South Korean Family Builds an Earthbag House to Preserve a Son’s Health

The Dongducheon family had been living in an apartment in South Korea when their younger son’s eczema became severe enough to disrupt his daily life. They later noticed that his condition eased whenever the family spent time in the countryside and began considering a home made from natural materials. They had no architectural training and … Read more

Building a Hyperadobe Homestead in Arizona

In Arizona’s high desert, Jonathan and Ashley Longnecker are building an off-grid homestead that relies on earth walls, solar power, rainwater catchment, and a lot of hands-on labor. Their project is a real-world test of whether a modern family can reduce consumption, live more independently, and build a home that works with a dry, demanding … Read more

Touring a Complex Earthbag Home Still Under Construction

In this video we explore a unique complex earthbag dome house, showing its impressive architecture. It shows how this budget friendly home building process is possible, even for beginners. The home design features arches and domes that create a distinctive interior design. Join us for a full house tour that showcases these innovative construction techniques. … Read more

Exploring Alternative Earthbag Construction Techniques

To reduce the reliance of earthbag construction on polypropylene, an environmentally detrimental material, and simultaneously address the urgent issue of fast fashion waste, this research explores the suitability of using earthbag construction to reduce postconsumer clothing waste in landfills. Three approaches to generating new earthbag geometries were explored using sewn domestic craft: alternate modular arrays, … Read more

The Simplicity of Earthbag Construction

A family wants to build a house using the very material from the land. Shovel, bucket, sturdy bags, and physical strength replace heavy equipment. Can merely compacted soil support a complete structure? Loose soil does not support anything. It spreads, gives way, crumbles. The challenge, then, was to convert this raw material into something capable of … Read more

The Resilience of Earthbag/Superadobe Construction

In a world increasingly affected by natural disasters, climate change, and housing crises, a seemingly simple technique has been attracting attention for decades: building houses with earthbags, also known as Superadobe. It has already demonstrated resistance to earthquakes, hurricanes, and fires. Popularized by Iranian-American architect Nader Khalili in the 1980s, superadobe combines ancient earth-based construction … Read more