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Valentina Del Fuoco authors a review of Earth Architecture on Building Design: The Architects Website.

The Earthbuilder clasps a clump of clay-rich earth, with hands work-hardened,
earth mixed with chaff and chopped straw, all just dampened,
then moulds the soil that one hand holds, confidently shaping a rustic ball.

The Earthbuilder looks into the ball as if to watch futures revealed,
to witness the world to be rebuilt, an earth to be healed.
There are familiar spirits here, we hear their call.

This cob is placed on the foundation, on those good shoes.
At this signal many more hands join in, each muddy handful pressed onto growing rows.
A community evolves and a home begins to rise this way.

It is a simple and ancient thing, a child’s game at times, to build with earth this way,
being both right work and equally right play.
The goal is as serious as dirt, as wise as clay.

Walls moulded by a gathered strangers to hold a family and their friends.
If newly improvised rituals of earthbuilding gain good ends,
the home will be a fertile soil to enfold and nurture the lives of those within.

With many hands sculpting the mass, the house grows from of the land.
With good shoes and a good hat, a home will stand.
Work goes on as hours pass, and new days begin.

A community evolves as a human home rises, ex humus, out of the soil:
a home evolves as a human community rises, ex humus, out of the soil,
Humans grow from the clay, ex humus, into the light of a new day.

Poem ©Chris Green, Feb. 2009

Earth Architecture—The Book was recently reviewed by Architects Newspaper. Click here for a larger image.

Lehm Ton Erde is the website of the renowned Austrian clay artist and rammed earth builder, Martin Rauch, who is responsible for the construction of projects such as the Chapel of Reconciliation in Berlin, Germany.

In each village in Dogon Country, Mali exists a large family dwelling, called a ginna, that is reserved for the spiritual leader of the community. The building has a raised living area reached by a ladder carved from a tree trunk. The windowless facade is decorated with 80 niches, representing the original ancestors and their descendants. The two doors are often carved with rows of male and female figures which, like the niches, symbolize earlier generations. Inside this building, some altars and a small shrine form the focus of the clan cult. In most Dogon villages, the head of a clan lives in the gina until his death.

Listen to an interview with Earth Architecture author, Ronald Rael, with Alan Saunders of the Australian radio show ABC by Design.

The 11th International Conference on Non-conventional Materials and Technologies (NOCMAT 2009) is announcing a call for papers with the theme: Materials for sustainable and affordable construction. The conference will take place September 6th – 9th 2009 at the University of Bath, Bath, UK. For more information visit the conference website at http://www.bath.ac.uk/ace/nocmat2009/.

Hassan Fathy

Save the Heritage of Hassan Fathy is an International Association based in Geneva (Switzerland), founded in February 2008 to safeguard the heritage of the Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy.
His works constitute a patrimony of outstanding value which belongs to the cultural world heritage. The Association’s objectives are the following:

– Raising the awareness of the public opinion about the importance of the work of the Egyptian architect
– Providing a platform of exchanges between the concerned Institutions (public and private) and Universities
– Promoting protection and conservation projects to safeguard this outstanding heritage

A Bibliography on Earthen Architectural Heritage, is available in the ICOMOS Documentation Centre website. This bibliography is based on the documents on earthen architecture available at the UNESCO-ICOMOS Documentation Centre. It includes also the earthen architectural heritage on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The book Earth Architecture will be discussed in a live interview on the Australian Broadcasting Company show ABC by Design at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bydesign

DATE: Tuesday, January 27
TIME: 8.40 pm-9:00 pm Pacific Standard Time

If you miss the show, it will be available via podcast.