With 25,000 euros and 1000 hours of work, Maurizio Cesprini and his partner Paola Gardin rebuilt a ruined home in the medieval village of Ghesc, Italy. They hope other young families will consider their example with a plentiful supply of medieval ghost towns. They also feel drawn to save the rich architectural heritage of artisanal … Read more
In an article titled “Students rebuild communities with sustainable bamboo architecture,” published in www.northbynorthwestern.com it is explained that after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck coastal Ecuador in 2016, the country suffered from severe damages and casualties. The use of heavy building materials was to blame for some of the casualties. Because of the damages from … Read more
Many years ago I was contacted by Mostafa Arefhaghi, an Iranian historian with this review of traditional adobe construction in Iran. Iran is an ancient country where the use of adobe and mud brick techniques have been common for a very long time. Below are some photo’s showing adobe and mud brick structures from historic … Read more
A collective of architects, engineers and non-profits known as Hunnarshala have been rebuilding parts of India that have been affected by various disasters since 2001. They seek community participation and focus on traditional home designs.In the Banni grassland area the traditional circular wattle and daub buildings were replaced with more maintenance free rammed earth. The … Read more
The Nepali Times has published two articles recently about sustainable rebuilding efforts in Nepal. One, titled Quake was a learning experience for Nepal’s schools features two schools destroyed in the earthquake which are being rebuilt using rammed earth. “Rammed earth uses locally available mud and minimal cement to construct the walls of the schools, making … Read more
I received notice last night that Owen Geiger, the co-creator of this blog, who died in November last year was finally cremated where he died in Thailand. It took that long for the U.S. State Department to release him to the director of the hospital where he died. His Thai family wrote, “All documents have … Read more