Demeurer avec des sols argileux

Abstract

Since 1989, the damage caused to buildings by the phenomenon of clay shrinkage and swelling has, in France, been the object of the so-called « natural disaster » regime (Cat-Nat). How do inhabitants experience the phenomenon? How do those who reside in affected areas experience this encounter with the earth element? What makes them sensitive to the soil on which their house is built? With what practical implications? Can bodily ties be felt? Why do they stay? What can be learnt in a permanent manner at home? Through this approach via soil and habitat, the paper aims to better understand how the parties concerned by material and technical systems try to perpetuate their utilization.

Keywords

• shrink-swell of clay soils
• inhabited land
• technical systems
• elementary experience
• social and material morphology