fired bricks are placed immediately on top of the foundation. These bricks are fired in order to provide a strong base for the dome. They are spaced with a gap to allow air into the structure during the firing process. Fired bricks are also used to reinforce openings such as windows and doors. Three rings of fired bricks are located at 1,10m 2,10m and 3m respectively in the large dome. The bricks are turned 90 degrees from the others to allow their edges to have a 5cm overhang from the rest of the structure. These extended rings are situated to help the insulation stick along the whole structure.
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Non-fired bricks are used in the rest of the dome construction. These bricks are wider and thinner to help ease the slope of the domes. Towards the top of the dome, after the last ring of fired bricks, unfired bricks were broken in half to allow greater slope inclination. It is important to build up the slope of the wall slowly. If it is built too quickly, or one uses too much mortar, the weight of the wall can make the structure sag and dry in an undesirable shape. Above the windows in a row, Small holes were carved out of the dome to help the structure breathe during firing. After the brick laying is completed, the interior floors, and all openings, are cleaned from the excess mortar that has fallen. The floor is then filled 3 cm with sand and stamped down with a tool to create an even surface.
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After a site analysis, we determined most precipitation comes from the North/East. Windows were therefore placed across the structure excluding the NE direction. Recycled bicycle wheels were used to help form the circular windows and to add structure while to mortar was drying (can be removed after one day.) fired bricks are used to form the window frame. The bricks have small stones wedged between them to fill the gaps formed from a circular shape. There are also small sticks placed between the wheel and the bricks to allow easy removal for firing. Once the wheels are removed, sticks are tightly fitted into the window openings to help retain its shape. Upon completion of the dome, the wheels are fixed back into the structure to create an indoor/outdoor screen. These screens are located close to the ground so the children may have a visual access to the outside environment.
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STACKING 1st: fired brick, they don’t get really hot, so mud bricks wouldn’t get fired The air-brick lines are straight orientated to the air gaps of the wall to support the whole kiln from the outlines to the center area with enough air. 2nd: mud brick, close the gaps to the lower layer and gives place for the following coal layer Since the brick in the upper layers have some time to dry during the firing process it is to prefer lightly wet bricks in the top and to stack the driest mud bricks in the bottom, where the firing gets started.
layer 1
layer 2
layer 3
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layer 6
3rd: coal and coke layer, mixed 1:1 by volume, radial and concentric pattern First it was planned to preserve two layers for the first coal level, but during the construction Ray decided to take only one layer. The reasons are that the lower bricks shouldn’t get overfired and it’s an easy way to save expensive coal and to add more products into the kiln. 4th-5th: tight stacked bricks, “alternating” orthogonal stacked layers 6th:
5cm coal border, fires the wall
7th-8th: look @4th-5th 9th:
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look@3rd
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Insulation To keep the heat inside the kiln there is need of an insulation. Up from 500째C it catches fire and bakes the mud walls additionally from the outside. The insulation is made of 2 parts earth, 1 part coal-dust and 1 part rice-husk. After mixing these components water is added and all gets well mixed and stamped by foot. The first layer is thrown at the wall for best stickness. After this it gets spread all over the wall. To prevent a damaged insulation layer by dropped down parts it is important to work from top to bottom. The first layers thickness is about 5cm. Before spreading the second layer you have to wait until the first one is dry for the most parts. All together both layers are 10cm thick. For covering any cracks in the insulation and to prevent a premature firing of it a slim layer of pure clay. Before putting the insulation windows and door have to be closed temporarily with mud bricks and mortar, mixed by much sand and little part of clay.During the firing the whole construction expands, cracks will appear in the insulation. During the cooling process the whole mass shrinks down.
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Firing the House The fire gets started in the 3rd layer where several big two-layer-high openings in the wall prevent easy access to the first coal layer. One possibility to prepare the fire is peeling some dry wood as a fire starter to stack on dry branches. Within one hour four places are lighted one by one. The first four fire places are situated in the circle every 90째. This way it evolves a stream from the bottom to the top. If you would fire all places in the same moment there would be too many currents disturbing each other and preventing a bottom-top stream.
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After the firing has started the coal and the coke burn first. When a certain heat is reached the 7% coal dust rate in the mud bricks begins to burn also. The bricks start to glow red. So the whole construction is fired no longer – it burns itself. Oxygen is consumed both from the air stream via bottom side and from the air enclosed in the bricks.
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During the firing air streams up from the bottom through the whole stacking to the top. In the same time chimneys (every 45째) exhaust the steam from the mud bricks. They avoid the moisture moving from one area to the other which would mean an impairment for the product quality. So the fast exhaustion of humidity is very important for the products.
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Assessment of the bricks The house has ten stoke fireboxes at the base of the house. Here the fire is started with wood and then the coal catches fire. The first firebox to be lit up was on the side of the house without wind and afterwards the direct opposite firebox in the windy side. The orthogonal firebox were the next ones to be lit up and later on one after another in a rotating order with its opposite. Firebox number 5 could not be started until late in the evening. Because of this the firing process in this area was delayed. The plan of filling a double coal layer was discarded and changed for a single height coal layer in order to prevent the bricks from over firing. Thanks to the full-functioning chimneys the coal could catch fire in a proper way. It was possible to observe that the windy side caught fire quickly and easily. 9
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1 2
5 3
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Estimated development & result Because of the fast development of the fire on the windy side, one can suppose that the bricks and the structure in this area have a very good firing condition and therefore will be well cooked. There is no bad development expected for the whole process and the bricks in the area of the firebox that did not catch fire properly. Until that point it looked like the firing process would develop correctly. The insulation didn’t catch fire. The reasons for this could be: A. The insulation was still too damp due to insufficient drying and further due to the dampness accumulated by covering the structure with a plastic sheet to protect from the unseasonable rain. B. The house was plastered in the inside and the heat could not go through the walls and burn the insulation. Since the firing process is very short in the base (first coal layer burns and the heat is transferred to the upper layers), this bricks will not be that well fired as the ones on the top. 45
First symptoms After the first day the fireboxes finished burning and were shut, in the inside the coals were glowing. The main characteristics were visible in the insulation. On the openings (windows, the door and air holes in the top) the insulation cracked. The cracks started at the mentioned areas and went down to the base of the house. The cracks also progressed like the form of the windows and the door. The insulation partially broke and fell down. Steam came out through the cracks. Until the end of the firing process the insulation did not catch fire. Because of that one could suggest that the outside of the wall would not cook well. The cracks can mean two different things: 1. At these areas air could go through and it got hotter than other places. Therefore these were able to be well fired. 2. These areas were not fire well enough because they cooled down to early.
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Re-stacking and the real result After removing the insulation from the facade first marks could be seen. The areas with cracks were better cooked than the rest of the dome. After opening the windows and the door it was visible that the bricks were well cooked. Especially in the upper part of the dome the quality was really high. At the door opening it was interesting to see all kinds of burned bricks from the base to nearly the top. Most of the bricks have a really good quality, except in the base. There the bricks are nearly un-fired. On the 1st layer the bricks are totally un-fired, just dry. And even until the 3rd layer the bricks are under fired. After the 5th layer the brick quality starts to rise, but in the middle layers the bricks were sometimes over fired and sometimes melted together. After this areas there were good quality bricks until the top. As we take a closer look at the bricks of the house structure, we find that they are fired on the inside but not on the outside. This doesn’t fulfill the conditions for waterproof bricks, so a water resistant plaster has to be used on the facade. 47
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In the inside it can be seen that the windy side has some over fired areas and the side without wind does have un- or bad cooked areas. Especially the walls in the top are very nice fired. Conclusion from the firing process A. The cracks The cracks seem to be a reason for a better fired structure. Since air could circulate from the outside to the inside through the cracks, the fire could be heated up and transferred efficiently to the outside through the brick. B. The windows Around the windows the brick quality was good. Only a few were over fired. Maybe this has something to do with the cracks in the insulation around the windows and the temporary wall made of fired bricks used to close the window, which let air in and out. C. The chimneys The purpose of the chimneys is to let the evaporated water of the bricks come out of the building. They also lead the hot air. This channels meet on top so the upper part has a stronger and compacted heat flow. Because of this we gained a good brick quality is this area.
