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Ceramic Houses

Q: Evaluate the role of experimentation in advancing earth architecture techniques.

Experimentation plays a crucial role in advancing earth architecture techniques by enabling the development and refinement of construction methods that balance tradition with innovation. Research has led to improvements in traditional adobe structures, enhancing their durability and resistance to natural elements such as water and earthquakes through the use of additives like straw, lime, and cement to protect against environmental degradation . Experimentation has also resulted in novel techniques such as the Superadobe/Superblock system, which employs sandbags and barbed wire to create sturdy and adaptable structures that can be built with locally available materials, reflecting a sustainable and accessible approach to construction . Additionally, the integration of ancient techniques with modern space-age technology, such as using ceramics and firing methods to produce durable and innovative structures, shows how experimentation continues to open new possibilities in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial contexts . These advancements demonstrate the potential for earth architecture not only to meet contemporary building needs but also to provide solutions for future habitats on other planets .

Q: How can earth architecture help address modern ecological and environmental challenges?

Earth architecture addresses modern ecological and environmental challenges by utilizing local, abundant materials like earth itself, which reduces the need for imported materials such as steel, cement, and plastic . This not only minimizes environmental degradation caused by material extraction and transportation but also aligns with the growing consciousness about ecology and sustainable practices. Furthermore, by using traditional techniques optimized with current technology, earth architecture can provide durable, weather-resistant structures that are energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly .

Q: How can earth-architecture techniques be adapted for constructing habitats on the Moon, and what advantages do they offer?

Earth-architecture techniques can be adapted for lunar habitats by leveraging existing lunar resources and employing methods such as corbelling, leaning-arches, and dry-packing, which are efficient under the Moon's low gravity and vacuum conditions . These techniques allow for larger span constructions and integration with the lunar environment without requiring extensive resources. The use of lunar soil and solar energy to create stabilizing fused surfaces and insulating materials addresses radiation and thermal protection, offering sustainable human habitation on the Moon .

Q: What challenges might arise when introducing earth architecture to communities reliant on modern building techniques, and how can they be addressed?

Challenges in introducing earth architecture to communities reliant on modern building techniques include misconceptions about its strength and durability, particularly against elements like water and earthquakes, which have historically been emphasized as vulnerabilities . Additionally, there's a widespread belief that modern materials like steel and concrete are superior, and modern engineering practices are better suited to withstand severe natural events . Another challenge is the lack of knowledge and skills in traditional building methods, as modern workers and builders are often trained in the use of contemporary materials and techniques . To address these challenges, there is a need to invest in research and development to improve earth architecture's durability, such as through the firing and glazing of earthen structures to increase their strength and resilience . Education and training programs can be established to disseminate the traditional knowledge of earth architecture, potentially attracting potters and ceramists as key players who can transfer their skills to more communities . Engaging local communities and adapting designs to cultural and environmental contexts is also crucial for acceptance and sustainability . Furthermore, integrating new technologies, such as those that enhance the waterproofing of earthen structures, can also help mitigate concerns about their susceptibility to weather conditions .

Q: Describe the integration process of modern and traditional construction methods in rebuilding community structures.

The integration of modern and traditional construction methods in rebuilding community structures involves using technologies like the Superadobe system, which combines ancient building techniques with contemporary innovations. This system uses sandbags and barbed wire, filled with earthen materials to construct permanent structures such as domes and vaults, which eliminate the need for conventional roofing and significantly reduce the use of timber by up to 95% . Superadobe enables the construction of self-supporting monolithic structures that are both cost-effective and environmentally sustainable . These methods are globally applicable and can be as simple as filling bags with local earth, making them accessible for people without skilled labor or heavy machinery . The Cal-Earth Institute has further advanced Superadobe by developing techniques suitable for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments, aligning traditional knowledge with modern engineering practices to meet contemporary building standards . This integration results in cost-effective and sustainable community structures that embody both the wisdom of traditional earthen architecture and the efficiency of modern technology .

Q: Analyze how local cultural practices can enhance the adoption of earth architecture in different communities.

Local cultural practices can significantly enhance the adoption of earth architecture by integrating ancestral knowledge and materials that are readily available and suited to the environment. Traditional materials such as straw, dung, rice fibers, and local clay, which have been used historically in many regions, can be employed to protect and construct earth buildings, thus preserving cultural heritage while meeting modern standards . Moreover, these practices often reflect a deep understanding of the local climate and geography, leading to designs that are naturally suited to withstand environmental challenges, such as the adaptation of adobe structures to desert climates with thick walls and labyrinthine streets to provide shade and direct airflow . By educating and empowering communities to use their traditional techniques, these practices not only preserve cultural identity but also provide sustainable, cost-effective, and ecologically friendly building solutions . The involvement of local craftsmen, such as potters, further enables communities to maintain and pass down these skills, ensuring that earth architecture remains a viable option . Thus, integrating these practices into modern earth architecture promotes sustainability and cultural continuity on a local level.

