It’s been somewhat of a struggle to get the living roof on our earthbag dome established. The steep sides make it quite challenging, because water runs off quickly and washes away the soil and nutrients. This causes dry areas to develop. As you can see from the early Mother Earth News photos, the grass didn’t … Read more
Marcia Gibbons at Ransom Ranch in Arizona chronicles her experience of building with earthbags. She has completed a beautiful sienna colored dome and a straw bale pumphouse with earthbag foundation. Building pics Final dome pics
[Text below is from their website.] The Earth Dome II Project has redefined the scope and community base of the farm. The project began in 2001 following a visit to CalEarth in Hesperia. Following this visit, a group of students and community members built an earth dome at the farm during spring and summer of … Read more
Not to detract from this excellent video, but Henna Khalili states in the YouTube comments section “the plastering I learned during the course is not durable.” What course? At Cal-earth? Anyone know more about this? This video shows the dome under construction.
The following report from an anonymous experienced builder in Haiti is about a new earthbag dome that’s already failing. My intent is not to bash these particular builders (I don’t even know who they are), but rather use this example as a learning opportunity to encourage good design. It’s great that people want to help … Read more
Scott Howard organized a workshop in Dogon Country, Mali, last winter. He built this unique dome with the help of workshop participants and some of the villagers there. The majority of the structure was completed during the two week-long workshop. It is a catenary arc about 16.5 feet tall with a loft. Serving as a … Read more