American Adobes by Beverly Spears documents the rich and distictly Northern New Mexican vernacular house.
Al-Abbas Mosque
Al-Abbas Mosque is a testimony to the living traditions and architectural achievements of one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Built over 800 years ago, the mosque is situated on the remains of a pre-Islamic shrine or temple on a site considered sacred since ancient times. Its cubic form also has ancient precedents, including the Kaaba in Mecca. The local population continues to revere the mosque and the site today still holds special significance for them. The Al-Abbas Mosque restoration project is a recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Ninth Award Cycle, 2002 – 2004.
Primary School, Gando, Burkina Faso
Diébédo Francis Kéré, an architecture student in Berlin, took upon himself the cause of ensuring that his village would not be deprived of a school, and with a group of friends in Germany, Kéré set up a fund-raising association, Schulbausteine fur Gando (Bricks for the Gando School). The idea met with a positive response and, having secured finance through the association, Kéré also obtained the support of LOCOMAT (a government agency in Burkina Faso) to train brickmakers in the technique of working with compressed stabilized earth. The project is a recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Ninth Award Cycle, 2002 – 2004.
Hugo Houben and Hubert Guillaud Discuss Earth Architecture
An on-line survey of earthen architecture by Hugo Houben and Hubert Guillaud of CRATerre
Earth Architecture in Venezuela
Arquitectura de Tierra Cruda en Venezuela contains 257 color and 24 black and white illustrations discusses the use of earthen architecture in Venezuela from the pre-columbian period to today. Spanish language edition only.
Images From Ghana
These images of Ghanaian Earth Architecture are by Keith Zawistowski and Marie Richard. The image in the upper left is a shrine house in the Ashanti Region, near Kumasi. It is made from earth on a bamboo frame, detailed with cut reeds and plastered with cow dung. The others are of various typologies from the northern region. View larger image
YBE2004 Clay House of the Future
YBE2004 Houses of the Future is the showcase event for the Year of the Built Environment which challenged Australians to consider the future of our built environment and the most tangible element of that environment – the house. The Clay House uses the twin concepts of a courtyard plan and the inherent mass of clay brick products to create an intimate and private house. The driving concept behind this design is that it can fit into a small block, and has high level of thermal comfort that doesn’t rely on artificial cooling and heating.
The Valley of Mud-Brick Architecture
The Valley of Mud-Brick Architecture by Salma Samar Damluji is a scholarly book concentrating on the architecture and town planning of two towns in the Hadhramawt, Shibam and Tarim, Yemen. It looks at the very ancient origins of the south Arabian mud built architecture, its suitability for the climate, its adaptability, and its relative virtues compared with imported Western practices and how it can continue to develop as an indigenous Arabian art or science. It is clearly an exciting study to any such as Dr. Damluji, who had worked with and is clearly an admirer of Hassan Fathy, the great exponent of traditional mud brick architecture in Cairo. Read a review.
Mii amo Spa
This 34,000 square-foot spa facility in Sedona, Arizona by Gluckman Mayner Architects is comprised of a main treatment building and six freestsanding residential buildings. The main building’s five adobe brick clad towers contain treatment rooms and anchor the complex in the landscape. See more of this commercial project at www.gluckmanmayner.com
Irish Earthen Architecture
The Center for Irish Earthen Architecture was founded in response to the number of enquiries sent to the Plymouth centre of earthen architecture, regarding information, training and the techniques of cob, rammed earth, adobe and wattle and daub. Along with the development and implementation of training courses for both the individual and academic institutions, the centre wishes to establish a monitoring system to deliver competence in earthen architecture to the wider audience.