These earthen beehive houses have been keeping Syrians naturally cool for centuries. Built of all natural local materials, the thick walls help naturally cool the interior by keeping out the sun, and acting as a thick insulation for the heat to permeate. The walls are made from mud bricks, stacked in a giant circle. Building … Read more
A ministry in Northern Uganda has been making earthbag “huts” as homes for employees and their families, fellow laborers, as well as a home for their family and a potential discipleship training school. These vertical walled roundhouses have a distinctive African flavor that is very appealing, and I’m sure quite functional. You can find out … Read more
Kimuma Watanabe is a Japanese architect and Associate Professor at Kochi University of Technology in Japan. He has been involved in many projects with earthbags around the world. One of his smaller projects is an installation of a demonstration dome featured in these photos. The Japanese aesthetic and precision is obvious in the way the … Read more
This seems like a good time to start a list of the best natural building galleries. Please send me your recommendations. EarthbagBuilding.com Projects and Pictures Natural Building Gallery (This is the largest, best gallery that I know of. Special thanks to Mark Piepkorn for such outstanding work.) Cobworks Photo Gallery The Culture Artist Organization Gallery … Read more
Brilliant insights from Dmitry Orlov on building in the round and peak oil. “Let’s face it, we, the civilized, educated, enlightened part of humanity like things to be straight. Let primitive tribesmen live in picturesque and practical round huts—we require abstract boxes of steel and concrete clad in plate glass, with plenty of nice straight … Read more
This is a fourth installment on earthbag vaults. Previous posts have already covered most of the details. This blog post presents two more options – living roof and thatch roof. The thatched roof is the simplest and fastest. The living roof is much more difficult and not recommended as a first time project. The roof … Read more