Special elective | Bachelor and Master programmes of the faculty | winter semester 2021/22

In October 2021, the first earth building workshop took place. During the project week, the students made their own wooden moulds, produced clay mixtures and finally tamped over a ton of material into the moulds. They tested material behaviour, used different tamping techniques and tools, and experimented with mixing ratios and natural aggregates. The models of Randeck Castle on a scale of 1:25 and the surrounding model on a scale of 1:50 represent the starting point for the upcoming design.

The models serve as input models for further courses in the third semester: On the one hand in the course "Design" for the design of an event stage in the castle ruins, on the other hand for the design task of a beverage warehouse in the "Integrated Project".

The elective subject is also accompanied by the research project "Reinforcement of rammed earth". With the collaboration of Daniel Stempfer (student and research assistant), rammed earth samples with different additives are produced and tested in the laboratory with the aim of improving the durability and thermal insulation behaviour of rammed earth.

Albert Stöcker and professors Juri Troy and Andreas Löffler are responsible for the research work and Jan Glasmeier (Simple Architecture, London) is providing external support.