Superadobe is a form of

earthbag construction Earthbag construction is an inexpensive building method using mostly local soil to create structures which are both strong and can be quickly built. Earthbag development Features It is a natural building technique developed from historic milita ...

that was developed by Iranian architect

Nader Khalili Nader Khalili (; 1936–2008) was an Iranian Americans, Iranian-born American architect, author, and educator. He is best known for his inventive structures that incorporated a range of atypical building materials to provide shelter in the develop ...

. The technique uses layered long fabric tubes or bags filled with

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

to form a compression structure. The resulting

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

-shaped structures employ

corbelled arch A corbel arch (or corbeled / corbelled arch) is an arch-like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge. A corbel vau ...

es, corbelled domes, and vaults to create sturdy single and double-curved shells. It has received growing interest for the past two decades in the

natural building Natural building or ecological building is a discipline within the more comprehensive scope of green building, sustainable architecture as well as sustainable and ecological design that promotes the construction of buildings using sustainab ...

and

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

movements.

History

popularized earthbag construction. Initially in 1984 in response to a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

call for housing designs for future human settlements on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

and on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, he proposed using Moon dust to fill the plastic Superadobe tubes and velcroing together the layers (instead of using barbed wire). He came to term his particular technique of earthbag construction "Superadobe". Some projects have been done using bags as low-tech foundations for

straw-bale construction Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (usually wheatAsdrubali, F., D’Alessandro, F., Schiavoni, S.: A review of unconventional sustainable building insulation materials. Sustain Mater Technol. 4, 1–17 (2015). ...

. They can be covered in a waterproof membrane to keep the straw dry. In 1995, Khalili built 15 refugee shelters in Iran, with the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP) and the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

(UNHCR), in response to

refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

from the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. According to Khalili, the cluster of 15 domes that was built could have been repeated by the thousands. The government dismantled the camp a few years later. Since then, the Superadobe Method has been put to use in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Belize, Costa Rica, Chile, Iran, India, Russia, Mali, and Thailand, as well as in the United States. While Superadobe constructions have generally been limited to approximately 4 meters in diameter, larger structures have been created by grouping several "beehives" together to form a network of domes. There is a 32′ (10m) dome being constructed in the

San Ignacio San Ignacio (the Spanish language name of St. Ignatius (disambiguation), St. Ignatius) is a common toponym in parts of the world where that language is or was spoken: Argentina * San Ignacio, Argentina, Misiones Province * San Ignacio Miní, a ...

area of Belize, which when finished will be the center dome of an eco-resort complex. BBC News reported in March 2019 that superadobe structures have withstood earthquakes as severe as 7.2 magnitude.

Usage of Superadobe in contemporary architecture

According to CalEarth, Superadobe domes and vaults have been built in at least 49 countries on six continents, including Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Oman, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, United States, Venezuela, and the West Bank. They range from backyard landscaping, to private homes to eco-resorts or community centres. The superdobe was initially intended for temporary shelter and housing the displaced, because of its low-tech construction, the availability of its materials, and its resistance against natural forces. In 2004, the

Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the fie ...

went to a cluster of 14 modest buildings in Baninajar, Iran by

. These domes were built ten years earlier to house refugees from the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

and the construction was carried out by the

and the

. The award also recognized the potential of these buildings as a prototype for a new kind of temporary housing. Since then, many permanent private homes were built using the superadobe technique. For instance, house Quetzalcoatl in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

is composed of five full domes and four half domes using the earthbag technique. Some buildings use it for other uses than residential. The 100 Classrooms for Refugee Children by Emergency Architecture & Human Rights hosts Syrian and Jordanian children in Za’atari village 10 km from the Syrian border. The Langbos Children’s Centre, in the rural Eastern Cape of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, was designed by Jason Erlank Architects to provide a multi-functional space for community-driven initiatives in Langbos. It consists of four domes of a total area of 217 square metres. The

Majara Residence Majara Residence (Persian: ماجرا meaning adventure) is a seaside accommodation complex in the Hormuz Island, island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, South of Iran. The building consists of 200 colorful domes of varying sizes and shapes built wit ...

Hormuz Island Hormuz Island (; ), also spelled Hormoz, Ormoz, Ormuz or Ormus, is an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf. Geography Hormuz Island has an area of . Located in the Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian coast, the island is part of Hormozgan Provin ...

in the South of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

is a cluster of 200 small-scale interconnected superadobe domes that form a neighbourhood of 15 residences and public facilities and is designed by

ZAV Architects ZAV Architects (Persian: طراحان و بناکنندگان زاو) is an architectural practice based in Tehran, Iran. Background ZAV Architects was established in 2006 by architects Mohamadreza Ghodousi and Parsa Ardam. The firm is know ...

. The domes and the landscape surrounding them covers an area of 10300 square metres, while the built space is around 4000 square metres. This project was preceded by a prototype called Rong Cultural Center which tested the Superadobe technique on the same island.

Bibliography

* Khalili, Nader. "Nader Khalili." Cal-Earth. 19 Jan. 200

*Katauskas, Ted. "Dirt-Cheap Houses from Elemental Materials." '' Architecture Week''. Aug. 1998. 19 Jan. 200

*Husain, Yasha. "Space-Friendly Architecture: Meet Nader Khalili."

Space.com Space.com is an online publication focused on outer space, space exploration, astronomy, skywatching and entertainment, with editorial teams based in the United States and United Kingdom. Launched on July 20, 1999, the website offers live coverag ...

. 17 Nov. 2000. 19 Jan. 200
Space News - Latest Space and Astronomy News , Space
* Sinclair, Cameron, and Kate Stohr. "SuperAdobe." Design Like You Give a Damn. Ed. Diana Murphy, Adrian Crabbs, and Cory Reynolds. New York: Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., 2006. 104–13. *Kellogg, Stuart, and James Quigg. "Good Earth." Daily Press. 18 Dec. 2005. *Freedom Communications, Inc. 22 Jan. 200

*''Alternative Construction: Contemporary Natural Building Methods''. Ed. Lynne Elizabeth and Cassandra Adams. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000. * Hunter, Kaki, and Donald Kiffmeyer.
Earthbag Building
'. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2004. *Kennedy, Joseph F. "Building With Earthbags." Natural Building Colloquium. NetWorks Productions. 14 Feb. 200

*Aga Khan Development Network. "The Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2004." Sandbag Shelter Prototypes, various locations. 14 Feb. 200

*The Green Building Program. "Earth Construction." Sustainable Building Sourcebook. 2006. 14 Feb. 200

*NBRC. "NBRC Misc. Photos." NBRC: Other Super Adobe Buildings. 10 Dec. 1997. 14 Feb. 200

*CCD. "CS05__Cal-Earth SuperAdobe." Combating Crisis with Design. 20 Sept. 2006. 14 Feb. 200

*American Institute of Architects. A Conversation with Nader Khalili. 2004. 14 Feb. 200

*New York Times. When Shelter is made from the Earth's Own Dust. 15 Apr 199

References

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External links

Earthbagstore.com
- informations, workshops, blog, e-shop with earthbags for superadobe in Europe.

- www.videterra.org, Superadobe Italia, sharing information and promoting superadobe domes and houses. Vide Terra provides superadobe workshops in Italy, Europe and the Mediterranean area.

Khalili's site describing his explanation of his method which he names "Superadobe", not "Super Adobe".
earthbagbuilding.com
- Includes many photos of Superadobe projects.
calearth-superadobe
Masonry Appropriate technology Soil-based building materials Foundations (buildings and structures)

History

Usage of Superadobe in contemporary architecture

Bibliography

See also

References

External links