Bâtir en Terre
Romain Anger, Laetitia Fontaine
Earth is the most natural building material, immediately available and recyclable, often requiring little transformation and therefore energy efficient. The ancients were not mistaken, as evidenced by the Mesopotamian ziggurats or the pyramid of Sesostris II in Egypt, of which only the core of raw earth bricks remains. Published on the occasion of the exhibition “Ma terre première” (My first earth), first presented at the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie, this book sets out to discover the exceptional earthen heritage, from the mythical Shibam in Yemen, the “Manhattan” of the desert, to the strange collective dwellings of the Hakkas in China, via the shell huts of Cameroon. He does not forget the European rural habitat, nor the prowess of contemporary architects, fascinated by the qualities of the material. In fact, the physical and chemical properties of earth, a true “natural concrete”, are invaluable for construction: the book proposes to understand why through simple and entertaining experiments.
