Architecture, Art, Design, and Culture using of mud, clay, soil, dirt & dust.
In 2002, University of Pennsylvania Museum archaeologists discovered a 3700-year-old “magical” birth brick inside the palatial residence of a Middle Kingdom mayor’s house just outside Abydos, in southern Egypt. The colorfully decorated mud birth brick, the first ever found, is one of a pair that would have been used to support a woman’s feet while squatting during actual childbirth.
The scene: a humble clay house on one of Baghdad’s meanest streets. A knock at the door. When the man of the house answers, he is astonished. “We have presents for you!” warbles Shaima Emad Zubair, a young siren with tangerine lipstick. Batting her blue-mascaraed eyes, she pokes her microphone his way. “Labor and Materials” is Iraq’s answer to “Extreme Home Makeover” and the country’s first reality TV show. In 15-minute episodes, broken windows are made whole again. Blasted walls slowly rise again.
The Residence at Meteor Vineyards in Napa Valley, California contains a guest house constructed of rammed earth that is comprised of a V-shaped roof floating above the massive walls. Read more.
Within the Institute of Archaeology at the University College London there are a number of projects concerned with the archaeology, conservation and study of earthen architecture. Their web page details the interests, projects and people involved in this small research group.
ARC Scottland (Architectural, Research or Conservation) has an archive of research reports on earth architecture available for download in .pdf format.
Photo Essays from the AREA Summer Research+Build workshop have been posted to the AREA 2004 website. visit at: www.areainstitute.org
The msn group, Archi-terra Fotos, is a small, but growing, collection of earth architecture from around the world.
The Third Annual Adobe Conference of the Adobe Association of the Southwest Celebrating the Work of Simone Swan will take place May 20, 21 and 22, 2005 in El Rito, New Mexico on the campus of Northern New Mexico Community College in Cutting Hall Auditorium. It adjoins the two-story South Dorm and Cafeteria forming a stately adobe complex. Information on the Association and the previous conferences can be found at: http://www.adobeasw.com/
Call for Papers Schedule:
November 22, 2004: Abstracts due. One page, 8-1/2 x11, maximum
December 10, 2004: Notification of acceptance
February 22, 2005: Full paper due. (7-page maximum including graphics)
Presenters will have 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes to answer questions. Time limits will be carefully monitored. The host institution can handle 2×2 slides in Carousels, Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations and overheads. Submit abstracts to Quentin Wilson, Speakers Committee, PO Box 160, El Rito, NM 87530; 505-581-4130 fax or qwilson@mail.nnmcc.edu as an attachment or email body. Final papers preferred in pdf format.
Topics of special interest are:
Affordable adobe construction
Thermal properties of earthen materials
Physical properties of earthen materials including seismic considerations
Historical buildings of note especially in the United States
Historical builders, developers, architects or designers worldwide
New projects: architecture, adobe art and design
Adobe education
Manufacture and supply of adobe and related construction materials
Conference Schedule:
Friday, May 20, 2005 11AM to 1PM Registration
1:30PM to 4:30PM Session I
5PM to 6:30PM Dinner
7PM to 9PM Social Hour
Saturday, May 21, 2005 9:30AM to 12M Session II
1:30PM to 5PM Tour
7PM to 9PM Session III
Sunday, May 22, 2005 9:30AM to 12M Session IV
The Conference registration cost is $60; $30 for speakers. This year, speakers will be responsible for their own room and board costs. Northern New Mexico Community College has dorm rooms, suites, and a cafeteria available at very reasonable prices. Contact us for conference registration, college reservations or local hotel/motel contacts at 877-806-2987 or email info@adobeasw.com
“Earthen Architecture in the Northern United States: European Traditions in Earthen Construction” by Richard Pieper
“In the United States, the use of earth for building is most frequently associated with Hispano-American traditions of adobe construction in the Southwest. There is also, however, in the northern United States a significant tradition of earthen wall construction that is related to techniques of northern European immigrants.”