“PLEASE RSVP BY April 11th 2014 email us at unitedearthbuilders@gmail.com for info!
Come join United Earth Builders in Joshua Tree, CA for a 3-day project course focusing on earthbag/superadobe basics and plaster work. From foundation to finish participants will construct two 16’ long x 4’ high lounge/bench and retaining wall work alongside our well trained and field experienced earthbuilders.
“I am currently drawing up plans for a 15′ dome built on an 18″ high double buttressed stemwall using: Raschel Mesh Bags filled with native Oxisol soil, lime and Coconut Husk fibers woven between double strand barbwire atop a cement foundation. I have done numerous soil tests and I am very very pleased with the … Read more
“This training took place December 2011 in Nariño, the southern border of Colombia with Ecuador. During 2 days we gave all the basic construction tools to a bunch of very happy and enthusiastic locals which were amazed at learning a new earth based construction method, an evolution of their own local architecture!”
Earthbag Dome Guest House in Thailand 10-18 February 2014 A wonderful opportunity to gain complete hands-on experience of all stages of constructing a large 4 metre diameter earthbag dome which will be used as a guest house in a beautiful location in Northern Thailand. A wonderful opportunity to gain hands-on experience of all stages of … Read more
This report is from a reader who goes by the name Ajarn Richard. This is where Steve Areen’s dome home is located and other unique structures such as the ones above.
“I’m staying at Miracle Springs right now. The owner is Hajjar Gibran, author, designer, builder. He is the great nephew to Kahlil Gibran, author of the “The Prophet” and has written the sequel to his great uncle’s masterpiece.
Hajjar and his wife Lumyai worked closely with Steve Areen to design and build his dome home out of cement block. Most recently, Hajjar has created a CEB press and a system for building with foam cement and is eager to experiment with these sustainable methods. They are also owners of the organic mango farm where Steve’s dome is located. The property has many of Hajjars creative structures on it. They plan to create an international center for learning various building methods as well as organic agriculture.
The blog post the other day about Steve’s Dome in Thailand has caused quite a stir. Read the Comments there to get the background story. Here’s a follow-up report about what’s been happening since. The images of Steve’s home are spreading across the net very fast…borderline viral. This confirms my initial opinion that this home is worth taking a closer look at because it is so exceptional. (See his photo galleries here and here. However, I’m taking some flak for my decision to publish a home built with concrete (reader requested, by the way). This was the first and only time I’ve done this, but in this case I felt the home was exceptional enough and had many interesting features that could be used in houses made of sustainable materials. In other words, we can learn from studying homes built with all types of materials. This was all clearly explained in the original blog post.