After some stressing days at the end of the project, we are happy to announce that the library was happily inaugurated with all the children, teachers, workers, and friends.
Overall it was a fantastic experience, we have learned many things and we hope the others also learned with us.
Here there is a link to the description, plans and pictures:
https://www.archdaily.com/882462/amani-library-social-practice-architecture?ad_medium=gallery
The last week of work has started and there are so many things to do!
On Monday, Patricia and Mr. Matoli start the trip to Himo to collect the bamboo panels. Hopefully they are finished and we can carry them to the project site. They are so big that we have to use the truck of our friend Elli to transport them. It was an endless story to get them, but finally they are here and are certainly beautiful!
The other endless story, the cypress doors… One of the two carpenters has given up and only the other one shows up to give it a second try. Luckily the new method he uses seems to be working well and in a few hours we can see great progress. Instead of trying to fit the webbed inside the wooden frames, he starts making the frames and afterwards he adjusts inside the cypress branches, one by one.
On the site, the workers continue making the soft floor and the carpenters continue fixing the roof. This week there are always many people on the site and many things happenning at the same time. There is no time for resting, not even a second, but it is also nice to see the project going forward. We divide ourselves to be always supervising but also taking care of small things like decoration and landscaping. Mr. Matoli has a wonderful nursery garden at home with many kind of trees and smaller plants, so one day we takes us there and we choose some of them to plant around the library. From now on there will even an avocado tree in front of the building! Hopefully next time to come to Kibaoni we can sit under its shadow.
On Thursday we receive the visit of Mashambo, the engineer from the district. He is really enthusiastic with the project and is convinced to implement the techniques we are using in his own village. Together with him, we write a letter for the district officers to invite them to the opening ceremony on Monday.
Our last weekend in Kibaoni, as expected, is very busy. We spend a lot of time on the site cleaning everything but we also go to visit some friends and start packing our things. Actually we are pleased to be so busy, otherwise it would be too sad to think of leaving this wonderful place that we have loved so much since the first day we stepped out of the daladala down on the road.
This week we have made great improvements on the work site! The week began by starting the roof while also finishing the very last part of the middle earth wall. Last tampering moments!
We went for our meeting in Himo to collect the enclosure panels made out of basketry pattern. Surprisingly, when we arrived Mr. John, the fundi, had only done two of them and with another shape. There had been a misunderstanding of the work and we had to explain again the measurements of the panels and rearrange the contract.
The carpenters started building the wooden trusses on the floor and preparing them to be lifted up. They have been also helping building the pillars, which consist on two wooden lathes that are joint on the bottom by a metallic piece cemented to the floor and on the top are receiving the wooden truss. Once the trusses were finished, they were lifted up and the wooden battens were placed over them. When the wooden structure was completely finished the metal sheets were put on top.
While working in the heights we have also been working on the floor. The floor work has to be done in different days according to the different spaces (reading room, multipurpose room and verandah) and following different phases; there is a first layer of concrete and a second layer of soft cement. The verandah bench top surface is built with the same procedure as the floor, but a formwork was sometines used to keep the orthogonal angle. In general cement flooring is a task that takes a while and sometimes the work lasted until late in the evening.
We have also made some advances regarding the cypress doors and the backside wall of the bookshelves, which has been covered by pieces of rejected wood.
On Sunday we were invited by Priscus to his home with his family. We had a drink together and enjoyed delicious mtori (Tanzanian banana soup) until it got dark. On the way home we ended up in an anniversary party in Kimanyatu dancing with all the high motivated teenagers.
The week included a little heartbreaking surprise…Imani. Primli was walking to the shop to buy a drink when on the way he heard a cry inside an abandoned house. He followed the sound and what he found was a small and lonely baby crying and wrapped in clothes. Saddly the baby had been abandoned…but thankfully he was warmly welcome by Primli´s lovely family as a new member.
