Mixes of earth, straw, fibres.
Studying proportions, natural stabilisers and mechanical resistances of Mexican, Catalan and Emirati raw earths. How to print the earth of the site, without transporting it.
Research
Printing the earth, recovering the ground.
An exploration of 3D printing applied to raw earth, between vernacular know-how and contemporary digital fabrication.
The project questions the continuity between constructive gesture and production tools, in a research centred on matter.
Construction 2026
Raw earth prototype, 30 m²
Prototype built in raw earth using a 3D printing system developed around materials drawn from the site.
The project explores the continuities between digital fabrication and vernacular techniques, working the matter in successive layers of earth and plant fibres.
An experimental architecture that questions contemporary constructive forms through local resources and elementary gestures.
- Height
- 2.80 m
- Area
- 30 m²
- Material
- Raw earth, straw
- Layers
- ≈ 280 strata
- Tutors
- E. Cabay, N. Begun
- University
- IAAC
- Location
- IAAC Valldaura
- Status
- Built prototype
Three axes of research.
Robotic arm, parameters, speed.
Calibrating extrusion to climates, parametric curves for vaults, dialogue between algorithm and the builder's hand. The tool extends the gesture, it does not replace it.
Thickness as passive response.
Thick walls, vaults, natural ventilation, worked shadows. Digital fabrication finally lets us optimise these ancestral gestures at scale, project by project.