EARTHEN BUILDING MOVEMENT

History of Using Mud for Shelter

Yemen

Taos, New Mexico

Wualate

1/3 of world’s population live in earthen homes

Traditional decoration and culture

A way of life

Renewable resource

Traditional building - bamboo

Hardwood homes – became unaffordable after deforestation occurred

Earthen Building

EARTHEN BUILDING MOVEMENT

Materials Needed

Get in there!

Necessary tools

Rice husk

Straw

Helpers

EARTHEN BUILDING MOVEMENT

Building Process

Designing – making a model

Good overhang and good drainage

Get some diggers!

Digging the mud pit

Mixing the mud

Dancing in the mud

Passing the mud

Adobe Brick Making-Pour the mud in the frame, level it off..

Pull it up and start again

Viola!

Leave to dry in sun 7-10 days

Laying out foundation with adobe bricks

Raising up foundation for termite protection

Laying bricks with mud mortar

Laying each course

Interlocking bricks

Adding in door and window frames

Putting up the walls

Two stories

Arches

Hand plasters

Troweled plasters

Clay paints

Roofing laid on top of walls

Roofing laid in wall

Thatching

EARTHEN BUILDING MOVEMENTExamples of Finished Buildings and Ideas

Wind catchers, Pakistan

Adobe fireplace, North America

Meeting hall, Wongsanit Ashram, Bangkok, Thailand

Niches, stairs, details

Women’s Center- International Women’s Partnership for Peace and Justice, Mae Rim, Chiang Mai

Adobe Restaurant, Chiang Mai

Mun Yeun – Sustainable Village, Chaiyapoom, Thailand

Tractor shed – bamboo in mud detail

Simple handmade windows – bicycle chain hinges and bamboo

Youth Center in Laos

Pun Pun

Relief tree

Fun with clay paints

Bathrooms with lime finish

Bathroom with cement plaster on bottom

The possibilities are endless…