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D. The Fireboxes The coal was able to catch fire correctly through the fireboxes on the windy side, while having a weaker start on the other side. Therefore it is visible on the inside that on the windy side the wall has some over fired areas and at the opposite side under fired, especially at the hole that did not catch fire at the adequate moment. E. The centre of the house Some bricks are melted together; maybe it is due too much coal in this area. In most cases the bricks are only melted a bit on the outside because of the coal lying besides the bricks and developing to much heat in its surrounding. F. The structure As mentioned before, overcooked und totally under-cooked areas, were very few. They do not compromise the structure. The dome is fired very well on the inside. The amount of coal was enough but since the insulation did not catch fire, the bricks could not cook through.
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What we have to consider in the next dome to gain a better brick quality: It can be said that the firing process in general went good, we had vast the areas with enough heat, much air and with no direct contact to the coals. In fewer areas, where the bricks were in direct contact with the coal, some were melted on the surfaces and even sometimes melted together. That the insulation did not catch fire did not have a negative effect on the bricks inside the building, it only prevented the wall on the outside to get well cooked. After the firing we realized why this had happened: the coke dust inside the insulation has an ignition temperature of 700°, a temperature that couldn’t be transferred from the inside to the insulation directly. In the future it would be recommended to use cow dung, coal dust or others, instead of coke dust. But if coke dust is to be used once more, one should guarantee the firing, to get the bricks in the structure weather proof. Starting it from the outside can do this. Besides these points, the wind direction should be monitored. It depends on the wind which side of the building will catch fire properly. To avoid too much heat and overcooked areas, coal layers can be spaced by one or two more bricklayers in between as you go up. We have to analyze how much more layers are needed in between. This way the coal amount will shrink and less money will be spend on it.
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Quantities & estimates
bill of Quantities Sl.NO
DESCRIpTION OF wORK
NOS lENgTh bREADTh DEpTh
1 Earth work excavation in foundation
1
23.87
0.90
1.00
2 River sand filling in foundation
1
23.87
0.90
0.10
3 p.c.c. 1:4:8 in foundation
1
23.87
0.90
0.15
1 1 1 1
23.87 23.87 16.60 16.60
0.65 0.56 0.46 0.34
0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 total
5 R.c.c. 1:1.5:3 in plinth beams 23 X 15cm
1
16.60
0.23
0.23
6 brick work up to floor level with cement mortar 1:5 mortar 1155 bricks
1
23.87
0.30
0.45
4 brick work in foundation with cement mortar 1:5
footing 1 2 3 4
mortar 3600 bricks
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1
DATE : 07.02.08 QUANTITy UNIT
RATE
AMOUNT
aCtual
UNIT
21.48
cum
130.00
2792.79
2.15
cum
600.00
1288.98
1.88 cum
3.22
cum
2200.00
7089.39
1.88 cum
2.79 2.41 1.37 1.02 7.59
cum
2700
20491.07
7.27 cum 1.51 cum 5.76 cum
0.88
cum
8000.00
7025.12
0.63 cum
3.22
cum
2700.00
8700.62
2.33 cum 0.49 cum 1.85 cum 4 56
Sl.NO
DESCRIpTION OF wORK
NOS lENgTh bREADTh DEpTh
7 Earth filling in flooring icluding watering and ramming
1 1
4.00 3.00
4.00 3.00
0.30 0.30 total
8 River sand filling in flooring
1 1
4.00 3.00
4.00 3.00
0.10 0.10 total
9 p.c.c. 1:4:8 in flooring foundation
1 1
4.00 3.00
4.00 3.00
0.10 0.10 total
10 Floor finishing with cement oxide
1 1
4.00 3.00
4.00 3.00
1 1
17.50 14.00
0.15 0.15
11 Construction of dome with raw bricks with mud mortar including window and door openings with brick arch mortar 3685 bricks 652 fired bricks 12 Form work for the dome
total 4.00 3.00 total
lumpsum
13 plastering of outer walls with chicken mesh one layer using water proofing compound with cement martor 1:4 57
1 1
17.50 14.00
4.00 3.00
2
QUANTITy UNIT
RATE
AMOUNT
aCtual
UNIT
4.80 2.70 7.50
cum
500
3750.00
1.60 0.90 2.50
cum
600.00
1500.00
3.47 cum
1.60 0.90 2.50
cum
2200.00
5500.00
2.81 cum
16.00 9.00 25.00
sqm
250.00
6250.00
10.50 6.30 16.80
cum
2700.00
45360.00
15000.00
15000.00
1.00
8.66 1.94 6.72 1.04
cum cum cum cum
70.00 42.00
5 58
Sl.NO
DESCRIpTION OF wORK
NOS lENgTh bREADTh DEpTh
total 14 providing and fixing of windows with cycle weels includ painting
4
15 providing and fixing of doors with grill including painting
1
16 providing of prodect bricks with coal mixe including filling the bricks inside the dome 23985 mortar coal
1
17 Removing of bricks from dome after firing
1
1.00
2.10
18 Firing the dome with wood and coal by Mr. ray
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QUANTITy UNIT
112.00
sqm
4.00 2.10
sqm
RATE
250.00
28000.00
550.00
2200.00
1900.00
3990.00 158937.97
total 22000.00
nos
AMOUNT
2.00
aCtual
UNIT
1,58,937.00 44000.00
42.59 cum 38.38 cum 3.45 cum
1
7000
7000.00 51,000.00
?
