ReclaimTheClay

ReclaimTheClay by Jasmit Hof

‘ReclaimThe­Clay’ is a mate­r­i­al study focused to the ten­sile strength of clay con­struc­tions, as clay is very good at bear­ing the pres­sure, but not at bear­ing trac­tive forces. In the course of the study, 4 objects were cre­at­ed that dif­fer in shape, weight and the way they were cre­at­ed. ‘ReclaimThe­Clay’ are exam­ples of the study results and is intend­ed to show the poten­tials of con­struc­tion and the unex­plored fields of appli­ca­tion of clay as the mate­r­i­al.

Where Every­where! Clay is a nat­ur­al prod­uct that is avail­able in large quan­ti­ties world­wide and, there­fore, it is pos­si­ble to be quar­ried local­ly and used direct­ly after a short prepa­ra­tion. Through this project, I want to point out that clay is not a niche build­ing mate­r­i­al, but an essen­tial com­po­nent of sus­tain­able and mod­ern archi­tec­ture, which must be estab­lished as an equal build­ing mate­r­i­al, if the build­ing indus­try is will­ing to reduce emis­sions.

Who Aimed at all dis­ci­plines in the con­struc­tion indus­try and is intend­ed as a pro­pos­al to recon­sid­er clay in its archi­tec­tur­al appli­ca­tion.

Why Clay reg­u­lates humid­i­ty, bal­ances out tem­per­a­tures, is 100% recy­clable and biodegrad­able, and its extrac­tion is local, requires lit­tle ener­gy, and you can find it every­where. Anoth­er great prop­er­ty is that clay behaves like a com­pos­ite mate­r­i­al. If you add cer­tain addi­tives, its prop­er­ties can expand. Since clay is very good at bear­ing pres­sure, but not at bear­ing trac­tive forces, this mate­r­i­al study address­es the fol­low­ing ques­tion: What addi­tives can be added to clay and how should it be processed to increase its trac­tive forces and thus expand its range of appli­ca­tions?

How The study is divid­ed into 3 phas­es.
In the first phase, the exper­i­ment is focused on the mate­r­i­al itself. The addi­tion of fab­ric (jute) cre­ates a ten­sile strength in the clay that acts as a rein­force­ment. Along with the mate­r­i­al, the geo­met­ric shape of the object is impor­tant for its sta­bil­i­ty. Due to their geo­met­ric prop­er­ties and cur­va­tures, closed form­work is one of the most sta­ble shapes and there­fore has a very high load-bear­ing capac­i­ty.

Dur­ing the sec­ond phase, four objects were cre­at­ed, which dif­fer in size, shape and appear­ance, but with a com­mon basic form – the form­work.

To pro­tect the dusty sur­face of the objects, they are fin­ished with casein – a pro­tein extract­ed from milk. It pro­tects the sur­face from exter­nal influ­ences, such as water and abra­sion, and is open to dif­fu­sion. The pos­i­tive prop­er­ties of the clay are thus pre­served.

2000 1428 Angewandte Milano
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