Larissa Götze

Let's build a landfill!

Current, mostly inefficient, resource management neglects valuable existing stocks and contributes to a building sector misaligned with climate goals. Rammed earth is an ancient construction material that offers a sustainable alternative by repurposing non-hazardous soil excavations. Traditional on-site fabrication, however, is costly and labour-intensive.

The developed new strategy involves external stakeholders to improve material uniformity. Digital distribution platforms direct suitable charges of material while automation, including seven-axis robots and semi-automated masonry units, reduces labour and time. These innovations enhance circularity by repurposing waste and avoiding the need for specialized production sites.

A new housing system with four objectives is proposed: flexibility to improve irregular occupancy of residential units, affordability and practicability through reduced and less specialized labour, maximized passive climate control, and the use of secondary resources for a circular lifecycle. This also requires a shift in ownership roles, with designers, clients, owners and inhabitants adapting to facilitate the system's flexibility.

More information

• Master thesis 'Let's build a landfill!'