Tectonic Logic Of Earthen Materials In Contemporary Architecture Design

Soil has been used to build buildings and structures for thousands of years, and this tradition continues in the industrialized world. The worlds’population has exceeded to7 billion at the end of 2011. It is estimated that more than one third of the population lives in buildings constructed of earth, and this proportion is even higher in developing countries. In recent years, with the rise of the "sustainable development" and "natural building movement", the earth architectures attract people’s attention because of its excellent regional and ecological feature.The research object of this paper is earthen materials, and the contents of this study Includes its history and development, material properties, construction technology and the earth architecture it constituted. The earth architecture refers to the building whose main structure is consisted by the undisturbed soil, which has been simply processed and unfired. It include adobe, compressed earth blocks, rammed earth, cob, rammed earth tires, earthbags architecture, and so on.This paper attempts to combine the theory and practice of tectonic, with good examples in recent years, to explore the construction logic of the earthen material in the contemporary architectural design. Tectonic has nothing to do with the style, nor the standard of judging a building. It is an architectural theory that has close relationship with the phenomenology, and a new perspective to examine the architectural practice. The theory and perspective of Tectonic construct a relevant research method, which aims to remodeling the noumenon values of the building, and to reappearance the aesthetic tendencies, the spirit of place, local culture, and social philosophy, truthfully.The framework of this paper is based on three levels of Tectonic, which analyze the construction logic of the earthen material in the contemporary architectural design by degrees. The first level of Tectonic is to process materials, construct building. The core of this level is technology, which includes materials technology, construction technology and fabric techniques. It can be traditional techniques, or a modern high-tech. It Is defined as technical aspects of Tetonic in this paper. The second level of Tectonic is artistic expression, it is the visual and spatial art that is shown to people though the Structure, surface decoration and the node of a building. It Is defined as expression aspects of Tectonic. The third level of Tectonic is not only the basis of the levels above, but also the sublimation. For example, the place, local culture, ecology concept of a building are the preconditions of the behavior of Tectonic, and also the ultimate goal. It Is defined as significance aspects of Tectonic.The significance of this paper is mainly reflected in two aspects: Firstly, this study aims to combine the theory and practice of tectonic, with good examples in recent years, to explore the application of Tectonic in the contemporary architectural design. Secondly, to dispel prejudices of earth architecture, and to promote the research and application of earthen materials in China, by introducing the latest international research and architectural practice that is from home and abroad.