Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa: Photographs by James Morris presents 50 large-scale images of structures from monumental mosques to family homes. An exhibit of the photos runs through July 15 at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History in Los Angeles. For more information call (310) 825-4361 or visit www.fowler.ucla.edu or buy the book.
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 ]
6th International Photography Competition on Earthen Architecture
Il Centro di Documentazione sulle Case di Terra del Comune di Casalincontrada with the l’Associazione Terrae Onlus and the Fotoclub Chieti promotes the 6th International Photo Competition of Works of Earthen Architecture.
Rammed Earth Videos
Rammed Earth is for Everyone posts Rammed Earth videos from YouTube.
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.
Building With Clay Workshop in Poland
A Natural House – Building with Clay Skill Building Workshop in Poland with Architect Wojciech Brzeski will take place on 3rd June and 9th June 2007. During the five-day workshop, one will learn the techniques of sustainable clay building. Mr Brzeski has been building houses with clay for over 25 years and as the need for sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of building becomes more and more important this is an invaluable opportunity to work with an experienced architect to learn the techniques of this traditional craft. The anticipated costs including flight, accommodation and workshops are £570. For more information email: thenaturalhouse@gmail.com
Sea, Sand and Mud
An interesting building material production technique is outlined in a recent article by the BBC which suggests a Russian technique for manufacturing building blocks out of sand and seawater. The article also notes that unfired mud brick (adobe) technology has taken off in the US, dispensing with the energy used in firing traditional clay bricks.
5º Seminário de Arquitectura de Terra em Portugal
A UA / Universidade de Aveiro, a ESG / Escola Superior Gallaecia, a FCO / Fundação Convento da Orada e a Cdt / Associação Centro da Terra são os organizadores e anfitriões do 5º Seminário de Arquitectura de Terra em Portugal (V ATP), que se realizará de 10 a 13 de Outubro 2007, na Universidade de Aveiro, em Portugal. Criado em 2003, o seminário Arquitectura de Terra em Portugal tem evoluído de uma forma crescente com a ampla adesão de profissionais ibero-americanos e europeus.
Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre
Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre by Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects was recently completed and featured in the April issue of Canadian Architect Magazine. The cultural center is constructed of the largest rammed earth wall in North America measuring 80 metres (262 feet) long by 5.5 metres (18 feet) high made of layers of colored stabilized soil.
Laurie Baker, 1917-2007
Lawrence Wilfred “Laurie” Baker (March 2, 1917 – April 1, 2007) was an award-winning English architect, renowned for his initiatives in low-cost housing by using traditional techniques, materials and crafts such as mud and thatch. He went to India in 1945 in part as a missionary and since then lived and worked in India for over 50 years. He obtained Indian citizenship in 1989 and resided in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala. In 1990, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri, the nation’s fourth highest civilian award, in recognition of his meritorious service in the field of architecture.
“You can’t get more sustainable or renewable a resource than mud, and Baker is its champion. Approximately 58 percent of all buildings in India today are made of mud brick, some as many as 50 to 100 years old. Mud is gathered either at the construction site or very nearby, formed into bricks and dried in the sun. It is readily available and can be made by people with limited initial training—all resulting in projects that can be built at a fraction of the cost of those using concrete and steel. Baker is especially fond of mud’s total recycle-ability: simply add water and reuse it.”
– Farewell Laurie Baker
Links: Of Mud and Men: Architecture as a Political Act | Of Architectural Truths and Lies | Laurie Baker’s Creative Journey | Mud: Laurie Baker