Photo courtesy Khalili/Cal-Earth

Posted 4/23/09 by Yasha Husain

According to the site, www.eartharchitecture.org, a half of the world's approximately 6 billion people occupies buildings constructed of earth, either for work or to live.

The book, Earth Architecture, by architect, author and assistant professor of architecture at The University of California, Berkeley, Ronald Rael, the founder of the site, EarthArchitecture.org, describes the many types of earth architectures used around the world.

The book notes that while it's still widely believed earthen buildings primarily house the poor, earthen structures include airports, museums, embassies, hospitals and factories.

To learn of recently constructed earthen buildings, follow events related to earth architecture, or discover new books on the topic, visit, www.eartharchitecture.org.



For more on Nader Khalili's Superadobe architecture, visit:

www.calearth.org

Article - Architecture

Another Way to Build
by Yasha Husain
August 2007

There are some things that can't be sold, but must be taught, shared and utilized, among them are ideas that can lift humankind out of its current conundrum. Superadobe architecture is one of them.

Superadobe is a sustainable earth architecture that's earthquake- and fire-resistant, able to withstand strong winds and rains, and very inexpensive to build. It might have been used as a nontoxic alternative (in adjacent communities where flooding did not create ground contamination) to the trailers the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) used in New Orleans, and it has been used in other emergency situations around the world, including in Iran and Pakistan.

Temporary and permanent Superadobe shelters can be built by contractors, or small groups of people who have no prior building experience. Steeped in the wisdom of ancient building designs, the architecture utilizes timeless forms that are the strongest found in nature. Once constructed, permanent Superadobe shelters of stabilized earth are so sturdy they should last for millennia. Temporary shelters, built to last only for a short time, can also be made to last for as long as 30 years.

They are the brainchild of architect, Nader Khalili, who in 1986 founded the Geltaften Foundation, and later, the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth), in Hesperia, CA, in San Bernardino County in the high desert.

In 1995, FEMA wanted to know whether or not Superadobe was flood-resistant. The organization financed the Hesperia Lake Stabilization project, which Cal-Earth undertook the same year a storm caused flash flooding in Hesperia. The project involved placing 200-foot long Superadobe bags, filled with a mixture of stabilized soil, one on top of another until they formed a curved wall that followed the natural curvature of the lake's embankments, which were weak and needed the fortification. In an interview Khalili did for the AIA Journal of Architecture, which was published in January 2006, he said the reason the bags are resistant to the water is that they follow the wave curvature of water, rather than go in a straight line. A straight wall, or embankment, is more likely to break under the constant pressure of water pounding up against it.

According to the AIA Journal, shortly after the project was completed, a FEMA representative told Khalili that Superadobe would be perfect for the Mississippi River because the river, like all waterways, doesn't flow in a straight line. However, FEMA didn't further develop the project. Today, the curved wall is still holding back the waters of Hesperia Lake. And, according to Khalili, it remains theoretically possible that Superadobe walls could provide the best levees in a place like the Gulf Coast.

The Hesperia Lake Stabilization project shows that Superadobe structures are flood-resistant, in addition to being earthquake-, wind-resistant, and fire-resistant. They're cheap and safe building alternatives that can be used in a number of ways, including for emergency and permanent housing needs, for municipal, office and school buildings, and in a levee system.

Yet one problem with Superadobe structures is the following -if the buildings were to go up in response to natural disasters, there would likely be no major corporations tied to their construction. The reason being that normally 90 percent or more of a Superadobe structure is comprised of earth, and the architecture was intended for the people, not for-profit (in a levee system, however, a higher percentage of lime or concrete would be necessary). In general, very few building materials are needed to build Superadobe homes and buildings.

In the United States, where conventional homes are made from brick and mortar, wood, steel, aluminum, fiberglass, and concrete, the battle to build Superadobe homes could be an uphill one. Traditional, American building materials are easily accessible as a result of industries that have long been part of American culture. These same industries are backed by government, and represented by lobbyists and public relations firms.

Cal-Earth designs have been covered in the media, in features and short blurbs, not in advertisements. Cal-Earth also doesn't hire outside lobbying or PR firms for representation.

Yet, because of the recognition Khalili's designs have received, including from the United Nations and NASA, the Washington Post, BBC and National Geographic Television, and for winning the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004, his ideas have gained momentum.

Worldwide, there have been pockets of people building with Superadobe, and more nations than in the past are considering officially adopting the architecture. Some counties, in the United States, have permitted the building of Superadobe homes by local homebuilders.

Nationally, however, in developed and developing countries, progress in the development of Superadobe has been slow.

Which begs the question, what does it take for a good idea to catch on? Einstein's theory of general relativity, Edison's light bulb, and Salk and Sabin's polio vaccines, all caught on relatively quickly, once a need had been identified and was matched to its practical solution. Too often today, needs that have been identified are not met, even when a solution to an ongoing, and growing, problem, is presented.

This brings up the possibility that the problem with building Superadobe has to do with profits, or lack thereof, even as we are living in an age that calls for actions to be taken to protect the environment, and our long-term health.

In a Reuters interview dating from July 30, 2001, the Director of the United Nations Emergency Response Division, Omar Bakhet, said about Superadobe housing, "I thought it was amazing. It is a hidden treasure...I don't think there's any risk, it's a proven technology. It's cost effective, you need very little building material, just what nature gives
you."

Currently, in the United States, if you want to build a Superadobe home or building for residential or commercial purposes, it's possible. You first need to seek permission from local building officials to build an architecture that has surpassed international building code standards in one of the harshest environments in the country. How-to books by Khalili, blueprints, engineering plans, and other instructions for building, are available from the Cal-Earth Institute, as are apprenticeship programs.

If the federal government were to adopt Superadobe, it would likely become even easier to build with it because more people would know about it, and there would be fewer hurdles to jump before constructing it. As a result of Superadobe being backed by government, its use would likely rise, especially in response to disaster.

It may be that FEMA missed an opportunity, in the years following the Hesperia Lake Stabilization project, by not following up and incorporating Superadobe architecture into its emergency response plans. However, it's not too late for Superadobe to be used on a more regular basis around the country, and the world. It can be used in all kinds of settings, complementing other styles of architecture, or standing on its own.

To learn more about the architecture, you can log onto the Cal-Earth website, at www.calearth.org Today, Cal-Earth is run by Khalili's children, Dastan and Sheeftah Khalili.