Q: In what ways does traditional pottery influence the development of modern earth architecture techniques?

Traditional pottery has significantly influenced the development of modern earth architecture by introducing techniques like firing and glazing, which help in enhancing the strength and durability of the structures. Concepts from traditional pottery, such as utilizing the universal elements of earth, water, air, and fire, are applied in modern earth architecture to create sustainable and robust housing solutions . The integration of these elements, particularly using fire to harden and glaze earthen structures, has led to innovations like ceramic houses, where the entire structure is fired to increase resilience against environmental conditions . This approach reflects a continuation and modernization of ancient building methods, adapting traditional craftsmanship to contemporary architectural needs .

Q: Discuss the historical and cultural significance of squinch and pendentive domes in earth architecture.

Squinch and pendentive domes hold significant historical and cultural importance in earth architecture due to their unique method of transitioning between different architectural forms and their adaptation to various cultural contexts. Squinches are architectural devices used at the corners of a square room to support an octagonal or spherical dome, created by corbelling or arching over the corners, seen prominently in Persian and Islamic architecture . Pendentives, on the other hand, are triangular sections of a sphere that provide a transition from a circular dome to a square base, most famously used in Byzantium's Hagia Sophia . These architectural forms illustrate the ingenuity in adapting architectural forms to cultural aesthetics and practical construction methods in historical societies, demonstrating the integration of art and engineering in architectural evolution.

Q: What are the advantages of using the "geltaftan" or "fired-earth" method in constructing adobe structures?

The "geltaftan" or "fired-earth" method provides several advantages in constructing adobe structures. Firstly, it enhances durability; fired structures are resistant to water, unlike unfired adobe that can disintegrate in wet weather . This allows integration of landscaping, such as planters or gardens, directly into the structure . Additionally, the firing process purifies the building, making it more hygienic by eliminating pests and diseases common in mud and adobe structures . Firing also increases the compressive strength of the adobe, making it more resistant to weathering and increasing its lifespan . Overall, a fired structure is less prone to erosion and can last for centuries, unlike traditional adobe buildings that are more vulnerable to environmental elements .

Q: Explain how firing adobe buildings is a viable technique for sustainable architecture and what precautions are necessary?

Firing adobe buildings is a sustainable technique because it transforms them into fire-resistant structures that endure harsh weather conditions and require minimal maintenance . This method eliminates the need for additional waterproofing or pest control measures. However, precautions are necessary to manage the fire during the process, such as ensuring experienced supervision to prevent structural collapse due to expansion and contraction during firing . Building isolation to prevent fire spread and adequate venting throughout the firing process is crucial to minimize risks .

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Ceramic Houses

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"In Ceramic Houses, internationally renowned architect Nader Khalili shows step-by-step

how to construct, glaze, and fire adobe and rammed earth buildings ... A fascinating text!"
- Ceramics Monthly

"His message-told in a haunting mix of prose and poetry, of memory and idealism-is
that we can teach the poor to build their own homes even though they have access to
nothing more than dirt and community kilns."
- The Fessenden Review

"Human need was the inspiration for this book. .. which attracts mainly by its simplicity
and the beauty of applying ideas."
-Manas

"This is an extraordinary work. Though very much the personal expression of an impas-
sioned visionary, Ceramic Houses is full of experiential advice, technical guidance, and
encouragement to those who would join the author in his search for cheap, durable, attain-
able housing for much of the world."
- Fine Homebuilding
,
iJ'~
..
•

fir ~ I ~~ ur~
How to Build Your Own

NADER KHALILI

~ Cal-Earth Press
Hesperia, California
~ Cal-Earth Press is the publishing wing of Cal-Earth Institute.
Cal-Earth (California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture) is dedicated to research
and education into the universal elements of Earth, Water, Air and Fire, their unity in
life - philosophy, poetry, and practice.

Books by the same author: Apprenticeship Film Series:

Racing Alone Making of a Dream
Sidewalks on the Moon Earth Turns to Gold
Rumi, Fountain of Fire Designing with Nature
Rumi, Dancing the Flame Natural Materials
Emergency Sandbag Shelter and Eco-Village Eco-Dome, Building a Small Home

Front cover photograph: interior of prototype three vaulted house constructed in New Cuyama, California, using
sprayed on natural materials. This building conforms to the United Nations minimum housing standards.
Back cover photographs: top, author: bottom, example of earth architecture, interior of Borujerdi residence,
Kashan, Iran. Photographs courtesy of the Geltaftan Foundation.

Persian language poem calligraphy by Ali Heidari.

