Adobe is the oldest building material in the world, found throughout the Middle East, Asia, North Africa, South America, Europe and, of course, the Southwestern United States. Adobe often requires replastering, which explains how adobe structures often change over time. Taos Pueblo, for instance, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the nation, … Read more
Architect Jim Hubbell has created works in San Diego and Tijuana, including an elementary school and a park. And he has been slowly filling his remote property with creative designs over the last 60 years, starting with a small home he built with his wife Anne, when they were first married in 1958. Marianne Gerdes, … Read more
Surrounded by olive and palm trees in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco, a centuries-old collective granary preserves the ancient practices of the Amazigh culture. “The traditions are vanishing, but not here,” said a proud village elder. The imposing, fully functional structure, likely built in the 18th century and restored in 2012, is still used by … Read more
The hub for the Moravian Church in the Americas was Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Historic Moravian Bethlehem District encompasses the community’s oldest surviving buildings and preserves what was once the center of Moravian religious activity. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 and is now being nominated for the UNESCO … Read more
The Ellora Caves in Mumbai Harbour are a magnificent complex of rock-cut caves with artwork dating back to 1000 CE, but the formations have stood the test of time. Archaeologists have wondered why they were in such good condition. Was it a special kind of rock that served as the foundation? Were there ancient principles … Read more
The folks at Good Earth Global prepared a guide titled How to Build an Earthquake-Resistant Home: An Earthbag Construction Manual for Engineering for Change’s members and readers and it was published at engineeringforchange.org It starts out with this introduction: Earthbag technology has emerged as the building method best suited to rebuild rural Nepal after its … Read more