Historical rammed earth: route for reconstitution

Abstract

There is an important built cultural heritage of earth architecture in Brazil, a large number of it made in rammed earth. However, there is not a well structured methodology which could help the different professionals who need to repair constructions made in rammed earth. The problem became more significant because different from other earth  construction techniques like  “adobe” and “wattle and daub”, there is no individual nor community  in the country that is still working with this kind of technique to make their own homes. This paper aims to fill this gap. It presents the results of a research made in the historical city of Tiradentes, Brazil, in comparison to other national and international experiences. The research methodology embraces seven parts: a) choice of the construction to be the object of the research; b) analysis of the composition of the existing rammed earth exemplars; c) analysis of the soils to be part of the restoration; d) definition of the mortar to be used; e) restoration; f) registration and analysis of the restoration behavior; g) findings and conclusion. Based on the conclusions of the research, and restorations that were made in Brazil, Spain and Portugal it was possible developing an initial propose of methodology that is not a final study about the theme, but it will surely reach a large scale for the advancement in practice and research in the field.

Keywords: earthen architecture, restoration, rammed earth.