Second week of rammed earth workshop

Second and last week of our ”design&build rammed earth workshop” have passed. During the week end we had the opportunity to know better the environment of the village with two excursions: first we were invited to a traditional walk in the country-side with Valverde’s inhabitants. During this pagan feast, they usually do a procession with horses, tractors and other vehicles, and make several breaks to have some wine and tapas. It was a great experience although we had to come back quickly to the village because of the rain..

On the next day we made another excursion with Aniceto, brother of the city major and anthropologist at Sevilla University, that offered us the great opportunity to make a tour in the village and the surroundings focusing on the culture of water of Valverde de Burguillos. We went to see the “electro-harinera”, an abandoned flour factory that was working with hydraulic power till the middle of 20th century, and we also had a look on the many springs, fountains and pools used to irrigate the vegetable gardens. This tour allowed us to connect our knowledge on rammed earth built heritage with intangible heritage of Valverde connected with the culture of water (today recognized as a Place of Cultural Interest thanks to Aniceto’s work).

From Monday to Friday, we started again the work on the building site (practical part of the rammed earth workshop), and thanks to the huge work of the participants, we reach our objective: finish the walls of the book storage building and the bench for reading area. This practical work was interspersed with some theoretical sessions about rammed earth constructive details, renders, soil selection, etc.