Thursday, July 09, 2009

Rammed Earth Is Stunning!



I must live a sheltered life for I've never heard of Rammed Earth Walls until reading Patricia Gray's blog. Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver BC, Canada who writes about "WHAT'S HOT" in the world of Design.

Her most recent post is about her visit to the
The Nk'Mip Winery and Resort in the Okanagan Valley. There she encountered beautiful wall that looked like marble. I was reminded by the pictures of layered rock seen from the road traveling through Utah and Arizona.

Rammed earth is used to build homes and the interior walls are magical.
Rammed earth, also known as pisé de terre or simply pisé, is a type of construction material. It is an ancient building method that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek more sustainable building materials and natural building methods. Traditionally, rammed earth wall buildings are common in arid regions where wood is in scarce supply.

The mixture for rammed earth walls is compacted in layers between forms. Each layer of the rammed earth wall is approximately 6 inches deep. As each form is filled, another form is placed above it, and the process begins again. This is continued until the desired rammed earth wall height is achieved.



Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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3 comments:

Nicolette Toussaint said...

These walls are stunning - even though I did know about "rammed earth" walls. They were often used in vernacular architecture in very hot places like India, because their depth keeps rooms cool. But I never saw them looking this beautiful.
Thanks for leaving a comment on my Living in Comfort and Joy blog; it caused me to find your blog, and I love it. I came to "meet" you and found many, many things I wanted to read. I'd love to cross link our blogs.

Mike Landfair said...

Nicolette, aren't they beautiful? I just added you to our blogroll.

Stephanie said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!