Earthen architecture,
with memory.
Tapia Studio is the practice of David Lang, designing and restoring buildings in adobe, rammed earth, and wattle-and-daub, where tradition and structural performance meet.
Selected Work
Selected Work
About
About
David
Lang
David
Lang
David Lang
I've been building and restoring with earth for about twelve years now. I trained as an architect the conventional way: steel, concrete, glass, and it took my first restoration project, an old rammed-earth farmhouse nobody wanted to touch, to realize how much more interesting the older material actually was.
Earth doesn't behave like modern materials. It moves with the seasons, it needs to breathe, and if you get the wall thickness wrong the whole building suffers for it years later. That complexity is what keeps me doing this. Every site tells you what it needs if you're willing to slow down and read it before drawing anything.
recognitions
Architecture Annual, 2014
National Architecture Biennial, 2011
Published in
ArchDaily
Earthen Construction in Detail
Featured in
Dezeen
AIA Award
What We Do
What We Do
Services
Services
Two ways I work with earth, restoring what's already standing, and building new.
Heritage
Restoration
Structural diagnosis, reinforcement, and recovery of original finishes for existing rammed-earth, adobe, and wattle-and-daub buildings. Most of these projects start with a wall someone was told to tear down, I look for what can be saved first.
Traditional
Construction
Ground-up residential and rural projects built with adobe, rammed earth, and wattle-and-daub. The techniques are old, but the outcome has to meet the same comfort, durability, and code standards as any modern home.
"Build your architecture from what is beneath your feet."
"Build your architecture from what is beneath your feet."
Hassan Fathy
Hassan Fathy
Earthen architecture,
with memory.
Tapia Studio is the practice of David Lang, designing and restoring buildings in adobe, rammed earth, and wattle-and-daub, where tradition and structural performance meet.
Selected Work
Selected Work
About
About
David
Lang
David
Lang
David Lang
I've been building and restoring with earth for about twelve years now. I trained as an architect the conventional way: steel, concrete, glass, and it took my first restoration project, an old rammed-earth farmhouse nobody wanted to touch, to realize how much more interesting the older material actually was.
Earth doesn't behave like modern materials. It moves with the seasons, it needs to breathe, and if you get the wall thickness wrong the whole building suffers for it years later. That complexity is what keeps me doing this. Every site tells you what it needs if you're willing to slow down and read it before drawing anything.
recognitions
Architecture Annual, 2014
National Architecture Biennial, 2011
Published in
ArchDaily
Earthen Construction in Detail
Featured in
Dezeen
AIA Award
What We Do
What We Do
Services
Services
Two ways I work with earth, restoring what's already standing, and building new.
Heritage
Restoration
Structural diagnosis, reinforcement, and recovery of original finishes for existing rammed-earth, adobe, and wattle-and-daub buildings. Most of these projects start with a wall someone was told to tear down, I look for what can be saved first.
Traditional
Construction
Ground-up residential and rural projects built with adobe, rammed earth, and wattle-and-daub. The techniques are old, but the outcome has to meet the same comfort, durability, and code standards as any modern home.
"Build your architecture from what is beneath your feet."
"Build your architecture from what is beneath your feet."
Hassan Fathy
Hassan Fathy
Earthen architecture,
with memory.
Tapia Studio is the practice of David Lang, designing and restoring buildings in adobe, rammed earth, and wattle-and-daub, where tradition and structural performance meet.
Selected Work
Selected Work
About
About
David
Lang
David
Lang
David Lang
I've been building and restoring with earth for about twelve years now. I trained as an architect the conventional way: steel, concrete, glass, and it took my first restoration project, an old rammed-earth farmhouse nobody wanted to touch, to realize how much more interesting the older material actually was.
Earth doesn't behave like modern materials. It moves with the seasons, it needs to breathe, and if you get the wall thickness wrong the whole building suffers for it years later. That complexity is what keeps me doing this. Every site tells you what it needs if you're willing to slow down and read it before drawing anything.
recognitions
Architecture Annual, 2014
National Architecture Biennial, 2011
Published in
ArchDaily
Earthen Construction in Detail
Featured in
Dezeen
AIA Award
What We Do
What We Do
Services
Services
Two ways I work with earth, restoring what's already standing, and building new.
Heritage
Restoration
Structural diagnosis, reinforcement, and recovery of original finishes for existing rammed-earth, adobe, and wattle-and-daub buildings. Most of these projects start with a wall someone was told to tear down, I look for what can be saved first.
Traditional
Construction
Ground-up residential and rural projects built with adobe, rammed earth, and wattle-and-daub. The techniques are old, but the outcome has to meet the same comfort, durability, and code standards as any modern home.
"Build your architecture from what is beneath your feet."
"Build your architecture from what is beneath your feet."
Hassan Fathy
Hassan Fathy