The week 14 starts with great news; there is water again at the school! This is particular good now since we are planning to build the concrete beam this week, and it needs a lot of water.
On Monday morning Mr. Matoli comes with Kimaroro, a man from the village who is supposed to be able to build the cypress doors. Unfortunately after explaining the pattern to him, he admitts he can’t but at least he will provide us with the material needed which is collected in a forest up in the mountain. A few days later another two men come and this time they are confident to be able to make the webbing.
At the same time we continue on our research of how to make the baskets. It seems that every body who knew how to make them in the village have passed away and never passed the knowledge to another person. We try to make them ourselves but it is more difficult than expected. Finally, Mr. Matoli comes with the idea of going to Himo, a village one hour away from Kibaoni where he thinks we can find “fundis” who know how to make them. We go with him to Himo on Friday and luckily we find a man who knows the technique. Our idea was bringing him home for a few days so he could also teach us but he doesn’t want to leave his home and finally we arrange to come back next week to collect the panels. It is incredible but we seem to be one step closer to get it!
On the site, after Priscus the carpenter finishes the shelves, we are ready to start the wall in the middle, the last rammed earth wall of the library. We place the formwork with the two shelves as side walls and start tampering. In this last wall we have decided to change a little bit the method. Instead of using the climber formwork in order to make the wall as one continued thing, we will use the traditional way in which you put metal rods every time you move the formwork up. In this way, we will take advantage of the wholes made by the metal rods to place shelves afterwards.
After preparing the metal reinforcement, we also start pouring concrete inside the wooden formworks on top of the walls to build the concrete beam all along the perimeter of the library. This week we have also hired a new carpenter called Godfred. He is busy cutting the wood and shoftening it to prepare it to build the pillars in the next days.
On Wednesday we are invited to a party organised by the chief of the cookers. We enjoy the evening playing cards and drinking local beer and on Sunday, our cookers and friends Kimweli and Evagre bring their families home and we enjoy a dinner all together. Slowly we are getting to know more deeply the people of the village and we are making really good friends. We are so happy that every body are so welcoming and nice to us. Life in Kibaoni is just great.
The dry season is coming to an end and before the rainy season starts, we are having big problems to get the water we need to continue building. On Monday the deposit at the school was completely dry so we could only work half day, preparing the mixes and small things for the next days. At the same time and although it sounds nonsense, it rained during the whole day. Fortunately we had covered all the walls with plastic sheets.
On Tuesday the situation with the water had not improved, but the workers decided to find water no matter how and after asking around in different places they found water up in the river and they brought it from there.
At the end of the week we decided to go with Mr. Matoli to Tarakea to visit the Division Officer and Kiliwater Office and complain about the water problem, as there is no way to continue with the works without water. After exposing our arguments, they promised us that the next day in the afternoon we would have water and luckily on Saturday water finally arrived at the school.
On the site, after destroying the cob wall we have decided to build the middle wall with rammed earth and shelves for books. This week the carpenter built them and we placed them inside the library. We finally finished tampering all the walls of the perimeter and only the middle wall is remaining.
In the meanwhile, Primli has been working on the overfundation for the verandah and the bench, placing the stones and the cement. We have also placed the formwork to pour the mixture for the two columns of the main facade.
About the basketry, we continued on our mission to find somebody who knows how to weave the baskets but it seems that there is no one around who can help us. We also tried ourselves to destroy some baskets and continue the pattern but it is not that easy.
On Sunday we went to Kimaniatu village and we met Primli´s family. They were very nice and welcome and we enjoyed the visit very much.
The week 12 began with several visits to the site. Gabriel, a journalist from Morogoro came to make us a small interview about the project. We answered several questions about the purpose, the budget, the technique and the materials used.
Immediately after, we met Ambri and Mr. John. Ambri is a man from the village who was supposed to know how to weave baskets. Together with Mr. John and Mr. Matoli, we went to a bamboo forest located 15 minutes walking from our house. We had never known that there was such a forest so close to our place. The forest belonged to Mr. John. With the help of the rest of the workers, we selected and cut the most suitable pieces for weaving and brought them home.
