Rudanko & Kankkunen Complete Rammed Earth Ringa Mountain Farm Pavilion in Shangri-la, Tibet

Far to the east of the famed Himalayan peaks, the first phase of the <a href="http://ringafarm.shutterfly.com/">Ringa Mountain Farm Project</a> has been completed in Ringa, Tibet. This town in the beautiful rural Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefuncture in Yunnan was renamed “Shangri-la” in 2002, and it has seen a rise in tourism over the past 10 years. The Ringa Mountain Farm is an ecological building project which will ultimately create an eco-farm and guesthouse by the end of 2014. This project is being spearheaded by the young and enthusiastic Helsinki-based team of <a href="http://www.rudanko-kankkunen.com/">Rudanko &amp; Kankkunen </a>and Switzerland-based Rammed Earth-building expert Vittorio Moretta.

Wooden column and beam supports combine with the rammed earth wall to hold up the recycled wood shingle roof above the villagers.

The pavilion will act as a meeting place for locals, and will be a test building for the designers.

A small bench allows for locals to gather in the during the day.

The angled roof will help shed snow and allows daylight to head the seating area.

The rock base of the wall and the wall framing was constructed out of local materials that the local villagers could easily use.

Local construction techniques are still very effective, though simple in form.

This wall section shows the addition of the Barely Straw Insulation and Bamboo reinforcement.

The construction techniques were kept simple so that the local labor could constructed the Rammed Earth walls.

Barley Straw Insulated panels were constructed to be inserted into the rammed earth walls for added insulation.

The Barley Straw Insulated panels were installed into the walls as they were constructed.

Rudanko & Kankkunen developed renderings to help envision the furture Ringa Mountain Farm project.