Shell Membrane Theory Applied to Masonry Domes" by professor Zareh B. Gregorian has appeared in Art &
Architecture, (Iran) and is reprinted with permission. "Magma, Ceramic and fused Adobe Structures Generated
In Situ" was originally delivered at a NASA symposium "Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century".

CERAMIC HOUSES AND EARTH ARCHITECTURE

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in
the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

For information address: ~ Cal-Earth Press

10 177 Baldy Lane
Hesperia, CA 92345

website: www.calearth.org

First Published by Harper and Row 1986.

Second Publication by Burning Gate Press 1994. Cover design by Maria Jang.
Third Publication by Cal-Earth Press 1996.

EIGHTH PRINTING 2008

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 96-86446

ISBN 1-889625-01-9
This book is dedicated in the spirit of support
for the goal of the United Nations' International
Year of Shelter for the Homeless, 1987-that all
of the poor and disadvantaged of the world
, .'
(J',,; will be able to obtain a home by the year 2000.
Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi
if,';
The Beginning 1

PART 1. THE EVOLUTION 5

Chapter 1. A Tale of Two Communities: Boshrouyeh
and Taos 7
Chapter 2. Earth Architecture 15
Chapter 3. Geltaftan (Fired Structure)
Earth Architecture 23
Chapter 4. A Ceramic House - A Dream Come
True 39

PART 2. PHILOSOPHY AND

DESIGN PRINCIPLES 43
Chapter 5. The People's Architecture: Working
with Nature 45
Chapter 6. Structural Principles 57
Chapter 7. Basic Forms and Designs 63

PART 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES 65

Chapter 8. Appropriate Site, Appropriate Material 67
Chapter 9. Adobe 71
Chapter 10. Geltaftan (Fired-Earth) Adobe Mixture 77
Chapter 11. Adobe: Forms and Block-making 81
CONTENTS
Chapter 12. Foundations 87
Chapter 13. Walls 93
Chapter 14. How to Build Arches, Domes, and
Vaults 105
Chapter 15. RoofIng and Wall Covering 131
Chapter 16. Flooring, Interior Finishes, Openings
and Utilities 139

PART 4. FIRING AND CERAMIC

GLAZING 147
Chapter 17. Celtaftan: Firing Earth Structures 149
Chapter 18. Interior Design: Sculpting and Glazing 165
Chapter 19. Landscaping and Rehabilitation 173

PART 5. BEGINNING 177

Chapter 20. Model Making 179
Chapter 21. Visions for the Future 191

APPENDIX 195
Shell Membrane Theory Applied to
Masonry Domes 197
Magma, Ceramic, and Fused Adobe
Structures Generated in Situ 203
Building Codes 209
Glossary and Metric and U.S. Systems of
Weights and Measures 215
Index 219
PREFACE

There is an ever-present need for human shelter, especially for the poor.
The hopeful movements of the Third World peoples toward understand-
ing the importance of their own identities and indigenous ways; the en-
couraging words and actions of the Western world - especially the United
States-to use the earth, sun, wind, and natural forces; and the rise of
general world consciousness to learn these fundamentals; all have helped
make me feel a sense of urgency to share my experience, and to teach
what I have learned from others.
My main concern is architecture and the people who cannot afford
an architect, cannot afford manufactured building materials, cannot
afford anything but their own hands and the earth beneath their feet.
Anybody in this world should be able to build a shelter for his or her
family with the simplest of materials, available to all: the Elements-
Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. A family should be able to learn the tech-
niques, move to a piece of empty land, and then - with some water and
simple tools - build themselves a house using the earth under their feet.
That simple yet profound technology exists today. We have inherited it
from our ancestors and must learn how to use and improve on it.
To build a simple house we need not cut trees, weld steel, or buy
cement and plastic; in a great many cases the earth alone can suffice.
Today the big promises of technology as a cure-all are drifting in rhetori-
cal limbo. Much of the International Style and modem and postmodern
architecture is struggling to survive the test of time. There is a new con-
sciousness about the ecology, environment, energy, homelessness, and
other basic human issues. To deal with such vital issues effectively we
must first understand the fundamentals: the earth and the elements.
In this book I have tried first to talk about the fundamentals. These
are covered in the first two parts: "Evolution" details the last ten years
of our research with earth and fire and contains unpublished pictures
and sections related to my previous book Racing Alone. Following is "Phi-
losophy and Design Principles;' an exploration of basics of earth architec-

