Form in form, 2014-2015 (An inquiry)

The goal of the project was to come up with new techniques for earth ramming that could introduce new architectures into existing structures (in this case abandoned houses). That is: to use a secondary architectural system to support an existing shell. This tactic of preservation creates a kind of frictive doubling between structures: a way of reinvigorating without reproducing, and a means to play with disciplinary tools (solids, poches, platonic geometries) to revisit familiar typologies through a deliberately dumb/humble material. 

Earth ramming is typically a “top-down” process—tamping using compaction where surface complexity is ususally introduced through the shape of the formwork. Here, a 7-axis robot assisted in precise compaction to create complex and doubly curved surfaces as means of testing the limits of the process. 

THE PROMPT

THE RESEARCH