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A few months before the release of this blog’s book, Earth Architecture, came a book with an equally notable title: Earth Architecture: From Ancient to Modern by author William Morgan. Unlike Earth Architecture, Morgan’s book discusses primarily earth works—built forms more closely associated with landscape architecture. From ancient forts in New Zealand to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Earth Architecture ranges across the globe, covering more than 6,000 years of human history. Mounds, shaped hills, and terraces are only a few of the categories of structures Morgan systematically examines as he surveys everything from semi-subterranean dwellings to large-scale engineering projects.

ISBN 9781568987675 8.5 x 9 inches (21.6 x 22.9 cm), Hardcover, 208 pages 222 color illustrations; 96 b/w illustrations; A PAPress publication. Pre-Order Earth Architecture if you live in the following countries:

[ U.S. | Japan | Germany | U.K. | France | Australia ]

Synopsis
Currently it is estimated that one half of the world’s population—approximately three billion people on six continents—lives or works in buildings constructed of earth. And while the vast legacy of traditional and vernacular earthen construction has been widely discussed, little attention has been paid to the contemporary tradition of earth architecture. Author Ronald Rael, founder of Eartharchitecture.org provides a history of building with earth in the modern era, focusing particularly on projects constructed in the last few decades that use rammed earth, mud brick, compressed earth, cob, and several other interesting techniques. EARTH ARCHITECTURE presents a selection of more than 40 projects that exemplify new, creative uses of the oldest building material on the planet.

An engaging narrative addresses the misconceptions associated with earth architecture. Many assume that it’s only used for housing in poor rural areas—but there are examples of airports, embassies, hospitals, museums, and factories that are made of earth. It’s also assumed that earth is a fragile, ephemeral material, while in reality some of the oldest extant buildings on the planet are made of earth. The book also touches on many topics that pervade both architecture and popular media today, such as the ecological benefits and the politics of building with earth, particularly in developing nations where earth buildings are often thought of as pre-modern or backward. With captivating discussion and more than 300 images, Earth Architecture showcases the beauty and simplicity of one of humankind’s most evolved and sophisticated building technologies.

A new remote sensing technology has peeled away layers of mud and rock near Peru’s Cahuachi desert to reveal an ancient adobe pyramid, Italian researchers announced on Friday at a satellite imagery conference in Rome. The researchers investigated a test area along the river Nazca. Covered by plants and grass, it was about a mile away from Cahuachi’s archaeological site, which contains the remains of what is believed to be the world’s biggest mud city.

Architect Anna Heringer has recently completed three projects that were winners of the world architecture community awards. These three family houses are the results of a hands-on workshop for students and young architects conducted in a remote rural area of Bangladesh. Eight students of the BRAC University in Dhaka (Bangladesh) as well as five Students from the University of Art in Linz/ projectstudio BASEhabitat (Austria) came to a small and remote village in the North of Bangladsh, Rudrapur, to continue what has started with the Handmade METI-School: to work together with the local people on a model for a sustainable, modern architecture in a dynamic process. The goal of the HOMEmade project is to improve the living conditions of the local population and to strengthen national identity while maintaining the current high level of sustainability with regard to home construction. This is accomplished by building three model houses for low-income village families designed by young local architects and built by local craftsmen who have been trained in the modern mud and bamboo building techniques. It is the expectation that the young architects will be able to carry their knowledge and skills to other regions of Bangladesh and the trained labor will be able to use their skills to build other modern mud homes in the region.

Adobe Conservation: A Preservation Handbook is a richly illustrated guide is acknowledged as the best source for expert, field-tested information on the care and maintenance of historic adobe buildings–from small vernacular structures to the great Spanish Colonial missions. As a true ‘how-to’ manual, it presents a user-friendly and straightforward approach to the assessment, maintenance, preservation and restoration of earthen buildings based on time-tested techniques. Subjects include: architectural styles and materials; tools and equipment; materials and supplies; emergency shoring; moisture testing in adobe walls; material selection, mixing and testing; making adobe bricks; repairing and rebuilding adobe walls; repairing cracks in adobe walls; mud and lime plastering; earthen and lime finishes; removing contra paredes; repairing corbels; inspecting vigas and corbels; splicing vigas; compliance with State and Federal cultural resource protection legislation; glossary of terms; and bibliography.

Cornerstones Community Partnerships in Santa Fe, New Mexico is devoted to the preservation of the architectural heritage and community traditions in New Mexico and the American Southwest. Through its nationally honored technical assistance, applied learning and traditional building skills programs, Cornerstones has assisted more than 300 rural Hispanic and Native American communities with the preservation of historic and culturally significant earthen buildings. Cornerstones has developed and utilized the techniques in this book throughout the American Southwest since 1986.

Earth Architecture was listed among the Top 30 Design Blogs & Resources For Architects.

“One of my favourites, this site is a great resource on sustainable earth architecture happenings worldwide.” – TreeHugger.com

The VII Seminário Ibero-Americano de Construção com Terra and the II Congresso de Arquitetura e Construção com Terra no Brasil takes place November 3-8, 2008 in São Luís, Maranhão, Brasil. For more information visit www.terrabrasil2008.com.br or email terrabrasil2008@gmail.com

The Voute Nubienne Association has recently made an agreement with an eco-urban property developer in California, LJUrban, that, for every house they sell in their ‘Good’ project in Sacramento, and for every 10,000 clicks on their project website, they’ll fund the training of one VN mason in our Programme in Burkina Faso. This is very important for us, as the main brake on development of our ‘Earth roofs in the Sahel’ programme is the speed at which new apprentices can be recruited and trained to meet the demand for VN houses, to replace the dreadful tin-roof shacks in which so many poor families in the Sahel live.

If you want to help, please go to their website at:

http://www.lavoutenubienne.org/spip.php?page=sommaire&lang=en

and click on the ‘Goodometer’ you’ll find there—it’s that easy! Even easier, just click on Goodometer below.

Please encourage your friends to do likewise…every click counts!

Midwest Earth Builders is both a manufacturer of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) and a builder of homes utilizing CEBs and other materials.