The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
In this six-episode series, Hattie Hartman and her co-host George Morgan interview change-makers and innovators who are transforming architecture by designing in ways that respect planetary boundaries. Our six champions offer inspiration as well as sharing essential knowledge about design in an era of climate emergency.
Heringer talks to the AJ about how to mainstream building with earth, her ‘corona baby’ – a birth space in the Vorarlberg region of Austria, and her pipeline of projects in Germany, Spain and Ghana. The conversation was recorded in December 2020.
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About Anna Heringer
Based in Laufen, Germany where she was born, Anna Heringer is internationally known for her work with rammed earth, which she has pioneered through repeated trips to Bangladesh since the age of 19. The Meti school (2006) in Rudrapur won her an Aga Khan Award and was followed by further projects in Bangladesh, as well as a complex of bamboo hostels (2016) in Baoxi, China.
Anna has developed and disseminated her approach to rammed earth through teaching at ETH Zurich, Harvard University/GSD, UP Madrid and TU Munich. Together with Lindsay Blair Howe and Martin Rauch, she co-authored Upscaling Earth: Material, Process, Catalyst (2019). Anna is also passionate about bespoke textile design using the skills of Bengali women to upcycle local fabrics as an alternative to the multinational textile industry that employs so many people in Bangladesh.
Show notes: resources mentioned in this episode
Meti School, Rudrapur, Bangladesh (2006)
Source:Benjamin Staehli
METI school
The Meti School used local materials and workers to develop a new architecture well-suited to the climate of northern Bangladesh.
Dipdii Textiles (since 2012)
Source:Günter König
Anna Heringer Dipdii Embroidery Masterplan
Used fabrics are upcycled by village women and shipped to Germany where they are used in bespoke fashion design.
Bamboo Hostels, Baoxi, China (2016)
Source:Julien Lanoo
Baoxi Bamboo Commune, Anna Heringer
These remarkable structures were built as part of the First International Bamboo Architecture Biennale held in rural China about 600 kilometres south of Shanghai.
Anandaloy Centre for People with Disabilities, Rudrapur, Bangladesh (2019)
Source:Kurt Hoerbst
Anandaloy: Centre for for People with Disabilities
Building on the experience of the Meti School, Anandaloy also used local materials and local labour to create freeform curvilinear spaces.
Worms Cathedral altar (2018)
Source:Norbert Rau
Anna Heringer, Worms cathedral
The new altar at Worms Cathedral was constructed through a participatory process to mark the 1000th anniversary of the building.
Birth Space, Vorarlberg, Austria (2020)
Source:Laurenz Feinig
Anna Heringer, Birth Space
This crowd-funded birth space, sited on the grounds of a women’s museum, was collaboratively built during the pandemic.
St. Michael Campus for Sustainability, Traunstein, Germany
Educational Training Campus, Tatale, Ghana
Martin Rauch – a frequent collaborator, based in Schlins, Austria
Waugh Thistleton Bushey Cemetery (2017)
Upscaling Earth: Material, Process, Catalyst (2019) by Anna Heringer, Lindsay Blair Howe and Martin Rauch
ACAN Architects Climate Action Network
Missed earlier episodes? Listen here
Credits
Climate Champions is produced in association with ACAN, the Architects’ Climate Action Network
Podcast edited by Concept Culture
Music: Edmilson do Pífano, Forró de dois Amigos. Interpretation: Felipe Tanaka e banda Balaio de Baião
Image of Sarah Wigglesworth by Tim Soar