The next day Ambri came with a friend to start weaving the panels for the verandah. The first panel was not as expected, since they used a different pattern as the one we wanted. Unfortunately, they did not succeed and after some trials we decided to change the strategy. Instead of building the panels from zero, we would buy the baskets, destroy them and rebuild them again.
This week we also decided to destroy the cob wall. It was not an easy decision, but after seeing the results of building with cob and with rammed earth, we thought cob was working worse in our case and it was slowing down the construction work a lot.
We also received the visit of Mashambo, the district engineer. As always, he gave us good advise about the construction of the library. This time he came with the sub-director of the school, who also gave us many clues mostly about children behaviour, something to take into account when building next to a school.
On Thursday we started preparing the metal rods to build the pillars. In this case, we want to use a different technique similar to rammed earth. It is called cast earth and it consists on pouring a mixture similar to the one used for rammed earth inside a wooden formwork but with a higher percentage of cement. In this way tampering is not necessary, something that would be really difficult for such a small surface and with all the reinforcement inside. The workers prepared the metal rods and in the meanwhile, we made several tests with the small formwork we used to use for the earth tests to find the best proportions of sand, soil and cement.
On Monday we woke up with a foggy day and with the children back to school after some days of holidays. As almost every day, during the morning we were tampering. In the evening we organized a big party at home to celebrate Farid´s birthday. All our friends came along and we enjoyed dancing reggae music until late in the night.
We have finished the last section of one of the corners and after letting it dry we moved the formwork to the other corner. To reinforce the corners we have put some metal rods with “C” shape that connect the wall with the concrete beam that will come on top of it. We have finished the frontal wall and repaired some details from other walls from last weeks.
We have made some tests on cast earth; the technique that we will be using for the columns. The technique is similar to rammed earth but increasing the percentage of cement and making a more liquid mixture, avoiding tampering so hard. We made several tests with different mixtures. Some of the mixtures had too much cement and as result the final colour was too grey.
On Thursday we were invited to the graduation party in Kibaoni Primary School. Students from Standard 7 got graduated and the celebration was a nice show with dances, songs, theatre, drinks and food.
For the weekend we went for a short safari to Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, having the chance of disconnecting for some days, immersing ourselves in other completely different landscapes. We saw many beautiful animals, some of them really near!
This week we have increased the number of formworks up to 4 in order to be able to build different walls at the same time. We have also ordered new wooden tampers. The week started finishing one of the walls and placing the formworks on of the next corner. The rest of the week mainly consisted on tampering and moving the formworks up. The carpenter finished the door frame and two other windows, leaving the last wall ready to be built.
The metal pieces that will be the basement for the wooden pillars have been ordered at Kimarios metal place and hopefully next week we will be having a sample of one of them.
Fortunately during the whole week we have being receiving visit of many children extremely motivated to help us with the works; sieving sand, filling buckets, etc. Junia (commonly called “Alfredo”), our best company, is always trying to help us even visiting us even on weekends and enjoying the day with us.
On Sunday morning we relaxed with some yoga exercises. After we went for a walk up the mountains and to drink a beer altogether to the Disco Pub in Kibaoni, turning the place into a real party where we all danced and laughed out loud.
The week started with a visit to the local market in Tarakea, which takes place every Monday and Thursday. The whole area turns into a busy place full of stands of vegetables, clothes, etc
On Tuesday we had a meeting with the teachers from the school, to catch up with the progress of the project and see the way students and teachers themselves can help and get involved. We will have to wait until next week to arrange some plans because from Wednesday and for ten days they will be on holidays.
We have made some research on local handcraft. By destroying a local bamboo basket we have tried to understand the pattern that is followed; a triaxial weave that creates hexagons. The purpose is to be able to replicate it for the enclosure of the verandah (terrace).
