The Cobtun House, Worcestershire, built of mud, straw and corrugated iron, and designed by Associated Architects, has scooped this year’s Royal Institute of British Architects Sustainability Award.
Earth Building Research Forum
The Earth Building Research Forum was set up by Dr Kevan Heathcote and Mr Gregory Moor in the Faculty of Design Architecture and Building of UTS in December 1999. It was originally envisaged as a forum for disseminating ideas and research into the performance of earth buildings but has since been widened to include a database of earth building projects, information on forthcoming conferences, linkages to other earth building sites and to include more general articles on the subject. The Forum hosted an international earth building conference at UTS in January 2005 (EarthBuild 2005) and this is planned to be a biennial event. The Conference brought together engineers, environmentalists, builders and architects from around the world.
Earthen architecture in Iran and Central Asia Conference
Earthen architecture in Iran and Central Asia: its conservation, management, and relevance to contemporary society, a celebration of the life and work of Robert Byron, will be held at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 12-13th November 2005. The aim of the conference is to bring together individuals involved in the conservation and management of the archaeological and architectural legacy of earthen architecture in Iran and Central Asia, to discuss current approaches, practical applications, new projects and the impact of work on local communities and contemporary society.
Ecole de Tentou
Ronald Rael, an architecture professor at the School of Architecture at Clemson University is working with the Utah based organization, Daily Dose foundation, former NBA player Soumaila Samake and villagers from Tentou, Mali, West Africa to design and build a school for the village’s 400 children using local construction techniques. Download press release (2.2mb .pdf)
Casa Grande
Perhaps nowhere is the blending of modernity and the tradition of earth building more evident than at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Casa Grande was constructed between ad 1200-1450 by the Native American Hohokam near Phoenix, Arizona. In 1928, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., son of Frederick Law Olmsted the landscape architect most famous for the earthwork of Central Park in New York City, was acting as an adviser to the National Park Service. The desire by the National Park service was to create a shelter that both protected the ruins, while allowing them to have hierarchical presence. The Olmsted Jr. design was completed on December 12, 1932.
Prada Marfa
Prada Marfa 
Workshop for the Conservation and Restoration of Earthen Architecture and Urban Landscapes
IV SIACOT / III SEMIN¡RIO
O 4? Seminário Ibero-Americano de Construção com Terra e 3? Seminário de Arquitectura de Terra em Portugal, Convento da Orada, Monsaraz, Portugal, 7 > 12 Outubro 2005, reunirá mais de 300 especialistas na área, e terá como principais objectivos: contribuir para a melhoria na qualidade de construção e protecção do património; preparar mais adequadamente técnicos nacionais, regionais e locais a intervirem com maior conhecimento e responsabilidade no património em terra urbano e rural, assim como em áreas protegidas; aprofundar a investigação, logo contribuir para um desenvolvimento local mais sustentável, por meio de um maior conhecimento da conservação do património, da difusão de arquitectura contempor‚nea utilizando materiais tradicionais, da utilização de materiais com maior eficiÍncia energética, assim como de estratégias para formação local, com maior integração social.
Seminario Taller Sobre Construcciones con Tierra
La Red EcoSur y el Centro de Estudios de Construcción y Arquitectura Tropical (CECAT) de la Ciudad Universitaria José Antonio Echeverría (CUJAE), invitan a participar del Seminario Taller Sobre Construcciones con Tierra, el 11 y 12 de noviembre de 2005, como parte indisoluble de la III Conferencia Internacional de EcoMateriales 2005, y previo a ella, se desarrollará en La Habana Cuba este Seminario
Modern Earth Building 2005
The Modern Earth Building 2005 International Conference, to be held November 18 to 20 in Berlin Germany, has released the conference schedule. [ download ]