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The Wild Bird Discovery Centre at Saltholme, Teeside, United Kingdom, fuses 21st Century architecture to both modern and traditional materials and sustainable construction principles. Architect Alison Thornton-Sykes of JDDK designed the futuristic bird center for the The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which will incoporate aircraft construction techniques and rammed earth construction.

AKTerre is a French construction company specializing in rammed earth construction that promotes the ecological, historic and aesthetic qualities of earth construction.

Earth Construction: A Comprehensive Guide, written by Hugo Houben and Hubert Guillard, is a comprehensive, illustrated handbook deals with the world’s oldest and most widespread building material. This book assembles, orders and clarifies information about building with earth which has up till now been available only in scattered form. Text supported by illustrations deals with the essential aspects of earth construction, taking one step at a time–decision-making, planning, design and the realization of a project–so that the procedures, benefits and precautions are easily accessible and understood by those involved at every level. The accumulated knowledge and experience of centuries of use are presented alongside current technologies and research findings. There is a chapter devoted to disaster-resistant construction techniques, and extensive bibliographies throughout for those who require more details about a particular subject area.

L’Architecture De Terre Au Maroc is a beautiful book about Morocco that focuses on the beauty of Morocco’s earthen architecture. It also tells the story of the technique, shapes and decorations which comprise this sublime architecture. The book contains texts by architect Elie Mouyal, Professor Hubert Guillaud, a specialist in the field earth and the images of Michel Lebrun.

On Thursday 8 November 2007 at 6pm at the International HQ of the Institution of Structural Engineers in London, Paul Jaquin, MEng of the website Historic Rammed Earth, will present a Study of historic rammed earth structures in Spain and India. Paul visited eight locations in northern Spain and three in northern India where he gained a greater understanding of historic rammed earth. Methods of construction, modes of failure and repair techniques were investigated. Use of rammed earth as a modern building material is increasing, and the study of historic structures can inform development of the technique today. A number of examples which are considered to be of interest to practising engineers are presented. The examples deal with the presence of water in earthen structures, cracking and methods of crack repair, the facing of rammed earth with a less permeable material, and medieval seismic protection measures. Refreshments will be served at 5:30. For more information download the lecture poster.

Iraqi-born artist Wafaa Bilal, 41, directed the creation of Al Dar Al Iraqi, a temporary structure on Villa Montalvo‘s Front Lawn, as part of Montalvo’s Iraq:Reframe focus. The structure is symbolic of homes built and inhabited by Iraqis living in rural and impoverished areas prior to the modernization period of the 1950s and beyond. The vast majority of Iraqis live in modern homes built from stone, wood and brick that are similar in size to homes in the United States. The sculpture represents the devastation of the civil and domestic infrastructure taking place in Iraq today. Bilal was forced to create a home in this style during the time he spent in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia after the first Gulf War. Without any substantial shelter provided, he turned to this antiquated method of building a home when he was exiled from his own.

From Rammed Earth is for Everyone, examples of rammed earth in Tibet, India and Israel.

La Fundación Navapalos e Inter-Acciön (ONGD) organizan los días 23-24-25 de Noviembre de 2007, en el Museo Nacional de Antropología de la Calle Alfonso XII, 68, de Madrid el XXI CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE “CONSTRUIR CON TIERRA”.

El Objetivo de la Fundación en este Congreso es reflejar los avances y cambios en los últimos años, experimentados, tanto personal como profesionalmente en el sector “Arquitectura de Tierra”, en España, en los países de la UE o en el resto del mundo (Íberoamérica, África etc.).
Desde un enfoque etnológico-antropológico y en defensa del Patrimonio Arquitectónico Popular y Monumental, y guiados por un espíritu socio-cultural hacia proyectos de Cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo, nuestro objetivo es el estudio y la investigación de la tierra como material de construcción y el desarrollo de cursos de Formación, que han ampliado considerablemente los ámbitos de nuestra intervención.

Vinculando hoy la tierra como material de construcción con los recursos naturales, el desarrollo sostenible y el ahorro energético en la vivienda contemporánea-bioclimática, se abren las puertas y caminos profesionales y empresariales en la innovación tecnológica, la fabricación mecanizada e industrializada ,sin embargo, sin alejarnos de nuestra preocupación por el entorno construido en tierra, su conservación y rehabilitación, en todas sus dimensiones y como soporte socio-cultural del paisaje rural y urbano.

Mas informacion:
Erhard Rohmer
Fundación Navapalos
Inter-Acción (ONGD)
e-mail: inter-accion@telefonica.net
e.rohmer@telefonica.net
Tel: 91 531 21 55 / 91 521 94 33

The Adobe Alliance will host a Dome Building Workshop November 1-4, 2007 in Presidio, Texas. Learn to build an adobe domed roof by hand under the instruction of maestra adobera Jesusita Jimenez, adobero Efren Rodriguez and Simone Swan, adobe designer-builder and founder of the Adobe Alliance. They will also demonstrate the construction of an adobe brick wall with keyed corners and how to mix and apply a sturdy, waterproof earth plaster enhanced with cactus juice. For more information visit the workshop webpage.

Jim Hallock, Monica Healy, and Jeff Rottler are pleased to invite you to participate in our impending earth building workshop given in conjunction with Joe Tibbets of Southwest Solar Adobe, and Lawrence Jetter of Advanced Earthen Construction Technologies. The workshop will take place November 9, 10, and 11, 2007 at the Best Western Shetland Inn, 3602 S.E. Military Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78223.