- clicking on the picture at the left, you can follow the process-
Walls comprising a woven lattice of wooden strips or branches daubed with a clay mixture are common in Latin America and, as a building technique, probably go further back than clay bricks. The technique is known as bahareque, bajareque, or quincha in Latin America, and as wattle and daub in English.
The technique used for the project in Quiané was a modified version of the bahareque technique and, because it was easy to learn and required little equipment, was also quick to implement. For the walls in Quiané, the students created a vertical structure made of recycled wooden slats taken from the formwork, and interlaced it horizontally with sections of giant reed (carrizo in Spanish).
The completed wattle panels were then filled with a mix of sandy clay, water and cutted pine needles until the reed sections were covered. On top of this came a two- to three-centimetre layer of clay render. After leaving the panels to dry for a few days, the students returned with sponges and trowels to apply the finishing coat and render the panels sufficiently water-resistant. Protection from the elements was afforded by the large roof overhangs on the buildings. An additional protective layer could have been achieved by coating the walls in a liquid made by cooking the leaves of the prickly pear cactus (nopal).