On the project site, before continuing with the upper levels of the rammed earth walls we had to insert in the windows the horizontal metal bars, placed every 15 cm for security reasons. The pieces of metal rod are cut and hammered from one of the sides and into the holes. In some cases the metal rods are substituted by wooden shelves for storage. To be able to speed up with the works, we have built another formwork for the rammed earth wall and we have kept on growing vertically with both the rammed earth walls and the cob wall. By the end of the week we finally took the decision of destroying and rebuilding the corner section that for days had been somehow worrying us because of its “dusty” surface, since probably the mix was lacking of water and didn´t react well. Even after watering the wall, it was really difficult to smash it, which at least proofs the strength of the technique!
On Friday evening, after finishing the daily works, we went together with Anatoli and Primli to their village, Kimanyatu. We had a lovely walk and we had the chance to see the monkeys jumping around. Before it got too dark we also had the opportunity to go to Anatoli´s house and meet his family. On Saturday evening we were invited by our friend Elly to his house, where we had something to eat and drink. Dear friends, thanks for your hospitality!
The weekend ended up with a visit to Moshi to make some arrangements and to say goodbye to some participants that were leaving and to welcome some others that were just arriving.
This last week in Kibaoni has been really cold and foggy, but luckily by the end of the week the sun has arrived and we have enjoyed the Sunday morning chilling on the terrace.
On the working site, the week started with the ambitious proposal of building the exterior perimeter of rammed earth in order to place all windows in their proper location an avoid movements when tamping. We started with the corner, continued with the spaces between windows and ended up with the last corner before the door. We encountered different kinds of small problems (with the mixture, with the earth getting stuck to the formwork, etc) that made us learn and improve the method. The extreme lack of water in Kibaoni and the need of having new windows built every day have somehow hindered our everyday work. Nevertheless and even after having worked some days when it was already dark, we achieved our goal and next week we will finish the last façade and we will continue building the walls vertically.
On Tuesday we received the visit of the group of district engineers. They asked about the rammed earth procedures and the general development of the project. Another unexpected and grateful visit on site was our friend Elly bringing a truck of stones as birthday present for Lara!
On Thursday 1st of September there was sun eclipse and for some minutes the light was dull and we could perfectly see the moon. This date is also Tanzania´s Independence Day and it was joyfully celebrated in Kibaoni Secondary School by bringing the Independence Torch and with the inauguration of new classrooms. All secondary school pupils were singing, dancing and shaking palmtree branches waiting for the torch to arrive, while all primary school pupils where secretly trying to enter the place to watch the whole event. Some musicians and acrobats made a show until the torch arrived and then some politicians and militars gave a speech. Afterwards we all moved to the football field where illegal impounded substances were burned.
Our Kenian friend Tumaina visited us on Friday and delighted us with different stories about Masai people and their culture. He is directing an organization that fights for the rights and the sustainable development of Masai tribes, adapting their lifestyle to new times but preserving their identity. We are looking forward to visiting him soon in Kenya at his Masai village.
It is hard to believe but we are already in our seventh week in Tanzania!
We started the week with the mix for the cob. In order the prepare the soil to be mixed with the sand, we made two big holes in the ground and filled them with water. The soil must stay inside the pool for at least 24 hours before the mixture is done.
We continued building the rammed earth wall and solving all the problems we found on the way. The main difficulty has been to keep the side walls fixed. With the force of the tamping they tend to separate and therefore the corners become weaker.
The next day we prepare the mix for the cob with soil, sand and banana leaves. After mixing, we make small and dense mud balls that are carefully placed in the wall. It is a slow process but after a few days we can see the first results.
The height of the rammed earth wall finally goes up to the height of the window and we can remove the formwork and prepare it for the next piece of wall!
