Brick by Brick: A Low-Tech Press for Regenerative Futures

Context

This project began with a question raised by members of my community of practice: "Could we experiment with making ecological bricks for the construction of a storage space in our community garden?" That question sparked a journey of design, collaboration, and experimentation.

Our community garden is more than a green space, it is a space of learning, sharing, and building resilience together. The idea of producing our own construction materials from waste and natural components was aligned with our values of sustainability, circular economy, and autonomy of the course during the Master on Design for Emergent Futures.

Objective

To design and build a low-tech, manually operated press machine using waste materials from my university lab, capable of producing ecological bricks made from local soil, crushed construction debris, and natural fibers without heat.

Research & Exploration Inspiration

Traditional adobe techniques, open-source brick presses, regenerative design principles.

Materials Investigation

Clay, binding fibers (hemp), crushed construction waste.

Community Input: Needs and vision from community members for the future garden storage.

Materials Used

Scrap metal bars and rods from university lab

Plastic tube for the handler

Wooden panels for mold housing and the machine structure

Screws, bolts, clamps

Design Process

Sketch & Plan

Designed a manual lever system for vertical compression and a modular mold design for easy brick removal

After sketching the prototype and the parts needed, I could model it on Rhinoceros to have better understanding of the structure.

Material Sourcing

Gathered all components from lab and discarded machinery first, and then cleaning and preparing the materials for reuse has been another challenge in terms of finding right thickness pieces for the structure.

Here I start to setting up the station for cutting the selected pieces with a circular saw.

Fabrication Cuts and assemble the frame using hand tools and screws.

I Install the lever mechanism considering the right distance and make a hole for the screw in the metal bar making the movement of it smooth.

Then I constructed a removable mold box with wooden panels and after laser cut the internal plane to be able to push the brick of the box.

Lastly for the user security, I 3D model an handler piece to cover the ending part of the metal bar, keeping it safe during the pressing act.

Here is possible to see the press machine fully assembled !?! 👇

First Brick Test

Mix Used:

• 35% crushed construction waste

• 40% clay

• 20% hemp fibers

• 5% Water to bind

Process

• Mixed in a bucket until the right consistence of it.
• Compressed manually with the machine press with Andrea collaboration.

• Dried naturally over 10 days

Observations

• Brick held form well
• Slight cracking, may need more finer aggregate
• Encouraging results for a first prototype

Reflections & Next Steps

Machine worked as intended, though physical effort is high, but I could improve leverage of the machine.

Next iteration:

• lighter metallic frame with a better mold release system
• Plan to co-design new version with community members
• Test more mix variations (include wool, clay-rich soil, starch)

Impact & Vision

This press is more than a machine, it's a tool for learning, empowerment, and regeneration. It represents a way to build with what we have, where we are, together. The long-term goal is to support the garden's development with co-created materials, rooted in community knowledge and care.

"Brick by Brick: A Low-Tech Press for Regenerative Futures" by Flavio Grimaldi

CCL v1.0 — AI contributed as Drafting Assistant in Research, Documentation and Reflection. All other phases were fully human-led.

AI R1 U1 F1 – v1.0