Project 09 Los Angeles, 2026

Diagrammatic Formation

Type Object / Rammed Earth

Method Phone scans, point clouds

Class Earth As Object

Partner Thomas Lee

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Overview

Three naturally formed rocks and three artificially formed ones: rammed earth pedestals that interlock, each with its own geology.

Emanuele Di Paola and Thomas Lee · Earth As Object, Marcelo Spina · SCI-Arc, Spring 2026

Rocks

Three natural, three rammed

Material

Rammed earth mixed after Roman concrete

Block

Stepped, about 43 x 53 x 52 cm

Formwork

Tapered plywood box

Diagrammatic Formation

From Pairs
to Pedestals

The material is a hybrid of traditional rammed earth and Roman concrete. The mix makes a solid that bonds and strengthens over time, while keeping the raw, unprocessed character that rammed earth is known for.

At first the studies humanized the natural rocks against the artificial ones, forming pairs that suggest things of daily life. That showed how rammed earth could live beyond building, but the sculptural gestures opened a gap between the real and the artificial. So we flipped the diagram: forms driven by the artificial rather than the natural, artifacts that hold more realness than what is natural, serving as interlocking pedestals with their own geological configurations.

Diagrammatic Formation, the scanned rocks with their dimensions

The rocks, scanned and measured

Diagrammatic Formation, a rock beside its block, first pair

Rock and block, A

Diagrammatic Formation, a rock above its stepped block, second pair

Rock and block, B

Diagrammatic Formation, a rock in line drawing under its block, third pair

Rock and block, C

Point Clouds

The Rocks,
Scanned

Each rock was scanned with a phone and redrawn as a cloud of points: in three views, in slices, in its own colour, resting on the block, held by six forms, and through the stages from rock to formwork.

Point cloud, the three scanned rocks in front, side and top views, on black

Three rocks

Slices

Point cloud, the three rocks with their scanned colour, on black

Textured point cloud

Point cloud, the rocks resting on the block, axonometric, on black

Block and rocks, axonometric

Point cloud, the rocks and the block seen from below, on black

Block and rocks, from below

Point cloud, six studies of forms that hold a rock, on black

Holding studies

Point cloud, rock, hold, block and formwork in sequence, on black

Stages

Point Cloud Studies

Nine Ways
to Read a Rock

The rocks on their pedestals, read seven ways from the same scan, each whole and close up: eye dome lighting, survey greyscale, height ramp, section slab, macro, x-ray and the fit map.

Point cloud study, eye dome lighting, the rocks on their pedestals

Eye dome lighting, whole

Eye dome lighting, close

Point cloud study, survey greyscale, the rocks on their pedestals

Survey greyscale, whole

Survey greyscale, close

Point cloud study, height ramp, the rocks on their pedestals

Height ramp, whole

Height ramp, close

Point cloud study, section slab, the rocks on their pedestals

Section slab, whole

Section slab, close

Point cloud study, macro, the rocks on their pedestals

Macro, whole

Macro, close

Point cloud study, x-ray, the rocks on their pedestals

X-ray, whole

X-ray, close

Point cloud study, fit map, the rocks on their pedestals

Fit map, whole

Fit map, close

Making

Rammed
Layer by Layer

Earth, aggregate, plaster and colour were rammed into a tapered plywood formwork one layer at a time. The blocks came out in sand, white and blue, and the rocks went back on top of them.