History of Rammed Earth
Rammed earth is a method of wall building that has been around for 10,000 years. During that time frame every imaginable type of building from single and multi-family homes to monasteries, palaces and fortresses have been constructed. Rammed earth is the strongest, safest, and most earthquake resistant type of earth building. In addition, it is more durable than other types of earth walls for building due to the raw materials used and the methods employed. Rammed earth is used throughout the world thanks to the virtually unlimited supply of raw materials; stone, sand and clay.
It is widely believed that rammed earth wall building came from the Middle East and eventually spread around the world. The Romans used this practical technique to build throughout Europe; Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France. In France's Rhone River valley rammed earth was a very common form building for hundreds of years with over a quarter of a million buildings made. The Europeans brought their building techniques with them to their colonies in the Americas and the the far east.
Rammed earth has been used extensively in China for thousands of years and is still being used to this day. During the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty many Hakka built large enclosed multi-story buildings, many housing around 200 or more people per complex.
In North America between 1780 and 1850 popularity of rammed earth grew as people looked for practical solutions to their housing needs. With the arrival of mass produced brick and lumber and the popular misconception that new is better, rammed earth construction faded until it’s revival after world war 1 until the early 1950’s. The industrial revolution’s influence in the construction industry saw a decline in rammed earth building. It only took a couple of generations for this building art to fade away, luckily people in many parts of the world continued to keep the technique alive. The tests that the US government did and the literature from that has contributed to the revival of rammed earth , today in both Canada and the US the popularity of rammed earth is increasing due to environmental, economic and social factors. Many architects and other people admire Frank Lloyd Wright, he was a fan of rammed earth and designed some homes for a project that didn't end up getting built, but imagine if it had what would that look like?
Today there is a modern renaissance under way using rammed earth walls in all types of green building. The growing awareness of the environment and desire to build higher quality buildings have led to more examples that further inspire more buildings. The addition of modern design, engineering and insulation have created a highly desirable and dependable material that fits in with an energy efficient building movement. The problems we are faced with today have a lot of answers in the past, some answers have been with us a long time, in fact possibly under the very ground we are standing on..