The Hungarian Strawbuilders Association is organizing a Rammed Earth Floor Workshop.
Location: Gödöllő (close to Budapest), Hungary
Date: 15-17.11.2024.
Theoretical and practical lecturer:
Tommaso Venturini/ architect,
What is rammed earth floor?
An earthen floor is a floor made of earth that has been compressed, polished and oiled. The final layer is smooth, shiny and pleasant.
What are the benefits of earthen floors?
- They have a warm, natural feel, but are also cool in summer.
- Earth is a natural, biodegradable, non-toxic material, with no energy required for processing.
- The earth can be sourced on-site, reducing transport fuel.
- Lower embodied energy than any other flooring, and hugely less than concrete slab.
- They invite creativity – objects or other natural materials such as stones can be embedded in the floor.
- Thermal mass can reduce heating bills.
The lecturer Tommaso Venturini with a degree in ‘Architecture and building engineering’ in Università Politecnica delle Marche in Italy, he moved to the Netherlands to work in the faculty of architecture of TU Delft. There in 2017 he started a research project focused on realizing temporary shelters for emergency architecture by combining the use of earth and 3dprintng technology.
In 2019 he moved to Austria to collaborate with the architect Hanno Burtscher (earthman.at), pupil of
Martn Rauch and specialist in the rammed earth technique. He then specialized in ‘RegeneraƟve materials’ with a course in ETH Zurich. In recent years, he has mixed design work, practcal experience on constructon sites and occasionally teaching in courses with special focus on earth floors, collaboraƟng and sharing experience with various professionals around Europe.
Workshop programme:
DAY 1
- First contact with the material, feeling the material and personal introductions.
- General explanation on properties and characteristics of earth as constructionmaterial with special focus on rammed earth.
- How to choose the right earth mix for a rammed earth floor. Each participant willexperiment preparing their own mix and test sample.
- Presentation about earth floors made with different techniques, the process, theirbenefits, their challenges and potential development.
- Preparation of the earth mix.
- Explanation about earth finishings.
DAY 2
- Start the construction of the earth floor.
- Bring inside the earth mix already prepared in the previous days and level it.
- Precompaction.
- Compaction of the earth floor.
3. NAP
- Grinding and polishing of the surface.
- Manual retouching of the edges and details.
- Demonstration about earth finishings.
- Conclusion and feedback.
Shedule of the day:
9.00 – 10.00 theory lesson
10.00 – 12.00 practical work
12.00 – 13.00 lunch and break
13.00 – 16.00 practical work
Fee:
160 Euro, which includes vegan lunch for the 3 days.
We help to organize accomodation if needed for the expence of the participant.
Language: english/hungarian
Registration and more information szalmaepitok@gmail.com e-mail or 0036 30 9866 727
For registration please send your name, email and telephone number. If you need accomodation and special food please let us know!
Come and learn together!