Wednesday 26 August 2009

Living differently: Nadir Khalili's earthbag houses

I love, really love Nader Khalili's earthbag houses. I know that we are broke and that we don't have the time to begin to build anything for now, but just look at this.



ecodome

Wow.

Nader Khalili was an Iranian-American architect. In the 80s, he worked on lunar habitat - yes - and began building earthbag structures, that he called "Super Adobe". Those structures are today used as emergency shelters, because they resist to earthquakes and bombs.

But some people build those ethical and very simple houses for themselves too.

And the houses are so cool, and apparently easy to build, I would love building one on our little piece of land in Morocco.

village sacs

Un village au Mexique

Une maison en sacs de terre de Khalili


You just need bags, earth, and some wire too. This site, and this blog explain how you can do it yourself.

Une maison pas finie en Inde


There are also plenty of pictures on the website of the Californa Insitute of Earth Art and Architecture (Calearth), founded by Khalili.
You can even buy, if you too are in love with those little houses, the bags from the website.



Une maison au Mexique


So, will there be someday an earthbag house in Ouled Mgatel?
Well, see for yourselves.


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M : Hey look, I just wrote a blogpost on earthbag houses.

F : Oh yeah I know that stuff.

He comes and looks at the computer screen.

F : Wow! They're awesome!

M : Yeah. I love this picture of the inside of a house. (Sigh)

F goes back to his Arabic students. A few minutes later, he enters the room again with some kind of plan he just drew.

F : What do you think, where do I put the kitchen?

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love to visit these homes, they are beautiful and remind me of some of the Native American round houses. The shape is resistant to winds too. I've read that they are cooler in the summer than traditional housing since they are made from earth. I think they could very well catch on in Morocco if a person has a little land and some help building them.

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Woah. That's so awesome. Totally impractical for where I live, of course, but still awesome.