The week started with the visit of Mashambo, the district engineer, to check the development of the project and give us advice. Together we checked the different tests for both rammed earth and cob and we decided which earth mixture was the most suitable. The best options for rammed earth were either 40% soil + 60% sand or 45% soil + 45% sand with small cement stabilization. For the cob the suggestion given by the engineer was to add some more banana fibers to give the mixture more strength. He congratulated us for the advances with the earth work and he explained us his aim to implement earth building techniques in his hometown!
The construction of the gabions has been completed. The last step before bringing them to site was painting the metal net with anti-oxide, which turned its color to red. Afterwards, the 12 gabions were placed on site and filled up with stones.
We have continued with the over foundations of the verandah, that have been built following the same procedure than for the rest of the over foundation, but with a total height of 30 cm and leaving a hole where the junction with the wooden pillars will come.
We keep on digging! The hole from where we obtain the soil is getting bigger and bigger. We have started to prepare earth mixtures following the proportions of 45% soil + 40% sand + 5% cement + 10% water, although cement and water will not be added until we are completely ready to pour the mixture. The preparations for cob have mainly consisted on collecting and peeling the banana tree fibers, in order to get thin and long fibers that will reinforce the earth mixture.
We have cut the wooden pieces for the formwork and the frames that will support it and we have ordered and picked up the first wooden window, to be used as one of the sidewalls of the formwork. Once the first formwork was finished, we took it to the site and placed it fixing it to the wooden frames using metal rods. The first layer of earth mixture was poured into the formwork and was tamped until its height decreased from 15cm to 8cm. We have successfully achieved to build the first section of rammed earth! After a couple of days we removed the formwork and we had to shape the side faces because the formworks sidewalls had slightly moved with the strong tamping movement.
We have also been testing and developing some possibilities of recycled furniture; getting old tires and turning them into seats for the library.
The week ended with a trip to Kalasia waterfalls in Marangu, where we enjoyed taking a short bath, having a picnic and walking around the nice forest. Before arriving we stopped on the road to buy some baskets and collect some information about its fabrication, because we would like to include the pattern as enclosure in the library. On the way back we stopped in Mamba, where the produce and sell speers. The day ended up at Mr.Matolis house in Kibaoni, where we were invited to banana beer.
Because of the light slope, and in order to protect the building from water and to contain the earth during rainy season we have started designing and building some gabions; boxes made out of metal net and filled up with stones. We bought metal net and we decided what the best sizes were in order to optimize the material as much as possible. We tested different ways to join the faces of the gabion with metal wire. For several days we have being digging behind the building to leave an appropriate distance between the gabions and the backside wall of the library.
The lack of water in Kibaoni Primary School has brought some difficulties to build during these last few days. Nevertheless Anatoli and Primli have finished building the over foundations with stones and concrete, pouring a final layer of concrete to level it and leave it prepared to start with the earth walls. We have compressed the earth between the over foundations and we have started filling it with stones. Although at the beginning it seemed that we could just randomly throw the stones inside, the work is not that easy and it needs to be done carefully, placing the stones with order and creating a surface with the same level.
We have continued with the rammed earth tests, making bigger samples of those mixtures that seemed to be the best. We have also tested other techniques like cob and adobe. For cob, earth, sand and straw are mixed together in balls, creating thick load-bearing walls. We have done the final drawing for the rammed earth formwork and bought the necessary materials to build it.
Since we will need a lot of earth to build the walls, we have started digging a big hole next to the project site. The first meter of earth is not appropriate because of vegetation materials and crops- mainly potatoes and beans- which turn the soil too silty. Therefore the first layer of soil has been removed and all the soil beneath is being piled up to be used in the future weeks.
On Monday of our fourth week in Kibaoni we continued placing the stones in the foundations and pouring the last layer of concrete.
The next step was to start putting strings to mark the path for the over foundations and we built some wooden sticks to mark the width of 40cm all along the foundations.
On Friday we were invited by Mr. Matoli to a celebration for Saint Ignacio de Loyola. It took place in the house of a neighbour and, as usual, it consisted on a mess and afterwards, a big amount of delicious food was served. After, we enjoyed dancing with all the kids until we were exhausted and came back home.
