Rammed Earth in Architecture and Design: Styles, Pairings, Precedents

Move over it to light it

Finish

Light

Closer

ReadingsIn use 1600 to now

WeightVery heavy

WarmthWarm

CostCheap

PermanenceIn between

PrecisionRough, handmade

CarbonStores carbon

Making one kilo releases about 0.02 kg of CO₂: local subsoil and a little lime or cement.

It saysNear-zero impactGeological stratificationGrounded permanence

Best for: Sustainable architecture, Desert and arid builds, Regenerative design.

01The building that proves it

Ricola Kräuterzentrum

Herzog & de Meuron · Laufen · 2014

Rammed Earth here: the largest rammed-earth building in Europe, made from local clay.

About the building ↗

02Try it on a board

Pick up to three materials to sit beside rammed earth. The board shows the styles that use all of them, and writes a prompt you can take to an image or video generator.

Rammed Earth Basalt

Styles that use all of themCritical Regionalism Organic Architecture Vernacular Architecture

Setting

Scale

Light

Camera

Output

A house, on a dense urban street. Materials: rammed earth that reads as near-zero impact, basalt that reads as geological weight. Golden hour, warm raking light. Eye level from across the street, 35mm. Architectural photograph, medium format, no people, no text.

03The styles built on it

Organic Architecture Vernacular Architecture Biophilic Design Sustainable Architecture Critical Regionalism

Also in these styles, in their own words

Monolithic Architecture"Rammed earth and compressed soil: #B89878, #A08868"

04Questions

Which design styles use rammed earth?

Organic Architecture, Vernacular Architecture, Biophilic Design, Sustainable Architecture and Critical Regionalism, and 1 more.

What goes well with rammed earth?

Rammed Earth pairs well with reclaimed timber, cedar and cor-ten steel.

What does rammed earth communicate?

Near-zero impact, Geological stratification and Grounded permanence. It suits sustainable architecture, desert and arid builds and regenerative design.

What is the carbon footprint of rammed earth?

Making one kilo of rammed earth releases about 0.02 kg of CO₂, cradle to gate: local subsoil and a little lime or cement.

05More earth

Hempcrete Clay Plaster Living Roof Substrate

Every materialOpen the materials sampler →

Marble Limestone Granite Travertine Basalt Sandstone Slate Structural Steel Cor-Ten Steel Titanium Copper Wrought Iron Anodized Aluminum Chrome Bronze Zinc Cladding Cast Iron Plate Glass Glass Block Leaded Art Glass Structural Glass ETFE Membrane Electrochromic Glazing Oak Teak Bamboo Cedar CLT Reclaimed Timber Birch Plywood Pine Fired Brick Terracotta Tile Adobe Brick Ceramic Mosaic Glazed Faïence Roman Brick Polychrome Brick Rammed Earth Hempcrete Clay Plaster Living Roof Substrate Exposed Concrete Board-Formed Concrete Polished Concrete Precast Concrete Panel Glass-Fibre Reinforced Concrete Sprayed Concrete Fibreglass Shell Carbon Fibre Composite Aluminium Composite Panel Tensile Fabric Perforated Steel Screen Polycarbonate Vitrolite Porcelain Enamel Panel