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stateMent of eXPenditure for fired house at Volontarait thuttiPattu. Date :09.02.08 date
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desCriPtion
Cash reC
sPent
09.02.08
Cash received
100000
22.02.08
Cash received
50000
22.02.08
Cash received
30000
07.03.08
Cash received
09.02.08
Chennai coke sample expenses
60000 240000
16.02.08
Coke 8 tons
16.02.08
Coke transport
16.02.08
Coke unloading rs 50 per ton
400
18.02.08
puja expenses at volontrait
100
18.02.08
puja expenses at the brick making place
150
18.02.08
plythene sheet
233
20.02.08
bricks, sand 1load, cement
20.02.08
hosepipe 3 rollls
875
20.02.08
Steel and cement
8094
20.02.08
Steel and cement, working tools transport
500
20.02.08
plastic pots
250
20.02.08
Construction tools
21.02.08
brick seal
21.02.08
Foundation excavation 628 cuf @ 4 per cuf
21.02.08
prodect bricks 30000 nos
eXtra
600 49212 4500
10500
1026 800 2512 42000
233
21.02.08
Dome bricks 6000 nos
8400
21.02.08
petrol expenses for purushoth
500
21.02.08
blue matel 1 1/2'' 1 load 3 unit
5500
21.02.08
blue matel 3/4'' 1/2 unit including transport
1383
21.02.08
Sand 1 load
3700
21.02.08
brick 6000 nos
23.02.08
Cement 5 bags including transport
1600
23.02.08
weekly wages (18.02.08 to 23.02.08)
4200
27.02.08
plythene sheet
2200
27.02.08
hose pipe
90
28.02.08
hardware
104
28.02.08 29.02.08
Steel frame Transport of steel frame
7500 300
01.03.08
Cashurina polls 1060 ton @ 4500 per ton incl transport
4770
01.03.08
Scaffolding rope
200
01.03.08
Cycle weels 8 nos
200
01.03.08
workers travel expenses
500
01.03.08
weekly wages (25.02.08 to 01.03.08)
4500
03.03.08
plythene sheet
2200
06.03.08
peddy umi 15 bags
600
06.03.08
loading and transport of umi
450
08.03.08
weekly wages (03.03.08 to 08.03.08)
08.03.08
workers travel expenses
21000
2200
2200
8355 500
62
08.03.08
petrol expenses for purushoth
350
08.03.08
working tools
250
08.03.08
Rope
300
08.03.08
Coal transport and loading
900
08.03.08
Coke small 1960 kg @ 9.40 per kg
18424
08.03.08
Coke big 2360 kg @ 4.40 per kg
10384
08.03.08
Coke weigh brdge paid
08.03.08
Clay 2 loads
1500
13.03.08
plythene sheet
1747
14.03.08
Firing food expenses
1975
15.03.08
Fire wood transport
350
15.03.08
Rope
100
15.03.08
workers travel expenses
500
15.03.08
weekly wages (10.03.08 to 15.03.08)
5895
22.03.08
weekly wages (17.03.08 to 22.03.08)
3300
22.03.08
purushoth advance
1500
150
Cash received 240000 Spent 248129 Extra spent 0 Total spent 248129 Cash in hand -8129
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1747
wages- 18.02.08 to 23.02.08 days worked rate per day balaraman 4 200 sankar 4 200 purushoth 4 200 vengatesan . 4 150 vijayaram 4 150 panniar 4 150 total
amount 800 800 800 600 600 600 4200
wages- 25.02.08 to 01.03.08 days worked rate per day balaraman 5 200 sankar 5 200 purushoth 5 200 vengatesan 5 150 vijayaram 5 150 total
amount 1000 1000 1000 750 750 4500
wages- 03.02.08 to 08.03.08 days worked rate per day balaraman 8 200 sankar 8 200 purushoth 8 200 vengatesan 8 150 vijayaram 8 150 nagaraj 3 200 shanmugam 3 185 total
amount 1600 1600 1600 1200 1200 600 555 8355
wages- 10.03.08 to 15.03.08 days worked rate per day balaraman 5 200 sankar 5 200 purushoth 6 200 vengatesan 5 150
amount 1000 1000 1200 750
vijayaram panniar nagaraj shanmugam iyyanar
150 150 200 185 210 total
750 600 200 185 210 5895
wages- 17.03.08 to 22.03.08 days worked rate per day purushoth 4 200 vengatesan 3.5 150 vijayaram 3.5 150 natahamani 1 150 total
amount 1200 750 750 600 3300
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5 4 1 1 1
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Material
Dome I
Dome II
Hall
Total
Units
Brick Production Inside Volume Volume of Bricks Number of Bricks
12.78 10.83 6766
29.82 27.55 17219
42.6 cum 38.38 cum 27985
1.18
2.27
3.45 cum
Coal
Volume of Coal
Coal Dust
Mortar Bricks Insolation Total
Foundation
Mortar Vol. Brick Number of Bricks River Sand PCC 1:4:8 Plint Beam
0.83 3.15 1972 2.01 1.51 0.25
1.05 3.96 2478 3.19 2.31 0.33
Mortar Unfired Bricks No. of Unfired B. Fired Bricks No. Of Fired B.
0.71 2.77 1520 0.33 209
1.23 3.95 2.17 0.71 443
Construction
0.5 0.11 316 0.15 0.86 0.05
0.14 0.47 0.14 0.75
cum cum cum cum
2.14 7.23 4766 5.35 4.7 0.64
cum cum cum cum cum
1.94 cum 6.72 cum 3685 1.04 cum 652
74% of Fired Bricks can be reused 66
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68
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Rainfall March is normally the driest month in South India with 4mm average rainfall. Due to the drastic global climate change this is no longer necessarily the case. During the four weeks of construction it rained regularly over a period of two weeks, which means a rainfall of 260mm. This caused mayor delays in the whole process since the dried bricks are very sensitive to humidity and have to be covered during the night. As a result of the heavy rainfalls a nearby dam broke and flooded the hole construction site with water. As consequence 10.000 bricks was destroyed.
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Process schedule
Tue 19.2.
Wed 20.2.
Thu 21.2.
Fri 22.2.
8
Mon 18.2. 0A: preparation finalizing
site
organizing
discussion
9
plans
preparation
materials
with
h
10 11 12 lunch 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 dinner 20
Sun 24.2.
Tue 26.2.
orientation
Mon 25.2. 1A: foundation extracting
building
Wed 27.2. 1B: building dome 1 building
of workers
earth
foundation
walls
R. Meeker lunch
lunch
lunch
lunch
lunch (site)
lunch (site)
lunch (site)
dinner
dinner
dinner
dinner
dinner
dinner
dinner
A. Kundoo Vinayagam
A. Kundoo Vinayagam
0A A. Kundoo Vinayagam
1A A. Kundoo Vinayagam Workers
Vinayagam Workers
1B A. Kundoo Vinayagam Workers
OP (original planing) AT A. Kundoo A. Kundoo TE Vinayagam Vinayagam ND AN CE
Sat 23.2.
R. Meeker
MA
R. Meeker burned bricks
TE
dried bricks
RI AL mud
75
Thu 28.2.
Fri 29.2.
8
building
9
walls
Sat 1.3.
Sun 2.3.
Mon 3.3.
Tue 4.3..
building
building
building
walls
walls
walls
lunch (site)
lunch (site)
lunch (site)
Wed 5.3. Thu 6.3. Fri 7.3. Sat 8.3. 1C: building 2A: stacking dome 2 dome 1 building walls building walls
h
10 11 12 lunch (site) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 dinner 20
OP AT TE Vinayagam ND Workers AN CE
lunch (site)
lunch (site)
lunch (site)
lunch (site)
introduction presentation of video dinner
A. Kundoo Vinayagam Workers student arrival
dinner in dinner in dinner in Pondicherry Pondicherry Pondicherry 0B: design of windows 1C A. Kundoo A. Kundoo Vinayagam Vinayagam Workers Workers
dinner in dinner in dinner (GH) dinner (GH) Pondicherry Pondicherry
2A A. Kundoo Vinayagam Workers
Workers
Students
Students
Students
Students
Students
A. Kundoo Vinayagam Workers Students R. Meeker Film crew
Workers Students Film crew
MA TE RI
dried bricks (for sale)
AL sand coal
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Sun 9.3.
Mon 10.3.
Tue 11.3.
h 8
insula tion
9 10 11 12 lunch (site) 13 14 15 16 17 18
lunch (site)
lunch (GH) heavy rainfall
Wed 12.3.
Thu 13.3. 0C: design
Fri 14.3. 3A: firing dome 1 construction situation plan igniting of tarp cover detail plans to protect dome when lunch (GH) lunch (GH) firing
Sat 15.3.
Sun 16.3. 3B: cooling dome 1 of dome 1
Mon 17.3.
