Category: Uncategorized

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.

Earth Architecture—The Book is reviewed by John Hill, the editor of the prominent and (almost) daily blog, A Daily Dose of Architecture. The review can be found here

The San Antonio Valley, in southern Monterey County an hour south of Salinas and due east of Hearst Castle, is a trove of some of California’s rarest buildings—rammed earth and adobe buildings with interesting histories. Read more at the San Francisco Gate.

Following the success of his design for a Primary School in Burkina Faso, which prompted growing numbers of students attending the school, architect Diébédo Francis Kéré has completed an extension to the school using many of the same techniques and materials, but with an innovative new compressed earth vault protected by an airy vaulted metal canopy. In addition to classrooms, the extension also houses a kitchen and library.

The Toxicwall, designed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute architecture student Henry Louis Miller, is a response to the bullying, isolationist tone (as he sees it) creeping into the national debate on immigration. It’s a simple idea. Collect earth from polluted brownsites. Use it to make toxic bricks. Form these bricks into a wall along the nation’s southern border. Prevent illegal immigrants from crossing by forcing them to risk contamination.

To maintain the toxicity of the brick, it seems that the bricks are likely mud-brick as vitrification of fired brick might reduce the effect. The toxic mud brick wall seems equally as harmful as architect Antoine Predock’s rammed earth border wall.

The Earthen Architecture Initiative (EAI) seeks to further the conservation of earthen architecture through international activities and institutional partnerships. Advancing the discipline of earthen conservation is the organizing principle for all of the EAI’s activities—which include model projects that improve the way conservation interventions are carried out in different parts of the world, pursuing research that addresses unanswered questions in the field of earthen conservation, and disseminating information regarding appropriate conservation interventions on historic buildings, settlements, and archaeological sites composed of earthen materials.

The Rehabilitation of the City of Shibam is part of a project that focuses on the preservation of this unique place as a living community, with architectural restoration integrated into the creation of new economic and social structures. The Award recipients are the Yemeni government and its cultural agencies, the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the community of Shibam.