Texas – EARTH ARCHITECTURE

June 13, 2021

The Adobe Paradox

Once a building material of the humble economy used by autochthonous peoples of the Southwest, adobe has become fashionable among Marfa’s affluent newcomers. Here, in this article in Texas Architect, a student with roots in the town’s Mexican-American community and and architect practicing in the region discuss the building block’s complex cultural content. Because, in a Texas Art Mecca, Humble Adobe Now Carries a High Cost, according to this New York Times article discussing how taxes are higher for adobe homes.

August 12, 2012

Desert Dream

Desert Dream is a website by architect and recent CRAterre graduate, Hugo Gasnier, a recipient of The Delano and Aldrich/Emerson Fellowship, documenting his journey across the expansive desert regions of the United States to study contemporary earthen architecture.

December 15, 2010

Adobe Alliance Nubian Vault Workshop

The Adobe Alliance is hosting a Nubian Vault Workshop March 6th through 13th. Participants will be introduced to the craft of building a Nubian vault using small bricks measuring 10″x7″x1.5″. Hands-on teaching and theory are offered in English and Spanish by Instructor Stevan de la Rosa of Baja California. Simone Swan teaches design, history and gladly discusses in English and French, experiences in earth architecture based on her apprenticeship in Egypt with architect Hassan Fathy (1900-1989). Workshops are limited to 10 participants. There will be three Intern positions for hard working individuals who would like to immerse themselves deeper in the knowledge of woodless construction. Internship runs from March 1st until March 22nd.

Workshop fees for students run $600 paid by February 5th, and $650 thereafter. This includes instruction, materials, and lunches for the duration of the workshop. On site camping with minimal facilities is $3.00 per person per night. For more information about the workshop and to register, write to stevan81@gmail.com and visit our webpage. An early, non-refundable deposit of $200 to the non-profit Adobe Alliance, Inc., allows us to reserve a slot for each student, thus helping to cover in advance the expenses of preparatory work.

Information on lodging, meals and directions is posted on the website www.adobealliance.org. The Adobe Alliance, Inc., continues its curriculum of adobe design and building thanks to funding made by believers in the future of earth architecture as a healthy and structurally sound material for living. Donations are needed for running our program and are eminently appreciated.

May 19, 2009

The Adobe Alliance Featured in Mother Earth News

Photo by Yasmina Rossi.

“The allure of elegant earthen architecture can be life-changing. At least that was the case for urbane New Yorker Simone Swan, who in the 1970s became fascinated with the ideas and designs of renowned Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy. Then the 40-something executive head of the Houston-based Menil Foundation, Swan moved to Cairo to study with Fathy. She became his most passionate advocate, and transplanted his adobe building techniques to the Southwestern United States.”

[ Mother Earth News | Adobe Alliance ]

March 7, 2009

Rammed Earth Bench

To introduce a hands-on understanding of materials, 12 advanced design students designed and constructed a rammed-earth bench in the Goldsmith Hall Courtyard. The rammed-earth investigation was one of three class investigations that explored the nature of materials in response to particular sites.

January 26, 2008

Box Box House

Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello. Ocotillo, mesquite, yucca and sotol serve as the backdrop and the view of the landscape from the house extends out to the Davis Mountains in the distance.

The name of the house comes from the large, earthen box that inside contains a smaller box that houses the major utilities of the house (kitchen, bathrooms, storage, boiler, etc). The contrast between the thick, earthen walls and the concrete lintels that interpenetrate the facade to create openings, as well as the use of stainless steel in contrast with the earth, create a tension between old and new, rough and smooth, industrial and non-industrial. Inside, a large courtyard opens to the interior and to the sky.

January 25, 2008

Vault Building Workshop

Jesusita Jimenez, master mason and project manager,
hands-on instructor.

The Adobe Alliance offers a vault-building workshop from March 6 to 11, 2008, or longer by arrangement. We will dig the foundation, build walls with 18″ adobes, and the roof with smaller adobe bricks. Adobes will be delivered from Ojinaga, Mexico, and mortar is mixed on site at Swan House and Lab, 9 miles east of Presidio on farm road 170 east and 1.5 miles north on Casa Piedra road.

Fee: $350 for 3 days and includes lunch. Check payable to non-profit Adobe Alliance, mail to P.O. Box 1915, Presidio, TX, 79845. Lodging is nearby at motels or RV park Loma Paloma. Bring plenty of potable water, gloves, one bucket, total solar protection. Dogs welcome. Internships negotiated individually.

June 16, 2007

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

April 8, 2006

Ruidosa Church

The weather-beaten adobe walls of a neglected Roman Catholic church with its three sun-dried arches are the only reminder that Ruidosa, an isolated hamlet of 19 people hugging the Mexican border in West Texas, once flourished as a cotton-growing center with more than 300 residents, its own cotton gin and a half dozen cantinas. photo by Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

October 3, 2005

Prada Marfa

Prada Marfa , an installation by Berlin Based artists Elmgreen and Dragset, is the first Prada-related building in the world constructed of mud-brick. The Art Production Fund and Ballroom Marfa helped fund the project. Architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello helped the artists realize their vision. [ New York Times | Financial Times | Art Forum | Texas Escapes ]