Tue 18.3.
opening
fire
dome 1 &
lunch (site)
removing insulation lunch (GH) heavy rainfall
lunch (GH)
lunch (GH)
lunch (GH)
19 dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (site) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (site) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) 20 rainfall OP AT TE ND Workers
2AA
3A
Workers
Workers
AN Students CE
Students
Students
3C A. Kundoo Vinayagam Workers
Workers Students
Students R. Meeker Film crew
Workers Students
MA TE RI AL
fired bricks (for sale)
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h
Wed 19.3. 2AA: stacking dome 2
8
Thu 20.3. Fri 21.3. 3C: unloading dome 1 heavy
9 10 11 12 lunch (GH) 13 heavy 14 rainfall 15 16 17 18
lunch (GH) heavy rainfall
Sat 22.3. 0C: design
Sun 23.3.
Mon 24.3. 5: middle foundation
Tue 25.3.
Wed 26.3.
Thu 27.3.
Fri 28.3. 4A: finishing dome 1
lunch (GH)
lunch (GH)
lunch (GH)
lunch (GH)
lunch (GH)
lunch (GH)
situation plan
rainfall
detail plans
lunch (GH)
documentation lunch (GH)
19 dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner in dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) dinner (GH) 20 Pondicherry
OP AT A. Kundoo TE Vinayagam ND Workers AN Students CE R. Meeker Film crew
A4
3BB A. Kundoo Vinayagam
Workers Students
Students
3CC A. Kundoo Venaigam Workers
4AA
Workers
Students
Students
Film crew
MA TE RI
Workers
>1.000 bricks destroyed during rainfall
AL(for sale) fired bricks sand coal
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Workers
Workers
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Building Diary We arrived at Toutti Pakkam on the 3rd of March after Mme. de Blic has given us a warm welcome at her office at VOLONTARIAT where we took the chance to inform ourselves about the organization and its work. Then we went on to the site of our workshop project to inspect the building procedure which happened to be at an advanced stage at this point, already. The intention of the workshop project embraced the realization of a building design concept that included two mud brick made domes, jointed by a small center space that will serve its occupants mainly as a shelter and a sleeping area since most of the activities will take place in the outside area nearby. By the time we arrived at the site the foundation of the building had been completed and the first dome was just about to be finished. We decided that three to five layers of masonry had to be redone since the tilted angle of the construction was too steep and would not follow the given line. The slope of the dome structure decreases at proceeding height. Thus, the mortar should not be evenly applied on a bricks connecting surface but rather at its outer side to support its given line. The upper layers of bricks should always overlap the ones underneath (at the final top 10 to 20 layers of the dome construction), what easily can be inspected at the inside of the dome and then be adjusted properly. After the masonry works at the first dome (dome 1) had been completed we went on to consolidate the subsoil inside of the second dome’s foundation. We finished our work at around five o’clock p.m. after we had covered up the dome construction with a tarp foil as we had done it with the stapled mud bricks to protect them from possible rainfall.
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Tuesday, march, 4th The axis of the metal falsework that defines the slope of the dome construction was placed in the middle of the subsoil, inside of the second dome’s foundation where it got tied to the ground to stabilize it. The masonry work started with two layers of burned bricks. The bricks of the first layer were arranged radial with their short sides pointing to the outside of the dome’s surface. Every other brick was spared out. The so built gaps allow enough air to enter the inside space to support the burning process. All layers above the second level consist of flat unburned mud bricks with two exceptions: At every full meter one layer of burned bricks was added to the dome that would stick out for five centimeters at least. The same technique was applied to the window openings that got frames of burned bricks that serve the same purpose. After the masonry work was finished the whole dome construction would be covered by a plaster of insulation that will rest on a ring of burned bricks, then. There has to be close attention that the masonry work will follow the slope of the falsework at a distance of about two centimeters. The first two layers of mud bricks include several gaps that serve as burning boxes to the firing - each of them should be placed above one of the air holes, mentioned. In the evening the positions of the windows needed to be specified and the clusterplan for the howl side was to be designed. At least there was a conclusion of the right position of the windows.
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Wednesday, march, 5th The first thing we did today was to show the mason the proper positions of the first windows to be placed at the present level. We had to keep in mind that the window openings should not be placed too high since this would increase their exposure to the rain from above. The rain generally comes from the sea side striking the surface of a building from N/E to about N/E/E. So we had to change our plan to place one opening in that direction. Instead we placed it inside providing an open space between dome and entry room. Later on we had to reduce the number of openings by another two of them due to static difficulties. The construction of the doorway turned out to become a little problematic since the brickwork around it would not keep its fixed position that follows the slope of the falsework. Stabilizing the brickwork with a piece of bracing wire did not succeed. It should have been bricked in bonded masonry to give more stability to its structure. To make this up, the doorway got blocked up temporarily with burned bricks. The mortar that has been used for this purpose consisted of clay and had a higher percentage of water. The doorway will be opened up again after the masonry had become more stable. After the burning process, openings will be applied to the upper part of the dome. We want to fill the holes with glass bottles, by just sticking them into the masonry. If you look at them from the interior space at daytime they should gleam and look like stars into the sky at night.
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Thursday, march, 6th The scaffold had to be built at the second dome. Steam holes were applied to the first dome, slightly above the window openings The subsoil of the first dome was covered with a layer of sand that would protect the bricks from the moisture that would come out of the soil during the firing process.
Friday, march, 7th, Ray came to the site and showed us how to do the stacking of the unburned bricks and how we should add the mixture from coke and coal that would serve as fuel to the firing process. The brickwork at dome 2 proceeded at the same time. At every rising meter there had to be bricked one layer of burned bricks that would stick out for a few centimeters. This ring will allow the insulation that will be applied to the facade to rest on it, so it would not fall off the brickwork.
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Saturday, march, 8th On this day, the dome was covered by a layer of combustible, insulating mud that consisted of clay, rice husk, coal dust and water. This covering would keep the heat inside of the dome construction where temperatures rise until the heat is strong enough to burn the bricks properly. The insulation was supposed to catch fire at 500째C, supporting the baking procedure with an additional heat supply that would burn the bricks from both sides. The insulation has to be applied from above to below, if some of it falls down, it will not destroy the rest that is underneath. Doorway and window openings were filled with the same type of mud brick that was used for the dome construction. After the firing, they will be taken out. The bonding mortar that was applied included a higher percentage of sand and water this will make it easier to remove the bricks afterwards. A clay mud plaster that included no coal dust was put around the steam holes to prevent the insulation from catching fire too soon. Meanwhile the stacking of dome 1 and the brickwork at dome 2 proceeded. We had noticed that many bricks were still quite moist so we decided to lift at least the ones on top of the staple to expose their moist parts to the sun that would allow them to dry for at least a little more. More coke and coal were ordered for Sunday because we ran out of it while stacking dome 1.
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Sunday, march, 9th We did not manage to finish the stacking of the bricks at dome 1 on Saturday. Since it will take some time for the masonry to dry and since our schedule was tight, we decided to work through the weekend and take one day off as soon as we would have finished the work at dome 1. On this day we got done with the stacking. We added some more insulation to make the layer more even and to assure that it would be thick enough at each spot of the insulating surface. Meanwhile the brick working at dome 2 proceeded.
