The location of the building is in Indiranagar, the highlight of which is based on new unprecedented growth in the social and commercial activity. Over the last few years, there has been a tremendous shift in the commercial activity in this area. Restaurants, cafes, pubs, and stores of renowned brands, are creating a diverse social culture in this area – which was previously predominantly residential.
To build with earth was an exploration to focus on sustainability rather than focus on the economy or market and to understand the limitations that it would inevitably bring. The walls made of rammed earth tied together with a concrete belt for stability forms the grid for the vault. This is composed of stabilized mud blocks. The outcome of a four-story building in rammed earth is 80cm thick walls in the basement, the standard size of which usually is 23 cm. The consequence of this means lesser usable space and the infrastructure, in this case, is not integrated with the wall.
The objective of the task was for the student to understand the challenges and benefits of building with earth in an urban commercial context, to develop arguments to build a multi-story building using earth. This experiment shows the advantages and disadvantages of using local sustainable materials in an urban and highly commercialized context.
