Embedded Files
Day 5, photo by Nathan Eckstein
Day 5, photo by Nathan Eckstein
Day 5, photo by Gabby Hanssen
Day 1, photo by Alanna Nissen
Day 5, photo by Nathan Eckstein
Day 5, photo by Nathan Eckstein
Day 3, photo by Trask Angell
Time lapse video by Gabby Hanssen
Unveiling video by Margaret Morgenstern
Day 3 Dowels out - by Katherine Kennedy
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
DESCRIPTION
Across the land, across all sites, soil varies significantly. One soil extracted on a construction site will differ from the soil at a neighboring site.
This variability is what makes soil an inherently non-commodified building material. Indeed, the emergence of standard for earth-based materials is hindered by their high variability and their reliance on local additives and traditional construction methods.
Throughout the workshop, the underlining objective will be to find a "common ground". We will learn how to assess individual soils for construction and build a series of small rammed earth "walletes" made of the different soils. We will mix and create collections of soils - who vary in diversity very much like their owners - to create a “common ground”.
In addition to assessing soils for construction from your brought soils, we will also explore and create our own engineered soil “recipes”. Lastly, and depending on how the first exercises go, we will create a collective earth wall, made of the collections of soils - natural and engineered.
Keywords. Soil classification; Soil politics; Soil of a community; Collective soil; Mixing our soils together; Connection in times of social distancing.
Across the land, across all sites, soil varies significantly. One soil extracted on a construction site will differ from the soil at a neighboring site.
This variability is what makes soil an inherently non-commodified building material. Indeed, the emergence of standard for earth-based materials is hindered by their high variability and their reliance on local additives and traditional construction methods.
Throughout the workshop, the underlining objective will be to find a "common ground". We will learn how to assess individual soils for construction and build a series of small rammed earth "walletes" made of the different soils. We will mix and create collections of soils - who vary in diversity very much like their owners - to create a “common ground”.
In addition to assessing soils for construction from your brought soils, we will also explore and create our own engineered soil “recipes”. Lastly, and depending on how the first exercises go, we will create a collective earth wall, made of the collections of soils - natural and engineered.
Keywords. Soil classification; Soil politics; Soil of a community; Collective soil; Mixing our soils together; Connection in times of social distancing.
MATERIALS:
Each student is required to bring the following:
1 bucket of subsoil (details TBA before the workshop)
Work clothing: durable clothing and shoes that may be stained while working with soils *be prepared to spend some time outdoors, bring clothes to stay warm/dry outside Work gloves: gardening-type gloves
Access to computer lab or bring a laptop
READINGS/VIDEOS:
Video - watch prior to workshop:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5El1PjkYSQ4&t=49s
Required reading:
Chapters 6,8 from King, B. (2017). The new carbon architecture: building to cool the climate. New Society Publishers.
Granjou, C., & Salazar, J. F. (2019). The Stuff of Soil: Belowground agency in the making of future climates. Nature and Culture, 14(1), 39-60.
Optional reading:
Ingold, T. (2012). Toward an ecology of materials. Annual review of anthropology, 41, 427-442.
Puigde la Bellacasa, M. (2014). Encountering bioinfrastructure: Ecological struggles and the sciences of soil. Social Epistemology, 28(1), 26-40.
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