Rammed earth is one of humanity’s oldest methods of construction, packing natural raw components like dirt, chalk, and lime into a hard material resembling adobe. But where adobe requires dry weather to fully cure, rammed earth can be used in wetter climates. Its final form is determined by the molds used to compress it, so it has sculptural capabilities that are harder to achieve with more conventional materials. The results are very strong, self-insulating, sustainable, and naturally resistant to water, fire, and termites.

Rammed earth buildings can be found all over the world, but they’re usually medium to large in size. Have you ever heard of anyone using this alternative building method to craft a tiny house" Architects Merve nur Ba?er, Asl? Erdem, and Fatma Zeyneb Önsiper did just that with “The Rammed Earth House,” designed for the grassy flatlands of Dobrava, Slovenia.
Created as part of an architecture competition, the design concept is unusual in a few ways. It consists not just of rammed earth walls, but also a rammed earth roof, which is itself protected by a secondary green roof that shades it. Stretching out past the dimensions of the rammed earth peak beneath it, this secondary timber roof is pitched to let in winter sunlight on the south facade, where solar panels are located.
“The traditional form with the pitched roofs and windows expanding from those, is reinterpreted in a new way by experimenting with the rammed ...