atelier tekuto: earth-bricks

'earth-bricks' by atelier tekuto, chiba, japanimage © toshihiro sobajima

japanese architecture practice atelier tekuto has recently completed 'earth-bricks', a residential structure located in chiba, japan. the curved exterior wall is formed from 2,600 earth bricks comprised of a dense mixture 

of soil and magnesium oxide, an element which can be easily sourced from 'magnesite mineral', commonly found in oceans and land. originally used for the mortar joints of the pyramids and great wall of china, this structure

aspires to reintroduce masonry construction sourced from local soil as a viable option for developing countries.

extended roof eave with exposed beams

the stacked rectangular bricks are slightly angled to produce the undulating and faintly segmented perimeter enclosure. a deep roof overhang extends to screen a ribbon clerestory window formed with glass blocks of similar proportions to the custom 

soil-based units. at night, the dwelling softly glows through the translucent glazing of the fenestrations. upon entering the central living space and kitchen, attention is directed to the exposed structure of the vaulted ceilings. rafters radiate downward from the main ridge element, which is reminiscent of a spine. the curved stairway attached to the exterior wall leads inhabitants 

to an open bedroom loft with views of the great room below. the bathroom and storage room are concealed within a partitionbehind the food preparation area and underneath the wooden steps.

(left) entrance facade right) front door

(left) earth brick detail (right) upward view from great roomimages © toshihiro sobajima

view of entrance and great room from kitchen

kitchen

great room

(left) corridor to bathroom (right) space under stairway

bathroom image © toshihiro sobajima

(left) bathroom (right) view of ceiling from the loft

(left) stairs leading to the loft (right) top of stairs from the loft

clerestory windows under roof eave

light emanates through translucent glass windows

illuminated at nightimage © toshihiro sobajima

masonry wall under constructionimage courtesy atelier tekuto

site planimage courtesy atelier tekuto

floor plan / level 0image courtesy atelier tekuto

floor plan / level 1image courtesy atelier tekuto

sectionimage courtesy atelier tekuto

elevationimage courtesy atelier tekuto

elevationimage courtesy atelier tekuto

elevationimage courtesy atelier tekuto

elevation

block formation diagram

process to make the earth block mixtureimage courtesy atelier tekuto

wall sectionimage courtesy atelier tekuto

project info:

site area: 184.62㎡building area: 47.84㎡total floor area: 41.39㎡structure: masonry – earth blockarchitecture design: yasuhiro yamashita+masahiko takada+azusa ishii+ryo takagi/atelier tekutostructural design: jun sato+yuko mihara/jun sato structural engineermechanical design: kazuhiro endo/eos pluslighting design: sueko kanaya/visual technologiesexperiment supervision: matsumura, fujita lab./university of tokyo, koshiishi lab./waseda universityconstruction: atelier tekuto, yoshiro goda/ogawa kyoritsu constructionphotographer: toshihiro sobajima

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/16833/atelier-tekuto-earth-bricks.html