Potential of contemporary earth architecture for low impact building in Belgium

Abstract

Earth architecture during the 21st century has resurfaced worldwide as a sustainable, low environmental impact material with expressive aesthetics and textures. Contemporary projects attempt to modernize the traditional techniques of building with earth in order to adapt them to today’s projecting needs. Examples of such techniques are unfired earth bricks and rammed earth. In order to disclosure and highlight future possibilities of earth construction, advantages and limitations of earth construction in a contemporary Western-European context are reviewed, based on a literature study. Because it is hard to generalise due to the case-specific context and constraints, a case study analysis of earth utilization in two contemporary architectural projects is presented. To assess if these contemporary projects meet the environmental benefits associated with traditional earth construction, several environmental aspects are taken into account, such as material sourcing proximity, production process, reuse potential, etc. Based on the literature study, case study analysis and current evolutions in neighbouring countries, promising applications for future development of earth construction for low impact building in Belgium are highlighted.