History

Gulzar’s House In Ladakh, India Offers a New Twist on Vernacular Architecture

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In Ladakh, India’s highest plateau, residential architecture is shaped by extreme cold, intense solar radiation and arid landscape. Structures rely on locally sourced sun-dried mud bricks, rammed earth and timber, with hand-plastered walls and meticulously layered timber and compacted earth roofs engineered to withstand heavy snowfall. The spatial organization—livestock housed on the ground floor with … Read more

The New Streat Hill House Embodies Much Recycled Content

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The New Streat Hill House in England was built from recycled materials, including rubble from a burned-out bungalow that was on the site. When viewed from a distance, the home is intended to resemble two barns sitting on a meadow. This was achieved by half burying the 750-square-metre residence into the south-facing slope and covering … Read more

Earthen Homes Are Making a Comeback in Columbia

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Deep in the Andes mountains of Columbia, Julio Leon is building a three-room house made mostly out of earth. To make the walls, Leon shovels damp earth in between two wooden panels. Then, he climbs on top of the 3-foot-tall pile and pounds it repeatedly with a wooden ram, turning his mound into a sturdy … Read more

Legendary Adobe Advocate, Simone Swan, Died at 96

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Simone Withers Swan, who introduced Nubian vaulted adobe construction to the Chihuahuan desert of Texas and Mexico at the turn of the 21st century, died in Tucson, Arizona, on January 16, 2025. She was 96 years old. Simone Swan was a legendary personality: mercurial, seductive, cultivated, curious, determined, imperious. She was by turns an architectural … Read more

A Historic Limestone Building in Wisconsin

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A 30-foot by 60-foot limestone building in Wisconsin’s unincorporated community of Yellowstone began life as a hostel or hotel. Travelers who were transporting goods in the region would stop, rest, get supplies, water their oxen and horse teams, and be on their way. But some stayed. They built houses, and worked and schooled their children. … Read more