Design Build BLUFF has completed another house. This time a compressed earth block house called the Benally House. Visit the project blog to learn about the entire construction process. [ previously ]
Historic Adobes of Los Angeles County
The book, Historic Adobes of Los Angeles County
Oldest Continuously Operated Business in Colorado
The R & R Market, located in San Luis, Colorado, is the oldest continuously operated business in Colorado and an historic adobe building that was constructed in 1857. The Business recently celebrated 150 years of operation. The photo above shows the building in 1867. More about the R&R Market can be found at the San Luis Preservation website.
Frank Lloyd Wright Rammed Earth
In 1941 Frank Lloyd Wright began the Cooperative Homesteads project in Madison Heights, Detroit Michigan. The homes were to cost $1,400 and to keep the costs low they utilized berm and rammed earth construction. It is said that the would be occupants for the houses were drafted during World War II and construction ceased. Read More [ 1 | 2 ]
TK-Pad
Ward+Blake’s TK Residence outside Jackson, Wyo., adapts rammed earth building techniques by grafting post-tensioning rods into the foundation’s walls, thereby making them nearly as strong as pure concrete, a much more environmentally intrusive building material when compared to green-friendly rammed earth. Article: Digging Deep, Building Strong—Rammed Earth for the Ages
Adobe Alliance Seeks Intern
The Adobe Alliance, a Texas based non-profit organization whose aims include to apply cooperative building techniques in earth architecture is seeking a resident intern to work in Santa Fe, New Mexico or from a distance. Responsibilities will include research, image scanning, simple bookkeeping, assisting with workshop organization, website maintenance, and telephone management. The ideal person is a graduate student in architecture, art/art history, public policy or related fields. To learn more, please contact Ms. Simone Swan at simoneswan@gmail.com or visit www.adobealliance.org
Juana Briones House Preserved on Film
As demolition looms, scholar moves to preserve historic Juana Briones house on film.
[ Save the house | Research Paper | Previously ]
Casas del Sol
An innovative home design by UNC Charlotte students has won the The Casas del Quinto Sol Housing Development National Design Competition for affordable housing. Their winning entry, which combines rammed earth with photovoltaic panels, could eventually become the model for a 21-home desert community to provide housing for recent immigrants along New Mexico’s southern border.
Juana Briones House Slated for Demolition
The oldest house in Palo Alto, California is a 160-year-old building constructed of a unique hybrid system that combines techniques found in rammed-earth and cob, traditionally known as encajonado. Known as the Juana Briones House, this historic work of earthen architecture is now slated to be demolished. After nine years of legal battles, the city of Palo Alto has agreed to issue a demolition.
Down and Dirty
The article Down and Dirty from the New York Times, discusses the growing populatiry of earthen floors. (subscription required)
Early one Saturday morning in January, Kevin Rowell dumped a bucket of dark mud on the floor of his big south-facing bedroom. It landed with a plop, spreading out and merging with a blanket of wet earth that already extended across much of the room. On his knees, Mr. Rowell took a trowel to the pile, nudging it this way and that until the mud was roughly level and about an inch and a half deep.