Contemporary use of rammed earth in Portugal. The case of Alentejo coast

Abstract

In the last two decades there has been a return to the use of rammed earth construction in the Alentejo coast. This return is somehow driven by the international influence of the "Architectures de terre" 1981-82 exhibition in the Centre George Pompidou that has its national reflex in the 1993 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation exhibition. Furthermore, concerning to conservation heritage, the 7th International Conference on the Study and Conservation of Earthen Architecture held in Silves in the same year, revealed the technique and started to have its echoes in the local media. In the end, several private and pioneer experiences, driven by the work of some architects, have found in earthen techniques a new (or old) way of build, which was not taught in colleges but instead goes back to our roots. Either in the rehabilitation and extension of old building (some rescued from its previous agricultural nature), either in new constructions built from scratch, they just took the option of using the pragmatic principle that the project should be adapted to the place. In fact, this is the technique that better fits the place, by the availability of the material (earth with an adequate percentage of clay) and by the characteristics of the rammed earth wall that naturally faces the wide local temperature range and has less impact in the surroundings. It is our belief that this 2 nd decade of the 21 st century will be an important time of changing as the crisis reveals the business strategic potential of the earthen constructions shown by the increase of scale of recent interventions. This study aims to analyse the current situation of rammed earth architecture in the Alentejo coast crossing questions of authorship and architectonic language, involved agents (technician / client / contractor / workers / public institutions), construction methods, economic and environmental issues, and the continuous lack of information about this technique.