History

Examples of Brazilian Vernacular Architecture

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The www.archdaily.com featured this informative article about Brazilian vernacular architecture. The regional expressions of a country’s culture are vital in helping us understand the relation between context and specific conditions of social manifestations. These nuances and singularities inside the realm of construction are translated into what can be called vernacular architecture. Although it has always existed, … Read more

A Very Brief History of Earthbag Building

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Reader Morgan, from the Sustainable Life School, just uploaded this video of a very brief history of earthbag building. I might add that missing from this history is the role that Gernot Minke at Kassel Polytechnic College in Germany played. In 1976 he began to investigate the question of how natural building materials like sand … Read more

Tulou Chinese Architecture

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I received an email from Professor Sunny Cai, who teaches architectural design at a college in Beijing , China. He mentioned his interest in ancient Chinese architecture, especially the earthen buildings called “tulou,” and he sent me some pictures of these rammed earth buildings. I had never seen anything quite like them, so I queried him further about how they were made and used. He replied, “The foundation was built with rocks, 2 feet high all around. The juice of glutinous rice and some lime is mixed into the earth for strength, and then sliced bamboo, reeds, and sometimes pieces of wood are also used.”

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Messages from Mesa Verde

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I visited Mesa Verde in Colorado near the Four Corners. This was my first encounter with the “ruins” of the ancestral Puebloan people, progenitors of the Pueblo and Hopi nations. I had heard about Mesa Verde since I was a kid, but nothing could prepare me for the awesome reality. Despite the influx of tourists, there is a peaceful and spiritual quality that persists.

The most famous aspect of what was left behind there are the cliff dwellings, which are certainly magnificent. These finely crafted rock structures emerge from huge alcoves within the cliff faces, and from a distance resemble swallows’ nests, fitting into the surrounding rock just as naturally. Actually the cliff houses represent the culmination of about seven centuries of habitation at Mesa Verde. Then around 1300 AD the people abruptly abandoned their homes and moved south and southeast to establish other communities. There is much speculation about why they moved, but the most likely cause was a prolonged period of at least 12 years of drought.

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Last Residents Hold On in Tunisian Underground Houses

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Tunisian Underground Houses
Tunisian Underground Houses

In the arid valleys of southern Tunisia’s Djebel Dahar region, people have lived for centuries in underground houses whose earthen casing provides protection against searing summer heat and winter winds. But in recent decades, rural depopulation has meant fewer people live in the homes.

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