ix
ture. Parts three through fIve cover the design possibilities, technical
aspects, and "how-to" works, such as how to construct buildings using
earth as the only material. Although the information in this book is based
on the simplest forms of traditionally successful earth architecture, we
also explore new possibilities: fIring and glazing of the earth structures.
Even though fIring of kilns - some as large as small houses - has been
done in many parts of the world, fIring and glazing of buildings for hu-
man habitation is a new dimension in earth architecture. The step-by-
step making of clay models in Part 5, "Beginning:' can put earth struc-
ture techniques within the easy reach of young and old everywhere. We
can begin to learn at home and school. The fInal section, "Visions for
the Future:' shows how far we can take these timeless materials and time-
less principles.
The excitement about the earth and fIre possibilities has been so im-
mense in my heart that I could not wait to share my experience. There-
fore I beg forgiveness for not waiting until we had the necessary details
for a perfected system. We still need more experiments and tests, but by
sharing information about our works, I hope to draw on the knowledge
of the world community, especially in earth architecture and ceramics,
to help the idea move towards its perfection.
To create safe and beautiful shelters for large numbers of people, great
forces are needed. One of the greatest forces-ready and able-are pot-
ters and ceramists. Many regions of the world may not have a painter,
weaver, sculptor, jeweler, or even a musician; but there is almost always
a potter. The simple village potter who works with raw clay and dung-
fIre, the sophisticated ceramist who sculpts huge forms and glazes in
high-temperature fIre, and the millions in between are an untapped force
who can simultaneously lead and support the architects and builders,
while they realize their own arts in the body of a house. Many of these
artists are already making their ceramic pieces as large as small rooms;
then why not make the room itself?

Now the time has come to create a new scale in the

ceramic world, to walk out from the womb of a pot
to the space of a room.
Now the time has come to step back into history, and
touch our fathers who have touched the glaze,
to recapture their secrets of heavenly textures and
colors, but grow larger than their size,
to create, not only the little forms and shapes in
containers, but the spaces that contain us.
Now the time has come to create a ceramic glaze, a
china, a stoneware, not in the scale of our hands
but in the scale of our lives.*

*Nader Khalili, Racing Alone (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1983).
All quotations in this book not otherwise identifIed are from Racing Alone.

x CERAMIC HOUSES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ten years ago I changed the direction of my life to follow a quest.

The tangible results of that decade of search are a few unique struc-
tures and two books. The fIrst book, Racing Along, recounts the pro-
cess of my quest, and this one, Ceramic Houses, presents some of its
products.
The methods and products presented in this book are the result
of the work of many, many people. I am grateful for their genuine
support and inspiration, and ask forgiveness for not being able to in-
dividually include all their names here.
The models and the drawings of this book were prepared by my
talented and hard-working student Allessandra Runyon, and the
drawings have been brought to their fInal forms by my colleague
Ahde Lahti.
The Geltaftan Team: engineer Manuchehr Sedehi, Mahmoud
Hejazi, and Ezzatollah Salmanzadeh (then students of architecture,
and now architects), were the permanent members of our group to
the end. They worked with utmost dedication and spent hundreds
of hours of their time as volunteers in the harshest conditions. Ali
Gourang (Ali Aga), the 66-year-old traditional kiln operator and
ceramist whose knowledge and sense of humor kept us going, was
the fIrst potter in our team-indeed, in the world-to ftre and glaze a
house. Ostad Asghar, the village mason, undertook the construction
of the school, and he taught us his simple ways with earth architec-
ture. Aliakbar Khorramshahi has given great support to our program
at the Geltaftan Foundation and has participated in the research and
photographics expeditions. Parviz Taidi and Ezzatollah Salmanzadeh
participated in the expeditions and provided hundreds of slides and
photographs, some of which have been used in this book, but could
not be identifIed separately. Projects presented in the book were

xi
photographed by the author; the Boshrouyeh photos were provided
by E. Salmanzadeh; and the Kashan photos were provided by
P. Taidi.
My students at the Southern California Institute of Architecture
(SCI-ARC) have contributed their time and talent to further the re-
search in this work. Some of them have been named in the book in
relation to the projects. Native Americans of the Southwest in
general and the Institute of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, in particular have greatly supported and encouraged our
work. Dar-AI-Islam in Abiquiu, New Mexico, has always welcomed
me and my students. Some of the photographs used in this book
were taken at this complex, which was designed by Hassan Fathy,
the Egyptian architect.
The following publications in Persian and English were most help-
ful in my preparation of this book: Osul-e-Fanni Sakhteman, by Profes-
sor Mahmoud Maher-Alnaghs; Honar va Mimari magazines; articles
by Dr. Karim Pirnia, Asar publications; Tarikh-e-Mohandesi dar Iran, by
Dr. Mehdi Farshad; Sakht-e-Shahr va Mimari dar Eghlim-e-Garm va
Khoshk-e-Iran, by Professor Mahmoud Tavassoli; publications by
Freydoun Djoneydi, Bonyade Neychabour; The Architecture for the
Poor, by Dr. Hassan Fathy; Sense of Unity, by Nader Ardalan, ar-
chitect, and Laleh Bakhtiar; Adobe, Build It Yourself, by Paul Graham
McHenry, Jr., AlA; Kilns, by Professor Daniel Rhodes; articles by
Professor Mehdi Bahadori.
I would like to show my gratitude for the spirit of the friendship
and support shown for my work and words to SCI-ARC director Ray
Kappe, architect Moira Moser, Dr. Paolo Soleri, Professor Peter
Blake, publisher Clayton Carlson, architect Hasan-Uddin Khan, ar-
chitect Charles Correa, Dr. David Warren, Dr. Rena Swentzell, Lorna
BernaIdo, M.D., Professor Harry Van Oudenallen, Professor David
Stea, architect Arthur Erikson, Harry Kislevitz, James Danisch, Debra
Denker, Professor John Russell, Rose Marie Rabin, Ray Meeker,
Debrah Smith, Matts Myhrman, and my Native American student
and pal Tsosie Tsinhnahjinnie.
My wife, Shiva, and the other members of my family with their
love and devotion kept me happy and able to focus during all these
years. My son, Dastan, and my daughter, Sheefteh, have been spe-
cial inspirations for these dreamy years.

