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February 25, 2004

Call for Papers and Conference Announcement

The Second Annual Conference of the Adobe Association of the Southwest will take place May 21, 22 and 23 in El Rito, New Mexico on the campus of Northern New Mexico Community College.

Call for Papers Schedule:

One page (maximum) abstract due March 23, 2004
Notification of acceptance March 31, 2004
Full paper (5-page maximum) due April 23, 2004 for conference prepublication.

Presenters will have 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes to answer questions. Time limits will be carefully monitored.

The host institution can accomodate 2×2 slides in Carousels or Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations.

Topics of special interest are:

Affordable adobe construction
Thermal properties of earthen materials
Historical buildings of note in the United States
Historical builders of note in the United States
Historical architects/designers of note
Historical developers/planners of note
New projects
Adobe education
Manufacture and supply of construction materials

Conference Schedule:

Friday, May 21, 2004

11AM to 1PM Registration
1:30PM to 4:30 PM Session I
5PM to 6:30PM Dinner
7PM to 9PM Social Hour

Saturday, May 22, 2004

9:30AM to 12M Session II
1:30PM to 5PM Tour
7PM to 9PM Session III

Sunday, May 23, 2004

9:30AM to 12M Session IV

Northern New Mexico Community College has dorm rooms, suites, and a cafeteria available at very reasonable prices. Contact Donald Martinez for reservations at 505-581-4120 or donmart@mail.nnmcc.edu

The Conference registration cost is $30 for Association members and $45 for non-members. For more information contact Quentin Wilson at 505-581-4156 or qwilson@mail.nnmcc.edu

February 22, 2004

Implements for Pisé or Rammed Earth Buildings

View a larger version of this image.

February 21, 2004

Rammed Earth University Cottages

Wide-eyed and inquisitive, 25 first-year students moved into Charles Sturt Universitys residential rammed-earth cottages in Thurgoona, Australia. The Student Pavillion, which was the first new building, laid the foundation for demonstrating and gaining acceptance of an environmental design approach to the further development of the Thurgoona campus.

February 21, 2004

Clay – The Eternal Stuff Of Building

Mud is almost too basic to talk about, but humans have used it for more than 15,000 years to build things, so its value is inestimable. And, since most clay is free – there’s no commercial market (outside of artists’ specialty clays) competing for your dollars.

February 21, 2004

Texas Rammed Earth/South Carolina Origins

Southwest School of Art & Craft, with roots dating to 1848, when the Catholic community started building the Ursuline Academy, an elite, private girl’s school, it is one of the oldest education sites in San Antonio, Texas. It was recently declared the largest and most significant example of French-influenced architecture in the state by the French Heritage Society. Early buildings on the campus were designed by famed architect Francois Giraud, the city’s first surveyor who is responsible for many of the city’s distinct buildings, including the French Gothic style addition of San Fernando Cathedral. Giraud, who was born in South Carolina to French immigrant parents, chose a construction method called pise de terre, or rammed earth, for the buildings. Skilled pise worker Jules Poinsard worked as a subcontractor on the project.

February 10, 2004

Arup Engineers Mud Brick

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Architecture Week reports that since 1997, engineers and architects from Arup and Arup Associates in London have been working with the Ladakhi Buddhist community, in Ladakh, India, and the United Kingdom-based charity, the Drupka Trust, to design and build a self-sustaining community using a combination of traditional and modern building methods and materials.

February 10, 2004

Laurie Baker

Laurie Baker’s architectural career began as a student at Birmingham University. However, his blossoming professional practice, only a year old, was cut short when World War II erupted in Europe. As a conscientious objector, Baker enlisted in the Friends’ Ambulance Unit and served as a medical technician in China and Burma. Read more in the essay, Of Mud and Men: Architecture as a Political Act

February 10, 2004

The Building Bookshop

The Earth Building section of the The Building Bookshop Architecture Bookstore has several interesting titles.

February 8, 2004

Yemen Article

This article from the Architectural Review describes how for over two millennia, the inhabitants of the Yemen have built their strange tower houses out of the earth below them. The tradition continues still and seems adaptable to modern life. Though much is beginning to decay, the crafts continue.

February 8, 2004

Sustainable House in Central Australia

The first of several houses to for the Arrillhjere Corporation on aboriginal land, 30 killometres west of Alice Springs. It’s a mud brick house, designed to be energy efficient and suitable an Aboriginal lifestyle in central Australia.