Monday, march, 10th On this day, we did not dare to take the tarp foil off the dome 1 because it looked like as if it was going to rain but since we wanted to apply the final layer of insulation we tried to find a way to work at the surface without taking the foil off the building. After all it turned out to be easy to just tie it to the scaffold so we could work underneath it properly. The covering we put on, consisted of plain clay to fill all remaining fractures on the dome’s surface. The fire resistant insulation around the steam holes had to be redone because it was just put on top of the combustible layer. A few centimeter of insulation around all steam holes were removed completely and then replaced by the appropriate type. It had to be thick enough to make sure it would not fall off during the burning procedure. 86
Tuesday, march, 11th The masonry work at dome 2 just had been completed as it started to rain. Everybody helped to cover all bricks and materials that were used for fuel and insulation to prevent them from getting wet. Wednesday, march, 12th Heavy rainfalls on our free day, were watering the flowers, while the local mosquitos took their chance as they were biting our ankles. Thursday, march, 13th On this day originally the firing of dome 1 was meant to happen but due to the insecure weather condition and the high humidity the dome construction did not dry well and the firing was delayed. So, we met with Anupama at our place to talk about the situation and about the detail plan. We had already talked about bottles to be placed into the masonry at dome 2 and about a shelf that is made of clay pots to be applied to a wall at the entry room. We decided to split into two teams that would focus either on the site to develop a pattern jointing the single buildings to a more complex structure or designing an example for the roof top covering of the top opening. The building we were working on is supposed to be a sample that will be arranged around a domed center space that joints a group of four to five buildings to serve as a structural unit repeating itself but in variations . Therefore a grid structure should be developed that would joint the single buildings but in a hidden way. The other group had to think about the designing of the rooftop lid above the upper opening etc. 87
Friday, march, 14th On this day we did the firing of the stacked dome1. Fireboxes made of stacked bricks were placed on the outside in front of the air inlets at the bottom of the dome’s surface. The firing occurred underneath the tarp foil covering the dome. Saturday, march, 15th On this day we went to the site at night to see the coal and bricks glowing through the insulation.
Sunday, march, 16th We did not go to the site because the heavy rainfall stopped the work at dome 2 and dome 1 still had to cool off until it could be opened. Monday, march, 17th Some of us went to the site to check if the dome has cooled off sufficiently. Parts of the insulation were scratched off to inspect the state of the masonry.
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Tuesday, march, 18th Ray and Anupama came to meet us at the site to check the quality of the fired materials. We had to find out that the burning process finally turned out to be incomplete. Anyway, the dome’s structure was stable but since the burning was not completed, parts of the dome’s surface still included unburned material that had to be protected from water. This means the dome can be used but needs to be insulated to be prevented from getting wet. We spread out sand on a large tarp foil to let it dry. We opened the tarp foil covering dome 2 and tied it to the scaffold to support the drying process.
Wednesday, march, 19th We did not go to the site on this day. The stacking of dome 2 was done by another group of workers but had to be stopped soon, due to heavy rainfall. Thursday, march, 20th Because of the lack of working possibilities for us, we again did not go to the site, but worked on our researches, like always when we did not work on the site. Dome 1 got emptied by the workers. The next days were spend to do the personal researches and focus on the design project as well as on this booklet.
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Monday, march, 21st All bricks had been taken out completely. At dome 1, water had been absorbed by the masonry up to 1.5 meter as it could have been seen at the dome’s surface. At the outer surface mud has been washed out but the damage was considered to be minor. Dome 2 has received more damages because it was unburned. Water has been absorbed by the masonry at several spots and clay has come down at several parts of the dome’s surface. The masonry had got several holes; the largest of them with an estimated diameter of about 70 cm. All damages of the surface were repaired with mortar. The largest hole was filled with bonded brickwork as it was before. Ray called and recommended to use coal for the firing and coal dust for the insulation of dome2 that would burn at 300°C already instead of using coke dust (the coal dust turned out to be coke dust, instead. It burns at 700°C) and cow dung for insulation. Wigs (little holes) shall be applied to the surface right above the fireboxes. The wigs will be filled with coal that brings the fire to the insulation, so it will burn next time. About 10000 of 25000 bricks have been destroyed by the rain. The material can be reused so it would not be a complete loss. All remaining bricks had been brought into dome 2 to prevent them from further damage by water. Dome 1 can be used but needs to receive a special treatment to protect the unburned parts from further damage due to rainfall. Dome 2 got repaired and will be fired in a modified way to support the burning procedure. The finishing of the building is delayed. The workers were brought to other projects, new materials need to be brought to the site (bricks, coal, coal dust), this will increase costs. The remaining materials need to dry as well as the domes.
Sunday, march, 30th, This was our last day at the site. All work had been stopped until weather conditions allow the remaining bricks to dry and new materials have arrived. We just came to say goodbye. Christian cut his food (by accident) at an over fired brick inside of dome 1. Fortunately two French doctors were at the site to help him. The cut was sewed with four stitches. A woman told us that it is common to sacrifice blood to a new building during a celebration (Puja) by cutting into one´s hand (usually feet are spared out) or by sacrificing a chicken. If you look at it this way, Christian finally has saved a chicken´s life.
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Proceeding without students After one month of very focused and concentrated work, the majority of the students left. Only Karen remained to proceed the project with Anupama. The first thing they did, was to design the roof light. The chosen material to keep the lightness, are drinking classes, which are an affordable transparent material in the region. It is planned to build the bath out of glass bottles, so there is a continuing principle of a glass structure. Only bottles would have been too clumsy for the light structure on top of the domes.
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The continuing of the building was again disturbed by water. This time the standing water in the surrounding rice fields araised the ground water level of the area, that it was impossible to dig holes for foundations or to do foundations. So the only proceeding possibility was to fire the next Dome
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After firing we achieved 11,600 fired bricks to use in the foundation of the next structures. The plan is to build another Module of two domes out of mud bricks and to fire them to achieve enough stones to build the other two remaining Modules out of self fired bricks. This is to save money of further firing and use high quality bricks in the structure.
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people involved Anupama Kundoo graduated from J.J. College of Architecture in Bombay. She has focused on architectural design, urban planning as well as on experimenting with new technologies, its research and application and knowledge transfer. She met Ray in the Mud Mud conference in 1987, where he was exposing his work with fire-stabilized mud structures. She was very much interested in his experiments. After having worked with Ray in the same constellation (architectcontractor), she has decided to do a detailed documentation about the process and the results. The idea is to keep on doing the research and experiments Ray had started years ago, analyze and look for solutions so it can be used for its socio-economic advantages. Right now Anupama is writing her PhD. on building with fire at the TU Berlin. Madeleine Herman came in the 60s to India as a social worker. She decided to help the poorest, so the Association Volontariat was born in Pondicherry. Madeleine de Blic, by marriage on 1972, spends her time between her family in Toulouse and Pondicherry, where she has an Indian team set up to administrate the non-political and non-religious association. Mme De Blic is very much satisfied with the work Ray had done in a housing complex in the farm and wanted to start a new project, so she decided to contact him again. Building with the natural elements and having a new shape that can be in movement with nature is a meaningful statement she decided to make.
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Ray Meeker studied art in Pepperdine College and attended Architecture School for four years in the University of Southern California. He did a BFA in ceramics. In the 70s Ray and his wife Deborah Smith came to India and founded the Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry. In 83 he read an article on fire-stabilized buildings, thought of this as an intriguing idea and already by1985 he was doing his first experiments. From the beginning he has seen the structure as a kiln, not only a living space to be created. He did a ten-year pause but since the opportunity to improve and act in response to global warming arises, his intrigue and experimental spirit awakens. Ray has held lectures, organized workshops and done consultancies on working with mud, on architecture and pottery. Vinayagam learned architecture at auroville’s future architects office. Later he made drawings and got site experiences. After finishing school, Vinayagam learned architecture. Then he worked for ten years in architecture offices as draftsman, first at Andrea Habu(?) and then for six years at Anupama Kundoo’s office. Since five years he started his own construction firma. He still does sometimes designs, but he cannot call himself an architect, because at auroville schools you do not get any standart graduation and therefore you cannot study at universities.