xii CERAMIC HOUSES

THE BEGINNING

There are twenty-two of us in this bus heading south toward the Navajo
reservation. We are a varied group. The students are Americans, Afri-
cans, Arabs, Armenians, Canadians, Cubans, Europeans, Indians, Ira-
nians, Asians, Pakistanis, South Americans, and a few mixed-blood
Turks, Russians, and others of the East and West; myself, myeight-year-
old son, and a ten-year-old sister of a student completes our unique desert
caravan. By pure chance we represent almost all continents of the world
and all major religions. Except for a student of economics and the two
children, they are all my architectural students. Their backgrounds in-
clude carpentry, painting, pottery, sculpture, engineering, auto mechan-
ics, music, writing, and other arts. Michael Winter (God bless his soul),
one of my American students, and myself are the only ones allowed to
drive the bus-and he does most of the driving. We are all bound together
by our dreams and the good earth. We are seeking, learning, and dream-
ing of the simplest and most beautiful form of human shelter, made by
human hands from the mother earth.
I have just returned from seven years of research and work in Iranian
desert villages, and this is my fIrst teaching work. The manuscript of my
desert odyssey is being read by the publisher while I am on this trip, con-
tinuing my earth architecture work halfway around the world.
At night we sleep under the open sky in our sleeping bags. During
the day we eat our lunch in the bus right out of the grocery bags. We sing
songs, argue, read books, or take naps. The Eastern women braid the
Western women's hair. As we climb higher, the two students from Cuba
and Pakistan experience snow for the fIrst time.
We explore many new ideas and experiences. We see the colossal nat-
ural arches and vaults on the Navajo reservation. We wonder why dome-
shaped buildings, called hogans, are male or female. We learn the wis-

1
dom of building pueblos with earth. We experience the great respect for
medicine men in traditional society that is resurfacing in our technolog-
ical society.
And we touch and test the earth everywhere-the great abundance
of the rich clay-earth, a forgotten wealth that could again create the most
beautiful homes for the Native Americans. We also see the destruction
of the land and culture by government policies and get-rich-quick
schemes: the slums built in the name of modern architecture; the social
agonies created in the name of civilization, abundance, and freedom;
the sufferings in most Third World countries. But the rich earth, the
wilderness, and the beautiful cultures keep us going with good feelings
and great hopes.
Tsosie, my Navajo-Seminole student, is taking us to his family on the
reservation. We arrive late at night, but his family is waiting for us. His
mother cooks for everybody, and the twelve women crowd into the small
kitchen trying to help. After a few minutes his relatives and friends join
us, and the room is packed with many enthusiastic souls.
Late that night, after dinner, I ask Tsosie's father if he could oblige us
by showing his paintings. He accepts happily. We all sit on the floor, over
thirty people in one room, while my boy and the little girl fall asleep on
our laps. The proud and husky father, a striking figure with his long grey
hair and turquoise jewelry, stands up and shows some of his paintings.
We are awed by the beautiful colors and intriguing interpretations of his
culture through the blazing suns, earth, warriors, dancers, coyotes, and
horses-the turquoise horses.
We are tired, but we don't want the evening to end. Three of the Na-
tive Americans fetch their drums, and the evening comes alive again.
The children wake up and the sound of drums and singing echoes into
the night.
We stay in the local high school for a few days and later go to the com-
munity college and participate in the Native American Folk Festivals. I
am invited to give a slide lecture and hands-on clay workshop with my
Native American student. Men, women, children, and my own students
building many clay models-domes, hogans, interpretations of Native
American pottery and glazing techniques and the native Iranian dome
structure. Kisses and hugs and tearful eyes radiate joy. The sound of
drums, folk dance, the earth and fire fuse our many colors and cultures
into one. A local priest comes forward after my lecture, takes his holy
cross from his neck, and puts it around my neck. He is touched by my
talk and I am touched by his gesture, and as we hug I know I am doing
right. That night he takes us to another priest, Father Tom, a wonderful
man living in an old mission. We too stay up late and pour our hearts
out to each other. Our group-a Franciscan priest, a Muslim architect,
and the students representing Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastri-
anism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Native American religions - sits in an
old mission at the heart of the reservation, carrying on conversations that