This week we also began testing the earth to gain knowledge of the soil’s consistency at and around the construction site. Our aim is to find the best mixture of earth, sand and fibers. Therefore we made a small, wooden 20×20 cm large formwork for testing blocks.
Firstly, we started making test block of rammed earth with the earth from the construction site and water. The block started to crack after an hour, though after it dried, its pieces were hard. The contractive nature of clay in this test made us believe that the top layer of the sediment tests was clay. We then performed several experiments with different proportions of earth and sand mixed with water. The mixture of 60% sand and 40% earth seemed the most resistant. We rammed 13cm of airy mixture into 8cm. We made the tampers from wood, cement and concrete.
We then did several tests with cement up to 15%, and additives like pig and cow manures from the neighbor’s farm, and salt, to revitalize the soil since the site was a monoculture of potatoes. We rammed many differenttest blocks from superdry to very wet mixtures: some with cement or fibres.
While digging on the site, we discovered a new type of earth, reddish, rich in iron, that seemed to have clay. We continued the tests with this new soil.
After some days testing for rammed earth, we also started experimenting new techniques in earth construction inspired of local architecture: Cob and Adobe. Tests seem to show that a ratio of 1:1:1, earth: sand: fibres, and relative damp material gets us the best result for these techniques. Also, the rammed earth tests showed that a mixture of 80% sand and 20% earth without additions and a wet texture is the best yet! It is similar to the Shuttered Cob technique in Britain in the 19th century. But let’s see what the next week will bring!
Our third week in Kibaoni started with a visit to the near city of Moshi. We had arranged a meeting with C-re-a.i.d., a young association of architects mainly from Belgium that has been working in Tanzania since a few years.
We shared thoughts and knowledge about earth and social architecture and after the meeting they brought us to a beautiful spot to wait for the sunset. It was an old abandoned train station in Moshi.
After spending the day in the noisy and crowded Moshi we were happy to come back to the beautiful Kibaoni, a place that we already feel as home.
On Tuesday we started with a meeting at home to discuss about the design of the sieve, formwork and other things in order to buy all necessary materials to build them.
With the help of a local mason and a local carpenter, we were able to finally start pouring the first layer of concrete and place the formwork in those places where the foundation walls were not stable enough. Afterwards, we placed the stones mixed with earth and the oncrete up to ground level and let it dry. For the masonry, we counted on the great support of Anatoli and Primli, two local labourers that have joined our team lately.
In the meanwhile, we had taken some samples of soil from the fields around the site to make some tests that could give us an idea of the quality of the earth we had. We firstly made some basic field tests to see its composition and strength. As the result was not clear enough to let us know if the soil was suitable for construction, we built a small formwork to make small rammed earth walls and see what would happen after letting them dry. We mixed different percentages of earth from the site, sand and even a small quantity of cement.
Not everything in Kibaoni is work. On Wednesday we were invited to an engagement ceremony and we had the opportunity to see how a Tanzanian celebration is and all its rituals and fancy decoration. As usual, we felt warmly welcome and enjoyed the evening very much.
We went to Moshi to visit the work from Shift Design, who are building a dining room next to Magereza Primary School. The building is made out of compressed earth blocks, with the use of bamboo to reinforce the structure. They gave us very useful tips and recommendations. We wish them all the best for their last weeks before they return back to New Zealand.
We started the works! The first steps in the construction process were to clear the site, level it and compact it. To mark out the walls and foundations a grid was created using string nailed to wood sticks as guide. Afterwards and for the next few days we dag the foundations until we reached hard soil.
We have received trucks of stones and sand to start building the foundations as soon as possible!
Our bohemian neighbour from Congo came home with his guitar and we had a nice evening together.
On Sunday morning we joined our friend Samweli at Kasirwa´s church, where we were delighted by their nice singings and their hospitality. The mass ended up with an auction where we received different vegetables as present.
