I first learnt about earthen floors in my trips to Thiruttani (image below), Tamilnadu building Adityas Farmhouse, where I stayed overnight at my mason’s hut. The floor breathes partially, so humidity is well regulated (if ventilation is controlled) and the home is naturally maintained in the optimum 40-60% RH Source: Its thus comfortable to use even in a peak summers day in a patio, or in a cold winters night indoors.
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The air gap between the floor and the skin acts as an insulating layer, thus cutting out extremes of temperatures. Their purposes are multiple, and very much linked to our health, skin and the air we breathe.Įarthen floors are rougher in nature than a ceramic tile, this means that lesser skin is in contact with a floor surface while walking. A wide variety of earthen based final coats are applied on the earthen floor, from cow dung, cow urine, turmeric, tallow mixed with mud.
India has a large tradition of several types of earthen floors, most are frequently maintained. Walking barefoot on an earthen floor is a delight. Sleeping or sitting on an earthen floor is therapeutic. is a small attempt in that direction.Įarthen floors are a delight to walk on, partially breathable (if allowed to breathe), great thermal mass and yes very well grounded! The cost of experimentation can be drastically reduced if there is a mutual sharing of lessons. The hidden cost of experimentation is quite high and is usually covered by small gains from workshops. A lot of these images are a result of several failures, in projects and trials before projects. This has been my journey so far, understanding local materials and techniques for natural floors. The floors and walls talk about beautiful, souls, homes, families and communities – all four skins intact and connected with the cosmos. Man being fixed and the cosmos constantly changing. Man, trying to connect with the plants and animals around them, through art, expressing the admiration and deep connection with the beauty in them. As Charles Correa writes in his book “Vistara”, architecture is just a model of the relationship that man has with the cosmos. This disconnection causes an accumulation of stress, pain and disease.Īt the other extreme, travelling through vernacular landscapes I come across such profound forms of human expression. What are we walking on? are we grounded? are we connecting with mother earth? We are paying a huge price by not allowing our bodies to be one with the constant healing that mother earth blesses us with.
We seldom care about where our feet rest. Above – cuckoo school, the floor before the floor.
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