The Confined Stone Wall (CSW) is a lowtech construction process for rural housing, inspired by vernacular stone wall architecture, as an alternative to RCC and brick work. It basically consists of load-bearing walls made of wire mesh cages filled with stones. It is an environmentally sound technology that requires no specific foundation, with a first layer of CSW placed over a sheet of polypropylene to guarantee waterproofing. The house is assembled with six more CSW layers that can be built by low-skilled labor. Each layer is laced when half-filled, to keep its structural integrity, and tied to the next level with galvanized steel wire. Both the interior and exterior walls are coated with earth/straw/dung plaster as per local habits, to provide improved insulation and protect from animals and insects. The CSW achieves static and dynamic structural integrity with interrelated concepts of architectural design (action box) and CSW ductility/deformability properties (energy dissipation by friction).

The rigid floor acts as a horizontal diaphragm and brings a complete wall enclosure, topped with a light and braced stiff roof. This system helps inertia forces to be evenly distributed to the four walls and increase the ability of the structure to sustain large deformations without collapse. It’s a dry technology (no cement) that avoids defective stone masonry bonding (the wall confinement prevents delamination of wall wythes) and reduces poor implementation of raw materials. It is highly suitable for post disaster contexts and owner driven reconstruction programs since it optimizes locally sourced raw material, either collected or recycled from previous structures, such as stones and timber. The wire mesh and cages can be manufactured on site, through income generating activities. Semi dressed stones or random rubble can be used. The basic version provides 21m2 of habitable space plus an additional 19m2 of multi- functional attic that can be used for more bedding and grain storage.

The CSW achieves static and dynamic structural integrity with interrelated concepts of architectural design (action box) and CSW ductility/deformability properties (energy dissipation by friction). The rigid floor acts as a horizontal diaphragm and brings a complete wall enclosure, topped with a light and braced stiff roof. This system helps inertia forces to be evenly distributed to the four walls and increase the ability of the structure to sustain large deformations without collapse. CSW technology utilizes the rigidity of stones and the ductility of metal cages to create a structure whose natural frequency sits within the optimum 0.3s-1s range.