Half Of A House Pavilion

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch

Half of A House Pavilion 

I/thee + Rawstudio

ARCHITECTS
Rawstudio, I/thee

RAMMED EARTH CONSTRUCTION LEAD
Clair Leffler

DESIGNER, PROJECT LEAD
Neal Lucas Hitch (I/thee)

DESIGNER, RAMMED EARTH CONSULTANT
Maxwell Rodencal (Rawstudio)

BUILD TEAM
Csabai Viola Sára, Melissa Eagleton, Aiden Mcgorry, Zsigmond Patczai, Lisa Eisen, Lilah Gutt, Mohammad Abbasi

PHOTOGRAPHS
Neal Lucas Hitch

AREA
130 FT²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Zalahaláp, Hungary

CATEGORY
Pavilion

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch

Half of a House utilizes the construction, disassembly, and reuse of parametrically designed rammed earth formwork to complete two contrasting halves of a prototypal dwelling.

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch

Split vertically through the central axis, one half of the house consists of unstabilized rammed earth while the other is assembled from the reconstructed formwork used to cast its neighbor.

Through the use of non-reinforced organic materials (earth) and the reuse of construction debris that would otherwise be discarded (formwork), the project aims to rethink traditional economies of construction, material, and waste—taking typically linear pipelines and finding inventive ways to create sustainable cycles.

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch

Furthermore, by implementing pragmatic parametrization techniques that optimize the formwork design for reuse, the project conceptualizes a more nuanced approach to computational design aesthetics beyond formal intricacy.

Half of a House was built as part of Hello Wood’s annual Builder Summit festival in rural Hungary and was designed by Neal Lucas Hitch of i/thee alongside earth specialist Maxwell Rodencal of RAWstudio and Colorado builder Claire Leffler.

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch

The project engages directly with the Builder Summit theme, which aims to reconcile construction, demolition, and material extraction.

Not only does Half of a House work toward a more circular construction ecosystem, but it also strives to make that circle smaller—conceiving of a closed-loop system in which materials are sourced, used, and reused within a single construction site.

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch

Construction of the project began with the fabrication of eight cross-laminated panels that together assembled the formwork for half of an archetypal gable roof house.

Next, the formwork was rammed by hand with local earth collected from a nearby site containing no stabilizing additives.

Once the ramming process was finished, the formwork was removed to reveal three rammed earth walls, completing one half of the house.

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch
Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch

Finally, the formwork—computationally optimized to reduce waste—was partially disassembled and tessellated back together to form the roof and walls of the second half of the house.

The result is a two-faced structure—one half taking shape as a smooth earthen surface, cool to the touch, and the other half a wooden puzzle of disassembled formwork still bearing the stains of the earth cast inside.

Here, the project combines conceptual design with sustainable and circular thinking, demonstrating the entire construction loop—from material sourcing, use, and reuse—in a single project at a single site.

Half Of A House Pavilion
© Neal Lucas Hitch


Half Of A House Pavilion
Site plan
Half Of A House Pavilion
Floor plan


Half Of A House Pavilion
Elevation 1
Half Of A House Pavilion
Elevation 2


Half Of A House Pavilion
Section
Half Of A House Pavilion
Section


Half Of A House Pavilion
Concept diagram
Half Of A House Pavilion
Formwork diagram


Half Of A House Pavilion
Exploded axo
Half Of A House Pavilion
Panel matrix