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
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
This old Vicarage in the UK is a 17th-century cob building built on tall sandstone footings with a Victorian limestone extension built in 1850, and a smaller brickwork extension believed to be from the late 1800s, that serves as the entrance. The building was bought by Great Western Railway in 1939 and converted into flats. … Read more
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
Travis Price is an internationally renowned architect, author, philosopher and advocate of green architecture. He says, “We architects seed our future buildings in the sun while dreaming under history’s shade of mighty oaks. Nostalgia is not our vision for the future. Yet forever the past and its endless glories are the roots that let our … Read more
With 25,000 euros and 1,000 hours of work, Maurizio Cesprini and his partner Paola Gardin rebuilt a ruined home in the medieval village of Ghesc, Italy. They hope other young families will consider their example with a plentiful supply of medieval ghost towns. They also feel drawn to save the rich architectural heritage of artisanal … Read more