Contemporary Earth Walls: Flat but textured

A contemporary treatment of an earthen wall. The material is still mineral-based plaster, in a warm grayish-brown or off-white color, with extremely subtle particles and cloud-like variations in shade; but unlike traditional earthen walls, it is troweled very smoothly—without obvious undulations, cracks, or exposed straw fibers, and corners are precise right angles rather than rounded, handcrafted curves. Thus, the texture is natural, but the precision is contemporary. This is precisely where modern Zen and Wabi-sabi diverge. The foreground shows the subtle texture of the surface, while the background is a quiet, smooth plane. Avoid: allowing cracks and mottling to appear on the wall, making corners rounded handcrafted curves, exposing straw and coarse fibers, using completely smooth, textureless plaster.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一面當代處理的土質牆面。材料仍然是礦物質的塗料,顏色是溫暖的灰褐或米白,表面有極細微的顆粒與雲狀深淺;但與傳統土壁不同的是,它被抹得非常平整——沒有明顯的起伏、沒有龜裂、沒有露出的稻草纖維,轉角是精確的直角而不是圓潤的手工弧。因此質地是自然的,但精度是當代的。這正是現代禪與侘寂的分界所在。畫面近景可以看見表面的細微質地,遠景則是一片安靜平整的面。避免:讓牆面出現龜裂與斑駁、把轉角做成圓潤的手工弧、露出稻草與粗糙的纖維、使用完全平滑無質地的塗料。