Earth construction in the Algarve—Past and future

Abstract

Raw earth, while building material, constitutes unquestionably one of the most sustainable construction materials. Several construction technics exist over world using raw earth as basic material. In Portugal, it is possible to notice a rich heritage of buildings in raw earth, located throughout the country, but more spread on the South. The main vernacular techniques are rammed earth and adobe, but while the adobe technique suffered an evolution, rammed earth continues being used with no significant differences. It was conducted a research on earth building heritage throughout the Algarve region, especially in typological and dimensional terms, as well as structural and constructional aspects. Also, a research project focused in the characterization and in the quality control of compressed earth blocks [CEB], produced by the company “Terra Crua”, is being developed in the Civil Engineering Department of the Institute of Engineering of the University of Algarve. This company has great practical knowledge with raw earth construction using rammed earth assemblies since the seventies, with approximately one hundred buildings constructed, and with seven structures of CEB finished in the last two years. In this paper, some aspects of old and new earth buildings are presented, as well as the developments in the construction techniques and quality control of materials. The necessity to find constructive sustainable solutions explains the current demand for sophisticated construction with raw earth, aiming not only for new buildings but also for the conservation and rehabilitation of a valuable heritage.