GILA RIVER RESERVATION HOUSING
The Gila River Indian Community housing project manifests a partnership between the UofA School of Architecture and the Gila River Community, supported by a grant from the Kellogg Foundation. Representatives of the Gila District 6 Housing Committee requested assistance with learning building methods that suit their cultural preferences, yet result in structures with low initial construction costs and low lifelong operating costs.
The School of Architecture assembled a team of faculty and students who provided design and production services, hands-on demonstration of construction techniques, and continuing education. Principal investigator Mary Hardin coordinated the design, construction documents, and actual construction of a single-family, rammed earth dwelling on the Gila Reservation. The construction process employed the two-person form system that was developed during the Rincon Vista project (another collaborative effort), with the goal of bringing a technique to the tribe that allows small scale construction efforts with a low initial investment. She was aided by shopmaster Mark Perry, graduate students Marta Layseca and Natasha Winnik, and a host of undergraduate students. In addition, several other CAPLA faculty members participated in the construction of the walls. The Gila tribe members employed by the District 6 construction crew participated in the rammed earth construction and finished the remainder of the residence after the walls were completed with a perimeter concrete bond beam.
The end result has a strong afinity for the traditional houses built by the tribe during the last century and has generated requests for many more rammed earth homes in the community.
[d+b]
