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Showing posts from 2014

FILM REVIEWS

The 1956 film “The Ten Commandments”starred Charlton Heston as Moses from the Bible. At one time, as a Jewish slave in Egypt, he was shown building with mud. This was a very Hollywood version of such work, as what was shown was the use of a very wet, sloppy mix, and so the conditions portrayed were very messy. Such a mix could have been used for mud mortar, but not for the mud bricks which were the subject of the work in hand. The mix for bricks needs to be wet enough to be malleable, but not so wet that its splashes about. The mix for mortar does need to be wetter, however, in order for it to fit around the bricks to make a homogeneous whole. The 2005 film “The New World” starred Christian Bale as Captain John Smith who married Princess Pocahontas on the east coast of the USA when Europeans first settled in that country. Once the village was established, there are scenes in the film showing the cottages in which people lived, which look like correct portrayal

MORE HISTORIC EARTHEN BUILDINGS in USA

In the last episode of the Ray Mears series “How the Wild West was Won” on BBC 4, he featured the homes of the Navajo Indians in the Sanoran Desert in the south-west of the USA. Their houses were called hogoms, and they consisted of earth piled up on a pyramid-like timber frame to provide one large simple volume. Because of the heat, the earth became baked hard and dry. However, there was also occasional torrential rain and if any earth was washed off, it could be repaired using the material which was all around – more earth. The timber itself was a scarce resource, and so it was re-used if homes had to be re-built. Again the structures were warm in the winter but cool in the summer.

2014. MEETING 1 : THIRD ANNUAL LECTURE

At the University of Lincoln on 26 February 2014 Attended by students of architecture, guests, members of Greenpeace and the Abundant Earth Community, and EMESS members. On behalf of the School of Architecture, Marcin Kolakowski welcomed everyone.  He mentioned that 15 student projects were on the subject of sustainable architecture - but what was this subject really ?  It was not about CO2 emissions or U-values, but about low technology and going more widely and more slowly, rather than narrowly and quickly.  There is a crisis of meaning, of consumerism, etc in modern times. The Abundant Earth Community is trying to improve physical, mental and economic health.  They are an intentional community which might take the form of a workers' co-operative or a housing co-operative.  In practice they would work off the grid to produce food through many collaborators, and they have become a client figure for an architecture project.  See them at : abundant.earth.

SURVEY of MUD-AND-STUD BARN at TUMBY MOORSIDE, LINCOLNSHIRE

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This survey shows the building which EMESS has been repairing from time to time over the last 20 years.  It is a listed building grade II and the Society has the permission of the owner to carry out the repairs.  In addition, because these repairs to a listed building are being carried out on a like-for-like basis, the Society has been given the agreement of the local authority to carry them out.  If the repairs did not match the original construction, then listed building consent would have been required.   The building has become the focus of the hands-on training days which EMESS organises, usually twice a year.  One of these days is specifically for architecture students from the University of Lincoln who are interested in the use of sustainable materials.  The other day is for anyone in EMESS to attend. The building’s survey was carried out by Arjun Chopra and Kritika Golchha, two students from the University, following a consultation with two retired archi

HISTORIC EARTHEN BUILDINGS in USA

On BBC 4 recently, Ray Mears has been describing “How the Wild West was Won” in a three part documentary. Episode two was about the Great Plains, which included a section on how people built houses there without trees (or stone, for that matter). So what did they use ? They used earth, of course, and in particular, sods of turf from the very tough grass which did grow there. It was recognised that the sods gave very good insulation properties through their thermal mass, namely cool in the summer but warm in the winter. This was essential as much of the USA has a continental climate of extremes except along the coasts. It is estimated that there were a million such houses by 1900. Watch the programme on i-player or wait to see if it will be repeated (as many of BBC 4's programmes are).