RECLAIM
THE
CLAY

RECLAIMTHECLAY IS A MATERIAL STUDY THAT EXPLORES THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF CLAY CONSTRUCTIONS. THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF REINFORCED, GEOMETRICALLY OPTIMIZED FORMWORK SYSTEMS, THE PROJECT INVESTIGATES HOW CLAY CAN ACHIEVE HIGH LOAD-BEARING CAPACITY DESPITE ITS LOW TENSILE PERFORMANCE.

THE RESULTING OBJECTS DEMONSTRATE THE STRUCTURAL AND ARCHITECTURAL POTENTIAL OF CLAY AND POSITION IT AS A RELEVANT MATERIAL FOR SUSTAINABLE AND FUTURE-ORIENTED CONSTRUCTION.

FOR OVER 10,000 YEARS, CLAY HAS BEEN USED AS A FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING MATERIAL. ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN LARGELY REPLACED BY INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES, ITS OUTSTANDING ECOLOGICAL PROPERTIES HAVE LED TO A RESURGENCE SINCE THE 1980S, POSITIONING IT AS A BUILDING MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE.

RAMMED EARTH CONSTRUCTIONS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY HIGH COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH BUT LOW TENSILE STRENGTH, A STRUCTURAL CONTRAST THAT FORMS THE STARTING POINT OF THIS MATERIAL STUDY.

TO ENSURE BASIC TENSILE STRENGTH, THE FORMWORK WAS PRODUCED USING AN INTERLOCKING LAYERED STRUCTURE OF COARSE-MESHEDJUTE FABRIC. THIS MATERIAL CHOICE IS CRITICAL: THE ROUGH SURFACE OF THE NATURAL FIBER ABSORBS A HIGH VOLUME OF CLAY, WHILE THE INDIVIDUAL LAYERS INTERLOCK DURING DRYING SHRINKAGE TO FORM A COHESIVE, HETEROGENEOUS UNIT.

BEYOND THIS MATERIAL REINFORCEMENT, THE GEOMETRIC CURVATURE OF THE CLOSED FORMWORK IS ESSENTIAL FOR STABILITY. THE SYNERGY BETWEEN THIS GEOMETRY AND THE LAYERED STRUCTURE ENABLES A LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION THAT ACHIEVES HIGH LOAD-BEARING CAPACITY DESPITE ITS MINIMAL DEAD WEIGHT.

THE OBJECTS ARE EXEMPLARY FOR THE RESULTS OF THIS MATERIAL STUDY AND ARE INTENDED TO DEMONSTRATE THE ARCHITECTURAL POTENTIAL AND THE UNEXPLORED AREAS OF APPLICATION OF CLAY. FURTHERMORE, THIS PROJECT SHOULD POINT OUT THAT CLAY IS NOT A NICHE BUILDING MATERIAL, BUT AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF SUSTAINABLE AND MODERN ARCHITECTURE, WHICH MUST BE ESTABLISHED AS AN EQUAL BUILDING MATERIAL IF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IS SERIOUSLY PREPARED TO REDUCE EMISSIONS.

THE ECOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF CLAY HAVE BEEN FULLY PRESERVED.
ALL ADDED MATERIALS ARE ORGANIC-BASED.
THE OBJECTS THEREFORE REMAIN RECYCLABLE AND BIODEGRADABLE.

WORK
IN
PROGRESS