We arrived in Tanzania! From Kilimanjaro International Airport we travelled to Kibaoni village, where we will be staying for the following 3 months to build the community library. Kibaoni was welcomed us with opened arms!
First participants have arrived and Mr. Matoli, Kibaoni´s friendly Chairman, has showed us the village and its sorroundings. We have been in Kasirwa visiting previous works from Orbe Design Studio and buying some vegetables from local gardens. Kibaoni and Kasirwa´s local architecture has surprised us for the use of local materials such as earth, wood, banana leafs, etc.
We have visited the site where the project will be located, next to Kibaoni Primary School. Talking with the teachers and the engineers we decided the best location and orientation for the building.
KILI MUD JARO invites you to a wonderful night of LIVE MUSIC and fun in an epic bar in the center of Madrid, La Leyenda Rock Bar!
Next WEDNESDAY 29 OF JUNE from 20:30.
100% of the money raised will be for “Tanzania Goes Mud” Project.
Ticket with 1 drink: 6€
We need your help to raise the necessary funds to carry out the construction of the earth community library in Kibaoni, Tanzania. We find ourselves now in the final stretch before the project starts and we need your help to make it possible!
We have launched a crowdfunding campaign:
https://www.betterplace.org/en/projects/44943-support-our-earth-school-library-in-tanzania
100% of the money collected will go towards the completion of the project, buy materials and hire local labor.
Let’s raise the almost final 2500 Euros together before we start with the construction!
Please spread the word and donate what you can! Every contribution will be appreciated!
– If you donate 20€ or more we will send you a short film documenting the building process, which will reflect exactly what your contribution has made possible!
– If you donate 100€ or more your name will be written in one of the walls of the library, together with the rest of local workers who helped us to build it.
Thank you so much, or as they say in Tanzania: ASANTE!
We want to share with all of you the drawings we made in our interest to continue developing and exploring the earth techniques we want to use in Tanzania. We adapted the earth prototype we submitted for the competition to respond to the new program; the library.
The configuration of the plan allows the existence of spaces with different level of privacy and combines the use of thick solid rammed earth walls with lightweight claddings that can be kept closed to preserve privacy or widely open, which also allows cross ventilation throughout the building.
The most enclosed room is conceived as a multifunctional space to carry out different activities such us lectures, meetings, classes… The semi-enclosed room is conceived as a lecture room, together with the courtyard. The backwall is reserved for water harvesting.
Sustainable design principles are at the heart of the architectural approach. The main material used is rammed earth, following the traditional method of construction. A zinc-roof is designed for optimum natural ventilation, and to collect rainwater for treatment and reuse. Timber is used for roof trusses and pilars and the whole building is elevated over a plin made of rocks collected from the surrounding area.
Geometric rills cut into the earth walls during construction introduce light and ventilation as allow saving costs in frames; its treatment throughout varies in depth, width and height result in different levels of privacy and therefore define uses for different parts of the house.
In this way, we can find holes used as windows, but also others used as shelves to store books, seats or folded tables.
Taken overall, our mud house might be regarded as a mini manifesto for earth architecture, not just in Kibaoni but in other parts of the country too. Contrary to the abuse of concrete as a building material, that raises the cost and therefore the poverty of so many expanding communities, it shows how new earthen buildings can be inserted into the existing frame at increased densities, while sustaining traditional building techniques and preserving the natural environment.
On the 3rd June we will be presenting our project at Havas Media, media agency, in Frankfurt.
We would like to give special thanks to our sponsors for their generous support at the Kilimudjaro Fest and for their commitment to the project:
Thanks!
Interview where we explain the project, its context, our aims and our previous experience. Also some information about the Kilimudjaro Fest, fundraising event that took place in Frankfurt some days after the interview.
http://dauerwelle.uni-frankfurt.de/tanzania-goes-mud/
Thanks dauer.Welle Radio!