2 CERAMIC HOUSES
radiate rays of joy and hope. I give the priest my manuscript of Racing
Alone. He stays up late and reads it, and later sends me a wonderful poem
he had written that night about the importance of racing alone:

There is a time for a few

when straining with and against
(grade school buddies
for a mark or prize or popularity
or affirmation,
partners in adulthood
for wealth or position or time
or recognition)
is no longer of great import.
From hurt leading to introspection,
others' pain begging compassion,
anxiety calling forth re-evaluation,
For whatever reason or feeling,
Stepping aside from the track
or just slowing down.
The straining against becomes being for
And the price of doing with less
is paid for the freedom of
racing alone.

On our travels we share ourselves, our cultures, our ideas, and experi-
ence true learning. I even dream of starting a caravan school, moving
the world over. Many of us corne back from this trip wiser and more de-
termined to walk the path that leads to people, the earth, the elements.
The ideas that follow are the result of ten years of searching, writing, lec-
turing, building, and experiencing that path.
Before we begin learning how to build with the elements, I fIrst must
try to answer a few questions put to me by my heart, my students, and
above all the people I have met and learned from. Thus I must start with
my simple dastan, my tale.

THE BEGINNING 3
1
Earth, air, fire, and
water are obedient creatures,

•
they are dead to you and me,
but alive at God's presence.
-Rumi
P·A·R·T

The
tr;J Evolution
•

•
A TALE OF TWO COMMUNITIES:
BOSHROUYEH AND TAOS

Here is a community called Boshrouyeh in the desert of Iran. Here is

another community, a pueblo called Taos in the New Mexico desert. The
two societies are on opposite sides of the world. They know nothing of
each other's existence. Two entirely different cultures, religions, races,
and color of skins - and yet, spiritually and physically, their architecture
is similar.
The living pattern of each is generated by the people's spirit and the
environment. Both look inward - Boshrouyeh around the courtyard, and
Taos around the nansipu and plaza. Their orientation towards the sun
and the wind is based on the same intuitive logic of living in harmony
with nature. Earth, the main building material, is the most available and
suitable insulation against the harsh desert environment. Neither com-
munity is built to last forever, even though both follow the philosophy
of permanence - that is, to live in harmony with the permanent natural
forces. The earth buildings in Taos symbolize the "rising-from-the-
ground" spirit; those in Boshrouyeh represent "dust-to-dust;' the return-
to-the-earth spirit.
Both peoples have built with the highest intuitive design sense, creat-
ing the most compact structures using the maximum common walls and
minimum exposure to the outside; in the same way, nature builds its
structures using the minimum material for the maximum space.
Both communities use curved forms, Boshrouyeh for its roofs and Taos
for its bread ovens. Taos had the timber of the trees and thus chose the
flat roof; Boshrouyeh had only the earth and thus developed the curved
form to its furthest limits. Taos used the trees to build ladders, and
climbed to the higher flat roofs for safer and better living; and Boshrouyeh
built taller and thicker walls for safer and cooler desert life.
The only messengers traveling from one community to the other were

7
1.1 Boshrouyeh, Iran.

the sun, the moon, and the wind; and the only riches common to each
society were the earth, the other elements, and human intuition. Both
communities have served their people for centuries, and even today-
technology notwithstanding-they remain the most suitable design
solution for their environments.
Why, then, are we trying to break the adobe* walls and roofs of
Boshrouyeh to replace them with steel, glass, and plastic? Why do we
want to conquer Taos with cheap mobile homes and tract houses? Are
we, so-called progressive humans now- a thousand years later-growing
senile? Why is it so difhcult for us to keep building simple, yet profoundly
appropriate architecture?
Our messengers, the sun, the moon, and the wind, are still moving
the same route; and the earth and elements are still as abundant as before.
They haven't changed; we have. We must have taken a wrong turn in
history and gone astray. The rationalizations we offer- today's more

* See the Glossary at the end of this book fo r definitions of boldface terms.

