As you can see from the list below, earthbag building is really starting to take off in Haiti. And these are just the projects we know about. There may very well be others. I’ll edit this list as things progress. Hopefully this list will spur sharing and networking. HAITI BUILT 2010 MARCH TO SEPTEMBER: Rodney … Read more
This timber truss is a good truss system for small, simple structures such as cabins in non-code areas. Having trees of the right size and type nearby is an obvious plus. In many areas of the US you can legally cut trees from national forests with a low cost firewood permit. Instead of cutting the … Read more
Larger structures such as schools and other commercial structures in earthquake zones require strong reinforcing. Patti Stouter and I have been working on a school design for Haiti. The first earthbag school is now under construction near Leogane. Part of the design is this reinforced earthbag buttress, which will help stabilize the long walls. Complete … Read more
It’s been somewhat of a struggle to get the living roof on our earthbag dome established. The steep sides make it quite challenging, because water runs off quickly and washes away the soil and nutrients. This causes dry areas to develop. As you can see from the early Mother Earth News photos, the grass didn’t … Read more
Here’s another Haiti project in the works. Text below is from their website. TYIN haiti is a TYIN tegnestue– initiative, comprised of a group of six students and two architects, all studying/ graduated from NTNU. TYIN tegnestue is a non-profit organisation working humanitarian through architecture. We aim to build strategic projects that can improve the … Read more
Tim Merritt is working to provide emergency earthbag shelter in Haiti. He’s currently at the Haitian Academy, the site of the only full-time medical school in Haiti, not far from Port-au-Prince. The directors of the academy have offered land and are enthusiastic about building with earthbags. At this point, he’s getting set up with tools, … Read more