Van Rotterdamse Bodem
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Project Description
The Van Rotterdamse Bodem project is a pilot project and research on re-using Rotterdam clay as a building material. In collaboration with local parties, The Municipality of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Circular, the team is working on a series of experiments and research focusing on left over clays extracted from the sewerage system of the city. Through the research, earth and soils are seen as the new gold of the city, providing future proof, circular and sustainable solutions to build resiliently.
Geographical Scope
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Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
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Description of the project
Summary
Rotterdam is a dynamic city with a long history of innovations in the built environment. Van Rotterdamse Bodem aims to continue this tradition by researching, prototyping and promoting earth-based construction methods, techniques and materials.
EARTH: THE MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE
CO2 NEUTRAL
Earth is local resource. It is placed raw in the formwork and rammed. It is not baked or transformed in any other way. Because it is local, almost no transport is needed.
CIRCULARITY
The building material can be reused indefinitely. The composition of the earth remains the same and undergoes no chemical change through the process. It is fully reusable, waste-free and biodegradable at the end of its life cycle. Through the earth of Rotterdam
that is released during various construction processes, minimal transport is required. The material from Rotterdam is sufficient and we do not need quarries or other materials outside the city. As a result, we use as few raw materials as possible and we keep the transport local.
INNOVATIVE
Building with rammed earth is new in the Netherlands. We work together with knowledge partners across Europe to take the right steps.
SOCIAL
The first step towards innovation is adaptation. Earth as a building material is a collective conversation with engineers, builders, designers and users. In the open air laboratory we get to know the material and the technology together with everyone in the workshops.
Key objectives for sustainability
Van Rotterdamse Bodem understands raw-earth construction as the future of a circular building industry.
The first phase of the project has focused on examining earth excavated in Rotterdam. We must understand what can be make with earth excavated in Rotterdam, order to make it possible for its application in contstruction.
AN URBAN LABORATORY
A laboratory was set up to focus on reusing and researching Rotterdam's rammed earth. Samples were made to research the composition and scale at which we can work, and we ran an open workshop to prototype the first rammed earth wall made using Rotterdam clay.
RESEARCH URBAN MINING
We have also begun a mapping of the material flow and a study on the space pressure that exist with the ground extraction.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Earth has a wide range of applications. From aesthetic to constructive qualities, from a building block to a solid wall, from furniture to towers, the possibilities are endless. Earth is extremely workable, you can colour it, pour it, plaster it and it can be mixed with other materials.
The research proposes to explore between the scales S and M, using pilot projects to demonstrate what can be possible with earth, showing the beauty of the natural material, and sharing the results with the city. We want this to grow into a hands-on catalogue of possibilities, showcasing trails and experiments with Earth on a small scale in order to demonstrate what is possible.
Key objectives for inclusion
A PROJECT FOR THE CITY AND ITS RESIDENTS
The open-air laboratory was the first step to give earth a well-deserved podium for the city. It was the start of a sustainable new building method in Rotterdam, and the form of the laboratory made the practical knowledge of the material publicly available for the city to use.
The project has a diverse scope, and due to the low entry-threshold of the material, we were able to welcome everyone, young and old, to the lab. By conveying the possibilities of building, the aesthetic qualities and the ecological advantages in the open-air laboratory, everyone can gain their own experience in it. As a participant and/or visitor you are invited to touch and cooperate with the material in order to better understand its potential. Due to the open nature of the workshops and the publicly accessible laboratory, it is easy to gain new insights into the possibilities of raw earth as a material.
RESIDENTS OF ROTTERDAM
An introduction to the material. When residents become aware of the simplicity and manufacturability of building with earth, the goal is that after a workshop they can make a small project themselves.
MUNICIPALITY OF ROTTERDAM
Within Rotterdam a lot is moved with earth. Contact with the Rotterdam soil depot revealed that a lot of good usable soil is stored. A collaboration is available. The project fits within the vision of Rotterdam Circular, from mess to beautiful. The initiative shows that soil is a clean and, above all, beautiful material.
PROFESSIONALS
Arousing interest in earth as a building material. Showing the aesthetic possibilities and architectural qualities in the larger perspective. The laboratory provides knowledge to the professionals and enthuses the designers, contractors and developers to apply the new material.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
INCLUSIVITY
Raw earth mined from the urban fabric can open a new building sector creatings jobs and offering new opportunities for all social classes. Van Rotterdamse Bodem ( From the bottom of Rotterdam ) is an initiative that wishes to embrace a social and sustainable economy. While the harbour of Rotterdam is looking to relocate workers, this is a fantastic opportunity to offer fair and sustainable practices in the building sector.
CIRCULARITY
Earth is one the most common, urban-mined material, offering a huge amount of building matter, locally available. BC Materials in Brussels and Cycle Terre in Paris have already shown the positive and circular impact of reusing excavated soil. Reusing Rotterdam earth is directly inspired by those urban initiatives. While the Dutch building culture heritage is rooted is the brick tradition, raw earth is a chance to offer a new revival to the clay, towards sustainable and reusable building possibilities.
AESTHETICS
Rotterdam, as with all cities, hides a underestimated wealth of material capital in its built forms and invisible infrastructures. Huge amounts of waste are generated in the demolition and transformation of its urban fabric. Everyday, sand and clay are excavated from Rotterdam’s sewage systems and infrastructures and ditched into backfill. We must learn to value, use and built from these raw and used materials, and recognise the goldmine that surrounds us. Therefore, the craft of reusing earth must demonstrate its capacity to invent and design a new aesthetic for the city. As a vernacular material, earth offers aesthetic possibilities to architecture, while demonstrating a carbon neutral impact in the building process ; a perfect step towards resilience.