8 CERAMIC HOUS E S
1.2 Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.

complex socioeconomic problems, larger population, and demands for

more comfort and 'better quality of life'~ are no justifIcation for our mis-
placed values. Even if we disregard the lessons of history and view the
past as old and decayed, at least we should believe our own "modern"
logic, which shows that such communities as Boshrouyeh and Taos have
chosen the most appropriate design and material for their environment,
and could easily be built today. Instead of desperately producing and
pushing new materials and designs, shouldn't we be working on the right
concepts of economics and the 'better quality of life"?
The very least we can do is to raise our level of knowledge and con-
sciousness to safeguard such communities until the "modern" world
catches up with them. And if we are to use our technology to teach, then
we can also learn from Boshrouyeh and Taos instead of from our factories
and our salesmen.
I would like to share with you my knowledge of Boshrouyeh, in
particular, to point out ways we can continue and improve on the best
traditions of architecture.

A TALE OF TWO COMMUNITIES: BOSHROUYEH AND TAOS 9

The small town called Boshrouyeh sits near the edge of the Dasht-e-Kavir
A TYPICAL DESERT
desert in Iran. Its typical, indigenous architecture, which has evolved
COMMUNITY
over centuries, is created from the earth . Its forms and solutions live in
harmony with nature instead of seeking to dominate it, as we do today.
Through the centuries Boshrouyeh has had to cope with a harsh
environment - hot winds, storms, scorching sun, snow and freezing ice,
hot days and chilly nights. Instead of trying to fIght these severe condi-

1.3 Private residence with wind catchers,

Boshrouyeh, Iran.

10 CERAMIC HOUSES
tions with air conditioning, steel, or concrete, the people of the town have
used the available materials to create a pleasant atmosphere. Wind
catchers cool the buildings with the wind; skylights cut out the glare
of the sun and bring in the light.
The people of Boshrouyeh have learned exactly how to build wind
catchers and how to orient them so that their backs are to the harsh and
hot wind of the desert but they bring in the breeze. These wind catchers
cool the house for the entire life of the building. The wind may be used
just as it is; or it may be brought down through the basement or passed
over a small pool and fountain or even wet bushes, to create an evapora-
tive cooling system.
Unfortunately, many of these ancient wind catchers have been re-
placed by big and inefficient water coolers. Unlike them, however, the
wind catchers work on many levels-as exhaust systems, as wind sup-
pliers, as orientation towers, and as beautifully sculpted forms.
The courtyard is another important architectural element. The shade
side is used in the summer, and the sunny side in the winter. These wind
catchers and courtyards embody the philosophy of living with what is
offered by nature.

The whole town of Boshrouyeh, like hundreds of other towns and vil-
THE PHILOSOPHY OF
lages, is built with walls and labyrinthine alleys that break the wind and PERMANENCE
cast shadows. Let's explore one element-the wall. What is a wall? How
is a wall perceived by Eastern cultures? Walls of the type we fmd in
Boshrouyeh could be built by two people using a single shovel and some
water. For kilometers they could continue to build the ground up into
a wall 1 to 8 meters (3 to 25 feet*) tall, using nothing but the earth. We
may ask, "What is the advantage of building walls? What is the use of
so much wall?"
If we look at the West and its literature, we can see that it has always
tried to tear down the walls. "Don't fence me in," as in the American folk
songs or the beautiful poems of Robert Frost: "Something there is that
doesn't love a wall ... :'
But in the East, walls have an entirely different meaning. The Persian
word hamsayeh is like hamdel- with the same prefIx - which means two
people who are very close to each other, or are united in heart, and sayeh
meaning shade. Neighbors are called hamsayeh, people who share the
shade of the same wall.
So a neighborhood starts with a wall, united in shade. Each side can
take advantage of the shade - one in the morning and the other in the
afternoon. In the East a wall is built to break the wind, to create privacy,
and to have the shade.

* Measurements given in parentheses are approximations of metric measurements. A metric

table is included in the Appendix.

A TALE OF TWO COMMUNITIES: BOSHROUYEH AND TAOS 11

1.4 An abandoned , two-century-old ice
reserve system , rehabilitated with the help
of the last generation of ice makers by the
I have built a wall in the desert.
Geltaftan Group in Rey, near the city of
Tehran . The mud-pile wall (chineh) is con- A tall wall.
structed from the soil dug out of the adja- A wall fIve knees high.
cent ditch . The wall casts a shadow on the It is casting a cool shadow on the scorching land.
north side over the ditch and in the winter,
when the ditch becomes filled with rain The walls grow much faster than trees here and give better
and snow water, ice layers are collected in shade for less water.
the shade of the wall. Ice blocks, cut and With a thousand buckets of water I can build a tall wall to
floated over the water, pass through an
access opening in the wall and are
give me shade for a thousand years. Each bucket of
dumped into a covered underground pit water in exchange for a year of shade.
on the south side of the wall. And the earth of the wall is the token of land.

