Earth

EARTH

Nader Khalili (February 22, 1936-March 5, 2008) was an Iranian-born architect, writer, and humanitarian who received his philosophy and architectural education in Iran, Turkey and the United States. In 1970 he was licensed by the State of California and has practiced architecture in the U.S. and around the world. Khalili was known for his innovation into the Geltaftan Earthand-Fire System known as Ceramic Houses and the Earthbag Construction technique called Super Adobe. He was involved with Earth Architecture and Third World Development since 1975, and is a U.N. consultant for Earth Architecture. He developed his Super Adobe system in 1984, in response to a NASA call for designs for human settlements on the Moon and Mars. The project had been completely theoretical until the Persian Gulf War when refugees were sent into Iran. When this occurred Khalili partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and applied his research to emergency shelters. In 1991 he founded the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth), where he taught his Super Adobe building technique. Although Khalili's work received mixed support in his native country, arguably due to social paradigms and political unrest, he became a prominent American leader on the value of ethically based architecture, where the needs of the homeless are considered above all else. Khalili has written books on his architectural philosophy & techniques as well as translations of poetry from Rumi, the poet he considered instrumental in his design inspiration.

The walls are very thick, providing a cool environment in hot weather and insulating against the cold in the winter. The vast majority of trulli have one room under each conical roof: a multiroomed trullo house has many cones representing a room each.

trullo - Alberobello - Puglia - Italia

trullo - Alberobello -

trullo - Alberobello -

trullo - Alberobello -

trullo - Alberobello -

trullo - Alberobello -

dammuso - Pantelleria

dammuso - Pantelleria

dammuso - Pantelleria

dammuso - Pantelleria

dammuso - Pantelleria

dammuso - Pantelleria

dammuso - Pantelleria

dammuso - Pantelleria

Ajijic House

Ajijic House

Ajijic House

Ajijic House

Ajijic House

Architect: Tatiana Bilbao S.C. Design team: Tatiana Bilbao, Thorsten Englert, Damián Figueras, Adriana de Carvalho, Alex Cabrales, Marco Robles, Edgar Gonzalez Construction Supervision: Tatiana Bilbao, Damián Figueras Structural Engineering: MONCAD, Jorge Cadena Hydraulic Engineering: Hidrotecnicos S.A. Electrical Engineering: Incoesa S.A. Building Contractor: Cabrera & Asociados Arquitectos, Enrique Cabrera Artists: Vigueta y Bovedilla (Marco Rountree y Rodolfo Diaz), Cynthia Gutierrez Landscape: TOA, Emiliano Garcia WITH Paisage Tony Rodea Client: Vivian Charpenel Total Floor Area: 298 m2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQERRbU23bU

Peter Vetsch attended public school in Sax, Switzerland, from 1950 to 1956. He then attended an agricultural school in Cernier until 1962, where he graduated. Afterwards he was an apprentice in structural design in Winterthur and worked for an architecture office in St. Gallen. In the following years, Vetsch attended the academy of arts in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he graduated in 1970. After his diploma he worked for architecture offices in Germany and Switzerland. Peter Vetsch runs his own architecture office in Dietikon, (Switzerland) since 1978.Since the late 70's, Peter Vetsch has made a name for himself with his earth house architecture. To date he has built over 70 earth houses in Switzerland and other countries throughout the world. Earth houses by Peter Vetsch are based on the interpretation of an environmentally conscious, ecological and progressive architecture. Next to the earth houses, Peter Vetsch also builds conventional houses. With his technology (sprayed concrete constructions) he manages to create building shells which encompass maximum space volume with a minimum of surface area, an ideal form for energy saving. These constructions eschew right angles and their spatial diversity overcomes the the monotony of traditional normed designs. They remind us of Antoni Gaudí's organic forms as well as Jugendstil architecture.

Earth-covered architecture benefits from the natural balance of temperatures. It’s cooler in sommer* and warmer in winter. *sommer=summer

Earth House Estate Lättenstrasse

Location: Dietikon, Switzerland ▪

▪ Size of lot : 4000 m2 total

▪ Living space : 60 m2 to 200 m2 per house

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How to compost: techniques There are a couple of different common techniques for composting that use two primary methods. Active, or hot, composting, as the name suggests, occurs when the compost stays above about 90°F (32°C), allowing aerobic bacteria to thrive, killing most pathogens and seeds, and rapidly producing usable compost. Passive, or cold, composting occurs in many domestic garden compost bins in which temperatures never reach above 86°F or 30°C. If you put kitchen scraps in the garden compost bin and leaving them untended, you're cold composting. This "scrap bin," because it has a very high moisture content and doesn't get active aeration, is likely to turn anaerobic and will not smell very good, though it will produce compost, after a while. This process can be improved by adding some wood chips or small pieces of bark, leaves, twigs, or a combination of these materials, throughout the mixture, helping to improve drainage and airflow.

How to make compost? Given enough time, all biodegradable material will compost. The goal in a composting system is to provide a healthy environment and nutrition for the rapid decomposers, the bacteria. Not all biodegradable materials are appropriate for backyard or at-home composting, though. Most backyard systems will not reach temperatures high enough to kill pathogens and deter vermin, so pet droppings, non-vegetarian animal manure, meat scraps, and dairy products are best left in the trash. The most rapid composting occurs with the ideal carbon to nitrogen ratio of between 25 and 30 to 1 by dry chemical weight. In other words, the ingredients placed in the pile should contain 25 to 30 times as much carbon as nitrogen. For example, grass clippings average about 19 to 1 and dry autumn leaves average about 55 to 1, so mixing equal parts by volume nets approximately the correct range.

Using compost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration and increases the soil's water-holding capacity. Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils retain water. Adding compost improves soil fertility and stimulates healthy root development in plants. The organic matter provided in compost provides food for microorganisms, which keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus will be produced naturally by the feeding of microorganisms, so few, if any, other soil additives will be needed.

What can you compost? • Grass Cuttings • Hedge Cuttings • Vegetable Peelings • Tea Bags • Coffee Grounds • Ripped Cardboard & Paper • Fruit Cuttings What can you not compost? • Meat, Fish or Cheese • Coal ash • Cooked Left Overs • Metals, Glass or Plastic • Nappies

Compost bins vs. Compost tumblers

the Dual Purpose Compost Bench!

This stainless steel composting pail is made for use at the countertop. It has a charcoal filter that eliminates odors, a cover with holes, and it holds about a gallon of compost. We've always been hesitant about composting because the idea of keeping it all stowed away in a make-shift container under the sink kind of grossed us out. Somehow, this version makes us see it in a different light.

Circompo by Thanat Tengamnuay. Circompo is a composter and garbage bin that decomposes organic waste-especially food-using microorganisms that are kept under ideal conditions of air, moisture and heat to speed the process.

Animula literally means ‘little life, little soul’ in Latin, which seems to fit the friendlylooking indoor composter. Created by the design team of Greg Freer, Katrina Kszekely, and David Zhang, it relies on living organisms to break down your leftovers and you can speed up the process by churning the contents using the handle on the side. It’s small enough to sit in the kitchen of a small, gardenless flat and your window boxes will love the ‘compost tea’ that collects at the bottom. We wouldn’t recommend drinking it yourself though.

research by architect paolo emilio cassandro