The Rammed Earth Pioneer François Cointeraux

Renewed interest in unfired earth as a cost-effective material arose at the time of the French Revolution. François Cointeraux, an architect from Lyon, wrote treatises on the rammed earth method, developed new techniques, and founded schools of architecture in Grenoble, Amiens, Paris, and Lyon. His knowledge and ideas spread throughout the world. 

It was then that rammed earth once again came to predominate as an affordable, fireproof building material for the working population. Cointeraux’s various treatises and handbooks about building with earth helped ordinary people to build economically and in their own individual style. He discovered new compression techniques that enabled them to build almost anything on their own, from simple peasant houses to more complex townhouses.