The following extracts from an old book based on a French original will serve well as an introduction to the study of Pisé-building:
Capabilities.—“An account of a method of building strong and durable houses, with no other materials than earth; which has been practised for ages in the province of Lyons, though little known in the rest of France, or in any other part of Europe. It appeared to be attended with so many advantages, that many gentlemen in this country who employ their leisure in the study of rural economy were induced to make a trial of its efficiency; and the result of their experiments has been of such a nature as to make them desire, by all possible means, to extend the knowledge and practice of so beneficial an art.
“The possibility of raising the walls of houses two or even three stories high, with earth only, which will sustain floors loaded with the heaviest weights, and of building the largest manufactories in this manner, may astonish every one who has not been an eye-witness of such things.”
Of Pisé and its Origin.—“Pisé is a very simple manual operation; it is merely by compressing earth in moulds or cases, that we may arrive at building houses of any size or height.”
Locale.—“This art, though at present confined to the single province of the Lyonese in France, was known and practised at a very early period of antiquity. The Abbé Rozier, in his Journal de Physique, says that he has discovered some traces of it (Pisé) in Catalonia; so that Spain, like France, has a single province in which this ancient manner of building has been preserved. The art, however, well deserves to be introduced into more general use. The cheapness of the materials which it requires, and the great saving of time and labour which it admits of, must recommend it in all places and on all occasions, but the French author says that it will be found particularly useful in hilly countries, where carriage is difficult, and sometimes impracticable; and for farm buildings, which, as they must be made of considerable extent, are usually very expensive, without yielding any return.”
Method of Building
[§ II.] Method of Building
There is an exhaustive article on Pisé in Vol. XXVII of The Cyclopædia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, published in 1819. The writer, Abraham Rees, D.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., draws chiefly on French authorities and his directions are most detailed and precise.
