Scott Howard organized a workshop in Dogon Country, Mali, last winter. He built this unique dome with the help of workshop participants and some of the villagers there. The majority of the structure was completed during the two week-long workshop. It is a catenary arc about 16.5 feet tall with a loft. Serving as a library for many villages in the area, it is the first earthbag dome in Mali. Earthen Hand natural building offers a variety of international workshops these days.
I found the above photo in Scott Howard’s article A Wholly Different Way of Building at the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia website. Scott raises a lot of questions in this fascinating article on the best ways to waterproof earthen domes.
Photo credit: Earthen Hand
A little late here but 2 points I have.
1. That statement “the first earthbag dome in Mali” by this scott guy is a little misleading if not outright disingenuous some may say. Mali is on record as having many UNESCO heritage sites showing this earth adobe building dating to 3 BCE.
2. In a bid to evangelize earth/dome/cob homes I think its important to give credit where its due especially when such work rests on centuries of indigenous people’s creativity. Am all for being eco and makin abuck while at it, but these salient points matter.
Thanks
I agree with you about the need to acknowledge the vast vernacular heritage for building shelter around the world. In this case, earthbag technology is much more recent than most of that.
Great site!
Keep em coming!
i am serching someone who can help me for building earthbag house in senegal
urgent please help me
sophlagoon@yahoo.fr