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Alka Hingorani studied in J.J. College of architecture in Bombay, where she met Anupama. After achieving her undergraduate degree she decided to pursue a master degree on photography in Berkley. Recently she did her PhD. in History of Art. Alka’s main working area is still photography, and right now she took up the scary and exiting challenge of filming a documentary film for the first time. With photos and video she did not only captured the building process and progress, but also the interesting and meaningful moments of this experimental workshop. She also took part or initiated many discussions among the participants, which went from art to politics. Some of them very direct to the social economical viability of the project, some of them personally enriching. Harun Farocki graduated from the Deutschen Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB). He was author and editor for the magazine “Filmkritik� from Munich and has taught in different cities of Germany in Berkley and Manila. He is currently directing a documentary film about bricks. In this 40-45 min episode he wishes to show the different techniques of production and processing and their result. For this purpose he has been to Burkina Faso, India and Europe. While doing some research about mud bricks he became aware of this project, so he contacted Anupama. This is the first time Harun and his filming crew (Matthias Rajmann and Ingo) has spent such a long time (2 weeks) filming in one place. 102
Chief of mortar and insulation mixturing 2nd stacker
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1st stacker Head mason dome 1
Coleman and daily documentation Head mason dome 2
quantitativ and qualitativ documenting Cole “adjutant� and stacker
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Christian Huber 17.12.1981 TU Darmstadt Christian is in 5th semester architecture and is a architectural draftsman. He heard about the project from Bedrettin and Marianne. The opportunity to building in a 1:1 scale, experiencing the work of an architect in a building site and a mystic land like India got him very interested, so he decided to join in the workshop. Christian enjoyed working in a international group, especially with the local masons, which taught him how to lay bricks and build a scaffolding from wood and coconut ropes. He also saw the variety of unwanted problems and the decisions an architect is confronted with and unfortunately had to learn that bricks can also cut. Karen Irina Ehret 01.10.1983 TU Darmstadt Karen is in 9th semester architecture. In 2006 she studied one year in Italy as an Erasmus student. She participated in the “What on Earth� seminar this semester, which Anupama was teaching. Here she heard about the workshop. Karen is interested in innovative construction techniques, which are not only ecological but also economical. She saw this as an opportunity to learn something new in a foreign context to later try to translate it in to a known environment. This means learning about fire-stabilized structures and vernacular building methods. 105
Katherine Vitale 22.05.1983 Cornell University Graduate After graduating as an architect Katherine moved to Berlin. Here she worked with Anupama on a recent project and liked her approach to architecture. The desire to work on a 1:1 scale, where we are on the field learning through the construction encouraged her to participate in the workshop. One of the things she finds interesting about mud construction is that the “ingredients� involved are very specific to the earth in the region. She had a great time learning about the culture, climate and construction; this sculptured her experience in India. Ana Beatriz Nestlehnen Cardoso de Almeida 19.05.1985 USP/TU Berlin Ana is an exchange student from Brazil. She is staying one year in Berlin and is in her 7th semester. She participated in a seminar that Anupama was teaching, here she heard about the workshop. Ana is involved with an NGO in Brazil that has sustainability as main theme, that’s why she was interested in this project. Since the project is innovative and different, working in a real life building site was the perfect opportunity for her to really learn and apply directly.
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Bedrettin Altay 19.02.1986 TU Darmstadt Bedrettin is in 5th semester architecture. He was very curious about the technique and decided to participate in the workshop. Throughout the workshop Bedrettin learned the technique and thru the labor work he discovered the unique characteristics of building with fire and mud. This was one of the points he enjoyed from the workshop: seeing the result of our work translated in different shades and colors from the bricks and the structure. Bedrettin would like to invest more time in this kind of projects because he feels that it is possible to spread the knowledge and adequate it to different contexts so it can be useful in different countries. Andres Herzog 28.05.1984 ETH Zurich Andres is in his 8th semester of Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. Last semester he did a research on Nairobi; this directed his attention to developing countries. A good friend from Anupama, who is working in the ETH, informed his semester about the workshop. The 1:1 experience was a new kind of approach for Andres, to actually build what we had planned the day before was very exciting. Andres enjoyed being in the dome and stacking the bricks.
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Marianne Halblaub Miranda 25.06.1986 TU Darmstadt Marianne is in 5th semester architecture. Last semester she participated in the seminar “What on Earth”, where she got in contact with the theory of fire-stabilized mud structures for the first time. Coming from Colombia, she knew about various earth construction techniques, so she decided to join the workshop and learn and practice the technology that was unknown for her. The whole context, being in a developing country working with local masons and for orphan children, underlined and made the social character of the technology palpable. This was the most interesting feature for her from the beginning. Erik Bartscht TU Berlin Erik is in his 20th semester architecture, but made brakes for working, so for the “ZDF Morgenmagazin”. His motivation to participate the workshop is his special interest in ecological and alternative building methods.
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Purushoth barbender and foreman
Balaraman mason
Sankar mason
Nagaraj barbender
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Vijayaram helper
Venkatesan helper
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Material background Casuarina Equisetiflora (German ”Schachtelhalmblättrige Kasuarine” or “Kängurubaum” ) C. Equisetiflora is native to Australasia, Southeastern Asia, some islands of the Pacific Ocean and has been introduced species in several countries in all continents ( except Europe and Antarctica ). The fruit is swimmable, that’s why it is commonly grown in tropical and subtropical maritime areas throughout the world. It is an evergreen tree growing to 6–35 m tall. The foliage consists of slender, much-branched green to grey-green twigs 0.5–1 mm diameter, bearing minute scale-leaves in whorls of 6–8. The plants are very salt-resistant, fast-growing and tolerant of windswept locations, so they are widely planted as wind-breaks or for fixing dunes in coastlines. Its abundant leaf-fall is high in nitrogen and traditionally prized for mulch. The wood is used for building-timber, furniture, tools, shingles, fencing and excellent, hot burning firewood. In case of our project it is used for the scaffolding. Since the wood sticks are tied up with coconut ropes and are not affected by nails or bolts during the construction they can be re-used again and again. In Tamil Nadu also common materials for scaffoldings are coconut palms and bamboo. In the local traditional architecture posts are made of the strong and straight Casuarina, whereas purlins and beams are made of the lightweight bamboo or coconut palm.
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Bicycle wheels These damaged bike wheels represent our formwork to build windows. They are introduced in the structure in the building process in the angle of the falsework. To keep the structure while burning, already burned bricks surround it. Little wooden space keepers were placed between wheel and bricks to remove them brfor burning, when the openings are closed with greenbricks to keep the form. For finishing the wheels will be painted and used as railing to close the windows. On the market you can buy these wheels easily for 25 Rupees (0,42 â‚Ź) which is very few money in comparison to the functions they fulfil.
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Mortar The mortar mix is 7% coal, 93% earth, and water to desired consistency. A mound of earth is formed and water added to the center. A jogging action with your feet mixes the components while the dry earth surrounding keeps the mud contained. In our dome construction we used two types. One kind of mortar is quite thick and is applied to bricks and smoothed until it measures about one centimeter. The second mortar contains sand and more water. It is used in temporary closures such as windows. This makes it easier for the bricks to be removed after firing. The mortar is the raw version of the un-fired bricks used in the dome construction. This helps the structure act as one surface.
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Coconut ropes The ropes made out of coconut have a local origin. Their use is to fix the scaffolding to its total stability. Therefore it is bound in crossed ways around crossed Casuarina beams to fix them. This bindings are very stabil and tight without knots, only sometimes the tightness needs to be refreshed.
