Earth Moves_WIP
EARTH MOVES [eM]
(or as its known locally - the mound)
Located on Darkinjung Country in what is presently known as Somersby, Earth Moves is a permanent gathering pavilion shaped through relationships between Country, community, and making. Rather than imposing a form onto the landscape, the project emerged through listening to place and working with the people, materials, and knowledge already present here.
Constructed through a novel earth-forming process, the pavilion dramatically reduces conventional formwork, waste, and material use. Soil gathered from the site and elsewhere within Darkinjung Country was mounded, compacted, and carefully shaped into a temporary landform. A thin fibre-reinforced concrete shell was then sprayed directly onto its surface. Once cured, the earth was excavated and returned to Country, leaving behind the texture, colour, and memory of the soils that formed it.
In many ways, the process feels like peeling back the surface of Country and inviting visitors to read the relationships held within.
The underside of the vault records distinct landscapes and stories of Darkinjung Country. Sandstone-derived Kandosols carry traces of roots, grasses, pinecones, and gymea seed from the surrounding plateau. Darker clay-rich Kurosols, gathered before displacement through nearby development, contain shells and sediments from another part of Country. Together they reveal layers of geology, ecology, disturbance, continuity, and change. The structure does not conceal its making. The marks of Country remain visible throughout.
The construction process itself became an act of community-building. Developed through a University of Technology Sydney elective led by Dave Pigram, Earth Moves brought together students of architecture, engineers, local farmers, neighbours, and community members in a shared process of experimentation and learning.
While advanced computational tools informed the structural form, the project relied equally on local knowledge and practical expertise. Farmers and apeapeape shaped the earth mounds using machinery, techniques, and understandings developed through generations of working the land. Materials, tools, labour, and equipment were shared through existing community networks. Challenges were often resolved not through procurement, but through relationships, ensuring both time and resources remained within the local community.
Unexpected exchanges became fundamental to the project. Conversations led to offers of machinery. Shared meals became collaborations. Fruit given to soil truck drivers returned as additional loads of material. Knowledge moved between generations, with older farming practices informing new construction methods and students contributing fresh perspectives through design and fabrication.
Developed through collaboration between Supermanoeuvre, apeapeape, UTS students, ARUP engineers, local farmers and the wider community, Earth Moves demonstrates an alternative model of architectural production. One where design, construction, and stewardship are not separate stages, but interconnected acts of care.
Earth Moves is a space for gathering, exchange, and learning. More importantly, it is an experiment in what architecture becomes when it begins with Country and is shaped collectively through the relationships of place.
(or as its known locally - the mound)
Located on Darkinjung Country in what is presently known as Somersby, Earth Moves is a permanent gathering pavilion shaped through relationships between Country, community, and making. Rather than imposing a form onto the landscape, the project emerged through listening to place and working with the people, materials, and knowledge already present here.
Constructed through a novel earth-forming process, the pavilion dramatically reduces conventional formwork, waste, and material use. Soil gathered from the site and elsewhere within Darkinjung Country was mounded, compacted, and carefully shaped into a temporary landform. A thin fibre-reinforced concrete shell was then sprayed directly onto its surface. Once cured, the earth was excavated and returned to Country, leaving behind the texture, colour, and memory of the soils that formed it.
In many ways, the process feels like peeling back the surface of Country and inviting visitors to read the relationships held within.
The underside of the vault records distinct landscapes and stories of Darkinjung Country. Sandstone-derived Kandosols carry traces of roots, grasses, pinecones, and gymea seed from the surrounding plateau. Darker clay-rich Kurosols, gathered before displacement through nearby development, contain shells and sediments from another part of Country. Together they reveal layers of geology, ecology, disturbance, continuity, and change. The structure does not conceal its making. The marks of Country remain visible throughout.
The construction process itself became an act of community-building. Developed through a University of Technology Sydney elective led by Dave Pigram, Earth Moves brought together students of architecture, engineers, local farmers, neighbours, and community members in a shared process of experimentation and learning.
While advanced computational tools informed the structural form, the project relied equally on local knowledge and practical expertise. Farmers and apeapeape shaped the earth mounds using machinery, techniques, and understandings developed through generations of working the land. Materials, tools, labour, and equipment were shared through existing community networks. Challenges were often resolved not through procurement, but through relationships, ensuring both time and resources remained within the local community.
Unexpected exchanges became fundamental to the project. Conversations led to offers of machinery. Shared meals became collaborations. Fruit given to soil truck drivers returned as additional loads of material. Knowledge moved between generations, with older farming practices informing new construction methods and students contributing fresh perspectives through design and fabrication.
Developed through collaboration between Supermanoeuvre, apeapeape, UTS students, ARUP engineers, local farmers and the wider community, Earth Moves demonstrates an alternative model of architectural production. One where design, construction, and stewardship are not separate stages, but interconnected acts of care.
Earth Moves is a space for gathering, exchange, and learning. More importantly, it is an experiment in what architecture becomes when it begins with Country and is shaped collectively through the relationships of place.
Team
Darkinjung Country
supermanoeuvreDave Pigram
Iain Maxwell
UTS Arch & Int StudentsCameron Kemmis
Cooper Ford
Ellen Rusell
Jessica Brnabic
Tui Balfour Ash
Annabel Hillier
ARUP (Sydney)
Farmers
Trades
apeapeapeTyler Smith_MArch
Awards
Buildner_Concrete Pavilion_Sustainability Award
Photography
Finn Marchant
Mitchael Weatherill
Tyler Smith
Chris Candelapas