Anna Heringer: The warmth and wisdom of mud buildings
Anna Heringer: La calidez y la sabiduría de los edificios de barro
Anna Heringer’s sustainable designs lend breathtaking forms to easily-available local materials while developing the skills and consciousness of their builders. Full bio
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in the mountains in Austria.
en las montañas de Austria.
with my architecture students from Zurich.
estudiantes de arquitectura, de Zúrich.
situado en lo alto,
that there was no hut
with whatever we could find.
con lo que sea.
que nos enseñó mucho,
of resources given by nature for free,
nos da muchos recursos gratis,
is our sensitivity to see them ...
about 13 years ago,
hace 13 años ya,
to a remote village called Rudrapur
llamado Rudrapur
a school as my thesis project.
un colegio para mi tesis.
when I was 19 and a volunteer
a los 19 años y era voluntaria
for rural development.
para el desarrollo rural.
for sustainable development
para un desarrollo sostenible
your very own resources and potential,
tus propios recursos y potencial
de factores externos.
with my architecture as well.
también a mis estudiantes.
materials for my school,
de edificación
however you call it ...
era inusual,
to have the work.
de tener un trabajo.
they were too intelligent.
in the holes of the previous round.
de la ronda anterior.
the ingredients in the walls.
que forman la pared.
for realization, Eike Roswag,
en marcha, Eike Roswag,
from the village.
a los artesanos del pueblo.
after six months of construction.
tras 6 meses de construcción.
that really ground the school,
forman la base de la escuela,
that bring the lightness in.
que dejan entrar la luz.
for snuggling, for solo work,
y trabajar en solitario,
with their names in Bengali the doors,
con sus nombres en bengalí
they also helped building the school.
a construir el colegio.
in mud or clay before.
alguna vez en sus manos barro y arcilla.
of a small boy or a girl
in front of that school building
que está frente al colegio
and just the dirt underneath your feet,
y la tierra que hay bajo sus pies
of trust and confidence
de la confianza
for this school now,
de lluvias ya,
monzónicas horizontales,
that keeps the wall dry from the ground,
que aisla a la pared del suelo,
that protects from the top,
que protege la parte superior.
reductores de velocidad
cannot run down the wall fast,
no se deslice por las paredes
could be lines of bamboo
pueden ser palos de bambú
in order to prevent erosion.
o piedras para evitar la erosión.
if I have to add cement to the mud,
que echar cemento al barro
no coating on these walls,
en estas paredes,
un poco más mayor,
unas cuantas arrugas.
más esa pared de tierra
without any loss of quality.
that can do this,
que pueda hacer eso.
in terms of environmental performance.
para el medioambiente.
on the construction site,
with the workers to the market,
con los trabajadores al mercado
how they spent their money.
the vegetables from their neighbors,
or a new blouse from the tailor.
por una nueva camisa.
of the building budget
del presupuesto del edificio
for local development,
para el desarrollo local,
in cement and steel,
and lost for those families.
a sus manos.
was 35,000 euros --
era de 35 000 euros.
for that region,
is working within the community
dentro de la comunidad
sustainability of my project,
económica del proyecto,
¿quién se beneficia?
living in a mud house?
all around the planet
de personas en todo el mundo
de edificación tradicional
of being studied at universities ...
de estudio en las universidades.
right in front of the main facade
en frente de la fachada
rolled up their sleeves,
into a warm place for people to gather.
en un lugar para reuniones.
el recreo del almuerzo
how many people were touching the wall,
tocaba la pared,
caressing our facades, right?
acariciando fachadas, ¿verdad?
a escala pequeña,
and in terms of education,
y de educación,
de la acupuntura.
are not allowed to be built anymore
de tierra portantes
and have lasted for hundreds of years,
durante muchos años.
no architects and engineers
is technological development,
es el desarrollo tecnológico,
by my colleague Martin Rauch,
por mi colega Martin Rauch,
and expert in earthen structures.
en estructuras de tierra.
for rammed earth elements,
elementos de tierra apisonada,
of rammed earth elements
de tierra apisonada
wall heatings and coolings
calentamiento de pared y enfriamiento
to multistoried buildings,
a edificios de varios pisos,
para ampliar la escala
in Switzerland.
buenos proyectos de construcción
with an ancient material
con materiales antiguos
of how old a material is;
ability to use it today.
para usarlo hoy.
is stones and rammed earth.
y tierra apisonada.
de construcción tradicional.
of the Great Wall of China
de la Gran Muralla de China
than the United States
natural building materials
de construcción naturales
a lot of energy,
necesitan de mucha energía,
to climate change.
bamboo, earth,
bambú, tierra,
for all sorts of purposes.
para toda clase de propósitos.
is an office building that we did
de oficinas que hicimos
but also for the human bodies,
y también para el cuerpo humano.
es de baja tecnología,
sophisticated tools in the building safe
las sofisticadas herramientas
de la humedad.
de tierra en casa,
it's healthy and sustainable.
is touching deep within.
a mud skyscraper right in Manhattan.
de barro justo en Manhattan.
of Shibam in Yemen
que hay en Shibam, en Yemen,
is possible today as well,
es posible hoy también.
all our technical know-how
todo nuestro saber técnico
necesidades y sueños.
de construcción naturales.
de trabajo y ciudades
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Anna Heringer - ArchitectAnna Heringer’s sustainable designs lend breathtaking forms to easily-available local materials while developing the skills and consciousness of their builders.
Why you should listen
Before she became an architect, a visit to a small village in Bangladesh immediately hooked Anna Heringer on an ancient and yet neglected building material -- earth. With its easy availability, durability and endless recyclability, she realized, there was a reason its use has persisted for thousands of years.
Since then, Heringer’s love affair with sustainable materials has deepened, resulting in acclaimed projects like woven bamboo hostels in China and the METI Handmade School in Rudrapur, where, along with local workers and schoolchildren, she created a building that drew on locally abundant materials and fostered modern, sustainable building skills in local craftsmen. In the 2014 book, The Future of Architecture, she and her coauthors argue for a future that is low-impact and adaptable.
Anna Heringer | Speaker | TED.com