Farah Daveau

CIPHERING MATERIALITY

Inspired by Brickmakers in Nashik, India

Timeline

January - May 2025

Role

Sole Designer

Skillsets

Digital & Physical Fabrication, Prototyping

Speculative Study: Brick & Mesh explores the relationship between traditional craft and modern technology through the study of earth as a building material. Inspired by brick makers in Nashik, India, the project examines how rammed earth can interact with contemporary materials like wire mesh. It focuses on three key areas: Material composition: experimenting with brick ingredients, ratios, and drying processes, including the use of waste materials like ash and plant fibres. Brick design and prototyping: developing interlocking bricks without mortar through 3D printing, plaster casting, and rammed earth modelling. Speculative construction: reimagining how new structures can build upon existing ones, merging rammed earth and wire mesh through computational design and fibrous weaving techniques. Overall, the project blends traditional material knowledge with digital fabrication to explore new possibilities in sustainable construction and material transitions.

Material Composition

Experimenting with rammed earth brick compositions, the emulsions included different amounts of earth, water, ash and plant fibres. Ash proved to be the most effective ingredient for binding the rammed earth brick.

Tesselating Brick Design

The main goal was to achieve a brick design that would not require a mechanical or chemical fastener. To achieve this, several prototype iterations were made using different fabrication techniques. Starting from a 3D printed prototype, an initial plaster prototype, and finally a 1:1 rammed earth prototype.

Plaster Prototype

Mud Brick Prototype I

Mud Brick Prototype II

Speculative Construction

Reimagining how new structures can build upon existing ones, merging rammed earth and wire mesh through computational design and fibrous weaving techniques.