And thanks to their fantastic broadcaster Desireé Flegel!
On the 21st of May it took place in Frankfurt one of the big events of the year: Kilimudjaro Party! 24h of non-stop event, all of it to help to raise funds for our project in Tanzania.
Since 11am we had many activities such as food trucks, children make-up, music, flea market, paella cookers, coffee corner, cocktail makers, artist painting live, different DJs… and in the night the party continued indoors, in a disco that lasted until the morning.
We want to thank you all the people who came and mostly all the people and friends who helped us organizing and preparing all the things. It was a fantastic day and we ended up exhausted but very happy.
We are happy to announce that we have arranged a 5% discount in Travel Insurances for all participants of our project who are interested.
Travel Health Insurance is an absolute must for this type of travel. You will be in remote locations with limited health care.
One of us took this Travel Insurance for over six months during a trip to Asia and they offer a really good service and they have a good price comparing to other companies.
Click the image above to get the 5% discount for Tanzania Goes Mud participants
We have recently received a proposal of the community coordinator in Tanzania to build a community library, instead of only an earth house prototype. We think these are really big news because now our project also responds to a current necessity of the village! Using the same techniques, we will adapt our earth construction prototype to have the shape of a library that will be build next to the school of the village. It will be also a communal place for meetings and lectures for all the people in the village.
Since the programme has changed, also the project site, in an attempt to find the best location for the library. It will be built in Kibaoni village, a neighbouring village of Kasirwa. The site conditions are similar, as well as the arrival path, but the good news are that now we have electricity and water network!! Something that will make our life easier once we are there…
Kibaoni village is on the eastern slope of Kilimanjaro Mountain, a region recognized world-wide for its breathtaking natural beauty.
Article at the Journal Frankfurt about the coming event “Kilimudjaro Fest”.
Read it, enjoy it and don´t forget to join us if you are nearby on the 21st May in Franfkurt am Main!
KILI MUD JARO invites you to a wonderful day & delightful dancing night in Konfuzius Franz in Franfkurt am Main!
24 Hours Donation Marathon
100% of the money raised will be for “Tanzania Goes Mud” Project
Flea market *, live music and jam session, children’s programme, culinary variety, live art, DJ acts and much more!
Workshop timeline:
July 2016 to September 2016. Workshop will be running for three months.
Site:
Kibaoni village in the Rombo District, situated at the Eastern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, region recognized world-wide for its breathtaking natural beauty.
Audience:
Everybody can participate! Architecture students, architects, sustainable practitioners and volunteers from around the world. Students can use the opportunity for internship, thesis or personal research.
Costs (minimum participation of two weeks):
– PARTICIPATION : 250€
– FOOD + ACCOMMODATION: 80€ / week (it is possible for people to cope themselves with food for buy and cook)
On the 15th April we will be presenting our project at ICHaB (Instituto de Cooperación en Habitabilidad Básica), School of Architecture Madrid ETSAM
Tanzania Goes Mud! Team is pleased to announce that we are now officially registering participants for our earth building workshop in Kasirwa (Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania) which will take place between July and September 2016.
If you are interested or know someone who is, dont´hesitate to contact us and we will send you the “Participants Guide” and the “Application Form”
tanzaniagoesmud@gmail.com
Join us!
The city of Shibam, located in the central-western area of Hadhramaut Governorate, in the Ramlat al-Sab`atayn desert, is best known for its towering mudbrick skyscrapers. This small town of 7000 is packed with around 500 mud houses standing between 5 and 11 stories tall and reaching 100 feet high, all constructed entirely of mud bricks. The bizarre skyline that the high rise buildings bestow upon the city has earned Shibam the moniker “Manhattan of the Desert.”
citymetric.com/…/yemen-theres-city-full-500-year-old-skyscrapers-made-mud-1462
We wish you…Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Frohe Weinachten, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale!
Tanzania Goes Mud! 