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The Tarp Sizes in general (sold in feet): 9 x 6 9 x 12 12 x 15 12 x 18 18 x 15 18 x 24 18 x 30
30 x 30 30 x 36 30 x 40 40 x 40 40 x 50 40 x 60
The tarps are sun resistant, between 6 months and 4 years. It depends on the quality. There are tarps with 1 layer, 2 or 3 layers. E.g.: 18 x 24 feet 1 layer (silver color) 2 layer (yellow color) 3 layer (blue color)
= 750Rs = 850Rs = 1150 Rs
One of the tarps we used: 30 x 30 feet ~ 1200 – 1500
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material register Burned bricks Hand made burned bricks for foundation, window and door frames, and other frail structures.
Dried bricks (flat format) About 4.000 hand made dried bricks for the construction of the dome.
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Dried bricks (standard size) About 20.000 hand made dried bricks for brick production in the dome when firing.
Stone pieces For the foundation.
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Cement Only used for foundation.
Mud Ingredient for mortar.
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Coal dust Ingredient for mortar.
Water From the tap for cleaning and mixing mortar.
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Sand For floor leveling.
Coal For putting between bricks when firing.
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Brick production Bicycle wheels For the construction of the windows and later for covering them.
Metal frame For dome construction. It is one of the most expensive parts on the building site.
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Trowel
Other tools
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Wood sticks For scaffold construction. The wood comes from the tree called Casuarina Equisetiflora. See “Casuarina Equisetiflora” in chapter material background.
Coconut rope For tieing the scaffold.
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Tarp To cover the house and buildings during the night.
Truck For transportation of materials.
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Brick production The material is found locally in the earth.
It only needs to be mixed with clear sand.
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Firstly one spreads a hand full dry mud over the floor to prevent the wet bricks from sticking to the ground. Then the worker puts a wood frame on the ground which holds two bricks. The wet mud is filled in by hand. The worker wipes off the unused mud and flattens the surface of the brick. The surface of the brick is cleaned and smoothened with a bit of water. The factory stamp is imprinted onto the surface and the wood frame is removed. Then the worker cleans the wood frame with some water and starts with the next brick. After one line of bricks the mud pile is moved a bit forward by hand. It takes one worker about 20 to 30 seconds to form two bricks. A standard brick is 21 x 10 x 7 cm large. Our bricks for the walls had a special format of x x cm. 137
During one day the bricks are dried on the large surface.
During one day the bricks are dried on the small surface.
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On the third day of drying the bricks are stacked in a loose pile. Between every two bricks there is a cap of one brick. This allows the bricks to dry quickly while saving space on the brick production place.
On the fourth day the bricks are stacked in a compact pile before they get burned. Usually they are stored in this form for another one or two days.
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The bricks are stacked to form a brick kiln. This picture shows a brick kiln which was partly damaged by the unexpected rainfalls.
Since plastic tarp are very expensive compared to non fired bricks it is not worth to buy tarp to protect them. During rainy days this can lead to a huge loss of bricks when they are washed away by the water.
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The bricks are then stacked to form a kiln. There are many holes in the structures in order to put in the wood and for the transmission of air during the firing process.
The main source for fuel is the coconut palm tree of which the trunk and the leafs are used for firing.
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During the firing process the kiln is covered with a plastic tarp to protect it from rain fall. A few palm leafs hold the tarp in place. The firing takes about three days.
After the firing process the bricks are stacked in a compact way to store until they get shipped to the construction site. Since they are now waterproof, they are covered with just a few dry palm leafs.
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The insitu technique Materials The insitu baking technique saves a lot of expensive and high-energetic materials, most importantly it does not involve steel, concrete and insulation materials. This helps to lower the cost for materials in general. But this is also an ecological advantage, since these materials usually are not locally available. The insitu baking technique involves only local materials apart from the coal, which is often not locally available and which is one of the most expensive materials on site. The high consumption of coal is a major cost factor. Process Even though the construction with the insitu firing technique is based on a simple shape and involves not many materials, the whole construction process is more difficult and slower compared to a normal brick house, given that the technology is still in its infancy and is still being researched and developed. Building a wall with a steel frame in a rounded shape takes three to four times more time compared to a straight brick wall. As a result the workers can proceed only about one meter per day, whereas with normal walls they do up to three meter per day. Another critical point is the weather. Since all the bricks are dried, they have to be protected from water during all the time until the firing. This can lead to delays during building and increases costs due to rain protection materials and constructions. Social background Another difficulty that would have to be faced is the acceptance by the people. Since this technique is completely new, people may not trust it yet. Economy Since 25000 bricks, fired inside the structure, can be sold, the project costed nearly one third less than the conventional buildings in the area. 144
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Case Studies Building with earth developed because its easy way to build houses. In addition the physic of earth assures a good living comfort through the thermal mass. The high humidity keeping and regulation guarantees a good internal climate. But all earth structures bear problems with water resistance and shrinking. Both need to be treated structurally or with adding of stabilizers, therefore also firing is a stabilisation. Improving building in earth, is not only forced by an ecological but also economical aspect. Local bricks have a high energy consumption what makes them expensive, but do not assure a high quality. Other earth constructions can assure a high quality (compressive crushing strength of dry CSEB with 5% cement is 50 kg/cm², of local country fired brick 35 kg/cm² [source: Auroville Earth Institute]) and good indoor climate. Here are shown examples of earth techniques used in Auroville. Local village houses are presented to understand the tradition of earth in vernacular buildings.
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One room houses are the traditional type of buildings. Mostly they are made of a wooden skelet which carries the roof and bears the structure of the wooden frame walls plastered with mud and dung. Normally the skeleton roof structure has a system of binding rafter and rafter on top. Its cover is made of crossed Palm leaves covered by cane fibre vertically added layers to a15-20 cm thick roof. For ventilation the gables are closed by non treated Palm leaves.
Other traditional roofs are built with four sides closed hip roofs. The wall below is continued on all four sides and leaves only an entrance free. Here the same turret as before is used except the form. To guarantee although the closed form the comfort, a Fan is added as well as a tv. This traditional wall construction is comparable with the infiller wall of European framework but in its pure form (wattle and daub) often used in Auroville.
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Wattle and Daub This is a building structure which has a wooden structural framework, which is mostly made of Palmyra tree, bamboo or work-tree. Its filler wall exists of lattice (wattle) of reeds and sticks or bamboo on which mud (daub) is thrown on. This plaster contents sand and clay and sometimes is mixed with animal dung, cane fibre or straw as natural stabilizers and for higher density. This type of building is provable over the last 6,000 years all over the world and may be build quickly without special knowledge. It is also a very light structure, which promises a quick cooling in the night and in day times allows windows allow the wind to go through. Its maintenance is durable as long as it is treated well and constructed in a proper way. If not leakages of roofs can cause gravies structural problems in the wattle and daub itself. Also insects are a problem to be treated.
