During the construction of eARThouse at the Abetenim Arts Village, we grown the need to understand the real potential, in terms of adaptability and reusability of the designed formworks.
We discussed the situation with prof. Mantey, with volunteers and with the coordinator, Mr. Appiah, agreeing that the construction of a house inside the Abetenim village, with techniques and methods so far used only within the Arts Village or for public buildings, could encourage the spread of awareness among the inhabitants of their actual affordability , durability and quality.
Mr. Appiah introduce us to Opoku, local farmer with a wife and three daughters.
Like many in the village participated as a laborer in the construction of some buildings in the Arts Village and after this experience he gained a desire to build his home in rammed earth, having already experienced its properties. The yard was already started and the foundations completed, but for some time the work had stopped due to lack of funds for the purchase of lumber for formworks. Now it seemed like a unique opportunity to give substance to what we had thought, and to have a double check the usability of the formworks designed for eARThouse.
The project has three rooms, connected by an outside veranda, each room has only a windows to prevent from overheating due to solar radiation. The thick walls keep the interior spaces cool because of their high thermal mass. Many of this sustainable principles were already experienced by Opoku, when he worked within the Anna Webster construction site at the Arts Village two years ago. Regarding technical aspects, in order to use the metal formworks into different foundation thickness, we have modified their fixing system to a wider flexibility of uses in various projects. Moreover, the stabilization is made by 4% of cement for the lower part of the walls, whereas it goes to 2% for the upper part, since that portion is more protected by the overhanging roof. The key of this project lies within the capacity of the owner to fund the building himself. In fact, any decision was taken from Opoku’s resources, according to his budget only and developing user-specific solutions. The walls construction lasted 4 weeks. During that time, it has attracted many interested people from Abetenim and surroundings. This can definitely give hope for a future development of local living conditions, repeating this experience among other people in need.
Opoku’s house is still in progress. Keep you up to date and follow its latest updates on our Facebook and Instagram profiles!
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