Special thanks to Eugene in Russia for the heads up on this great find. This earth building book by Gernot Minke’s is one of the most informative books on the subject, and now it’s available as a free download. How can you beat that? Thank you Gernot Minke for all you’ve done in support of the earth building movement.
From the Internet Archive, where you can legally download the book:
One of the most complete and up to date (2010) handbooks around this subject available. This volume is loosely based on the German publication Das neue Lehmbau-Handbuch (Publisher: Ökobuch Verlag, Staufen), first published in 1994 and now in its sixth edition. Of this publication a Spanish and a Russian edition have also appeared. While this is first and foremost a technical book, the introductory chapter also provides the reader with a short survey on the history of earth architecture. In addition it describes the historical and future roles of earth as a building material, and lists all of the signifi- cant characteristics that distinguish earth from common industrialised building materi- als. A major recent discovery, that earth can be used to balance indoor climate, is explained in greater detail. The book’s final chapter deserves special mention insofar as it depicts a number of representative earth buildings from various regions of the world. These constructions demonstrate the impressive versatility of earth architecture and the many different uses of the building material earth. Kassel, February 2006 Gernot Minke
Source: Internet Archive
Thank you Gernot!
Very interesting read. Found it about a year ago. Could be very useful when talking to city engineers. I would recommend it!
Thanks Owen. What a beautiful gift! My friends are earth builders here in Argentina and I’m sure they’ll be interested in reading this. I’m going to save it for when my hands are already in the dirt.