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Meike’s House built in 1983 is settled in a group of small erections (kitchen, bathroom, dining place and meditation area). It is based on granite shaped concrete pillars, surrounded by water. Its small two level structure bears a living situation, a raised relaxing place, an outdoor sitting and a raised sleeping area. The ground beam-circle is 25cm above the bottom, not reachable by ants. The wattle and daub is maintained by a constructive protection of a long eave. Originally this was made by vermiculite with sand and lime, covered with cement, but could only be afforded for 15 years. All floors are made of big Venteak-planks, which do not need any maintenance. But the problem is, that the concrete pillars are not grounded deep enough, so start to drift to the outside, which bears terrifying structural problems inside. Also Palmyra as beam-circle is not good above the water because it decomposes, that the constructive diameter is reduced to the half needs to be supported by another beam. Except these structural problems the wattle and daub is not touched yet to maintain, but still is in good conditions. 150
Regina’s House was built in 1997 at New Lands as a study project of Regina and was inspired by Meike’s house. It is surrendered by bath and kitchen and is situated in the green. The living room is wide and open with sliding doors. It contains the second kitchen and a guest room, which carries the terrace of the second floor. There the floor is made of wooden planks whereas on the ground floor huge stone tiles cool the bottom. Here also the base of the floor carrying pillars (real granite) are surrounded by water, which gives with the long eaves over the first and second floor the impression of Asian style. Here the howl structure above the floor of the first floor is build in work wood and infilled with wattle (yellow bamboo) and daub (soil from the lake digging, coco-fibre and sand). The clean surface is achieved by cow dung mixed with earth and little water). Only little pieces are not daubed for to leave windows. The structure needs only sometimes painted because it gets whitewashed. Structural protection is achieved here by eaves, over the kitchen with wooden shingle. The wooden structure itself took only four weeks but the finishing a lot more personal effort. 151
Adobe Adobe is a structure made of non fired, sun dried bricks. They are produced freely in all sizes but mostly in those of common fired bricks. Their content is half sand, third clay, sixth straw, dung or other fibrous materials. Added dung repeals insects and straw is binding the brick together, what allows the brick to dry evenly. Shrinking cracks can be avoid by drying in shade. Mostly this mud bricks are used in normal bracing with a mud mortar of the same composition. A plaster of straw or lime based cement is needed to protect the bricks of water. The thermal mass is even dry relatively dense but not as good as rammed earth for example. Good maintained, protected, it is extremely durable and one of the oldest building materials.
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Ajit`s and Renate`s house is a structure build in adobe. Regarding the thermal mass in the ground floor walls are 45 cm (2 bricks) and the second floor of 35cm (1,5 bricks). The sleeping room in the third floor, which is on top of the staircases and causes a chimney effect is made of adobe for quick cooling in the night. The huge, aligning roof, which implies a vernacular architecture, has an interspace to the structure for observing ants. Here, in comparison to the wattle and daub, no water barrier is made to protect the house but a barrier in the structure to provide internal termite tunnels. Here especially it is important that the owner does not trust a single but various techniques to assure a high low tech comfort.
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Compressed Earth Blocs (CEB) Slightly humid earth, in a mixture of sand, soil and sometimes cement as stabilizers (Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocs – CSEB), are pressed with hydraulic or motorized machine into a formwork. Four weeks after pressing they might be used as building material. In their stabilized type (CSEB), 5% cement by weight is added which make the brick resistible against water and insects. It gives the structure a slightly greyish color, but could be treated with more red sand to obtain the earthen tint.
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At Ila’s house non stabilized, so without cement, CEB were used. Placed of a pile foundation, they are used in a unusual way. Concrete beams build the framework for a vertical bracing CEB in the red chaps system. This means it is placed, against its pressing structure, with the long sides up in a system of two bracings in a partition of air to insulate the structure. The material to press is taken from a place in the backyard which is now a lake. A plaster to maintain the blocs is additionally made to the long eaves in the single floors. And a solar chimney is made through the sleeping area on top of the staircases in which structure also pillars on the edges of structural reasons can be seen. The howl building is oriented in the geomancy order.
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Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocs are a material most influenced by Satprem Mainï who build the Auroville Visitor Center which received the “Hassan Fathy building award for the poor” in 1992. It shows the bare material and therefore the durability of compressed earth blocs stabilized with cement. But the weather is very aggressive and damages although the pure exposed structure. But it also bears a rich potential to build. Examples are domes or round shaped CSEB as columns. Both can be found in Deepanam School, where CSEB is the only building material, and a cube structure is raised one floor only on CSEB-pillars. Also a vault exceeding out of a triangle is built completely in CSEB. In the first crossed, then vault bracing it is giving an open auditorium space.
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Stabilized Rammed Earth (RE) Rammed earth is a very old building type and its oldest foundations can be proved in Assyria 5000 BC and can be found nearly everywhere in the world. RE is highly stabile, has a high thermal monolithic mass and can easily be build. Therefore slightly humid earth (local soil and sand) is rammed in horizontal layers into a framework of wood or directly into the ground. Today hydraulic or motorized ramming machines are used to guarantee a good connection between the layers, which need to be still humid to be connected. To improve the structure, especially in Australia, USA and Auroville, cement as additive is used to leave the wall untreated and visible but water resistant. Nowadays you hardly find a pure rammed earth without cement as stabilizer because of its low maintenance in this climate. But in the 70th 400 houses for the village people were build by the German Development Agency but with low acceptance of the inhabitants who where searching for more glamour and prestige buildings. 157
Peter’s House, which is oriented in the terms of geomancy and feng shui, was initiated in 1995 with eight stabilized rammed earth walls as surrounding of its open living area. Above the working space is added in bricks and covered like the part below with concrete. Only a quadrate is uncovered where in former times the bed was supposed to be, and the owner did not want to have concrete above the head while sleeping. In 1997 the sleeping place was raised into the level of the roof and a new roof was build around by sliding glass elements and only in the edges closed by walls. It is covered by bison board, which is a cement partial board, and has a plane above. The concrete roofs are covered by colored, glazed and red unglazed tiles. As highlight a bathtub is introduced of the newly build service track (2001). Her a mixture of plastered brick walls and moveable corrugated waved fiberglass sheets play with the space to be in and outside as once. SRE is used less as thermal mass or for ecologic building reasons but as form defining and structural material.
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Fire Stabilized Earth House or Fired Mudbrick House This is a technique pushed and developed in major parts by Ray Meeker, an architecture studied potter. In 1985 he got the idea of planning a fired mud brick housing area for rain suffering Indians. In order to his profession and his pyromaniac attitude ha caught the idea of Iranian architect Nader Khalis to build his first structure of 2x3m surface and a 1.35m high vault. The firing material was wood. After burning he found out, that 5cm insulation was not enough to ensure 800째C which are needed to fire the bricks entirely, like it happened to our project, too. In this particular first project he covered the structure with the produced tiles. Also his throwback he continued to improve the method, what had its high light till now in Agni Jata.
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Agni Jata This is a house made of four major vaults and a centre dome. It has a foundation of fired bricks, lime mortar and some cement layers. The courses of bricks in the Nubian vault (cartenary curve) are placed in 75° (to avoid the wet mud bricks to fall down while building process. The burned vaults are 2m high and 3m long and had 10 cm of insulation which assured the temperature between 800°C and 1100°C. The howl structure with its complexity burned over 4½ days (2 days only for water evaporation of the structure) and was started on the outstretched vaults. In all it needed 23,5t of casuarinas and 2,400 boundles of malaar to burn as well the structure as the fillings of 60,000 bricks, 2,000 tiles etc. These products inside asure a evenly firing through the structure to the dome and work also as heat keepers in the closed burning process. These products can be used for interior and exterior finishings but might also be sold to sustain the project like in ours.
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Building with fire 1. - 31.March 2008
Workshop director: Anupama Kundoo Consultant: Ray Meeker Contractor: M. Vinayagam Client: Madame De Blic of Volontariat Documentation: Dr. Alka Hingorani Participating students: Ana Nestlehner, TU Berlin Andres Herzog, ETH Z端rich Bedrettin Altay, TU Darmstadt Christian Huber, TU Darmstadt Erik Bartsch, TU Berlin Karen Ehret, TU Darmstadt Katie Vitale, Cornell University Ithaca Marianne Halblaub, TU Darmstadt 162
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