These same walls give the city ice in the summer by making ice and
protecting it in the shade in the winter. Here's how it's done. In the win-
ter, they would hll the shallow ditch on the shady side of the wall with
water; and every night or cold day, as the tall wall would always create
shade and cool breeze, there would form a small layer of ice. Every few

12 CERAMIC HOUSES
CROSS SECTION

ICE PIT 1.5 Partial

(YAKH-CHAL)

days they would collect it into blocks. Two people, each one with a
3.5-meter (12-foot) hook, would stand one on each side of the ditch to
break the ice and float the blocks over the water into the pit. The under-
ground pit (which is around 8 meters [25 feet] deep and the same dis-
tance wide, and sometimes over 30 meters [100 feet] long) would be fIlled
up with tens of thousands of tons of free ice or snow. It would then be
closed and left for the summer, or even for the next summer.
This is a wonderful example of the use of the fundamental and per-
petual elements of nature, designing with permanence, and using an
appropriate technology.* This is real recycling of energy.
In modern societies, one of our most expensive uses of energy is for
cooling or making ice. To make heat we can just start a fire; but for ice
we need to make electricity and create the equipment, and then use the
electricity and the equipment to get ice or cool air. But the people of
Boshrouyeh were using an energy source that is free and abundant:
Instead of using the energy of the sun, they used the energy that exists
in the shade of the sun.
Today we can utilize this ancient ice technology to make cold storage
houses that don't use electricity or freezers, or for a building cooling sys-
tem. A similar system that utilizes the potential energy of ice is currently
being developed at Princeton University. I think they could take a short-
cut by visiting and talking to the people of Boshrouyeh. Just think of it-

*Qanats, the main water irrigation system in Iran, have been in use for several thou-
sand years_ This very simple system of underground canals brings in water for miles from
higher ground, where water is available, and lets it flow to the surface. A distance as long
as from here to the moon of these canals is still working in the country today. Each one
is built for permanence, and many have flowed for over a thousand years. Our modern
deep-well pumps, on the other hand, give us trouble every few months and can dry up
the reserves or lower the water level. Qanats also generate communities that grow ac-
cording to the water afforded by nature, rather than according to forced and variable wa-
ter pump supplies.

OF TWO COMMUNITIES: BOSHROUYEH AND TAOS 13

cities like Chicago, Tehran, Paris, or New York could take all the snow
and ice that creates problems in the streets during the winter and pre-
serve it to cool their buildings in the summer!
Thus we can see what walls can do. So many towns have been built
with these walls. Some of the walls are 300 meters (1000 feet) long; six
of them have two ice pits. That would give maybe twenty thousand peo-
ple enough ice for the summer. In Part 3 we discuss the techniques of
how to build mud-pile walls and how to reserve ice.
Now this is what happened with the coming of industrialization:
Modern architecture started in Tehran by tearing down the walls, as a
symbol of progress and Westernization. This was the beginning of what
was "modern:' And once we tear down the walls, we tear down the whole
culture that goes with them. The privacy, the shade, the windbreak. Then
we come to rely on ice-making machines rather than the eternal walls-
the temporary and expensive rather than the free and permanent.
The high-rises are built right on the sites of the old walls. These high-
rises fIt none of the criteria necessary to justify them. They are more
expensive, harder on city services, and create land speculation. But I don't
want to talk about these problems. I want to talk about the good things,
like the earth.

14 CERAMIC HOUSES
•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R ~
EARTH ARCHITECTURE

We can build a home using nothing but earth, either by making adobe
or just piling up clay. Adobe is a sun-dried block made of earth. With
this adobe and the knowledge of how to build arches, domes, and vaults,
we can construct a building. We don't need steel, we don't need concrete,
we don't need any manufactured materials or even timber to cover a roof.
There are many examples around the world to show us the strength of
these local materials and techniques. One of the main reasons for the
invention of arched forms was the lack of timber. The necessity created
the form.
Anybody can learn to build arches, vaults, and domes. Hassan Fathy,
the great Egyptian architect and the pioneer of modern adobe architec-
ture, learned from local masons and started building and teaching how
to build these forms several decades ago. We can build with small pieces
of material such as adobe, instead of large members such as timber or
steel. Even with small pieces of rock we can create structures that will
last hundreds of years.
A dome starts from the four corners of a square room. We cover up
the room very simply, without using a form, by leaning small adobe bricks
on top of each other. The system is appropriate for many parts of the
world. In places where people are struggling to get lumber, steel, or simi-
lar materials to cover their roofs, techniques such as these are ideal.
It is also simple to learn to build a vault. We start by building a lean-
ing arch from one end and continue building rows of leaning arches. The
simple spans of around 3 to 4 meters (10 to 14 feet) could be learned - by
ordinary people, and, of course, larger spans can be built by master
masons.
Some engineers may argue that we really cannot use adobe and clay
beyond a very short span, or beyond the elastic limit of these materials.

15
1.6 Adobe blocks are used as the form-
work for an adobe arch and removed
afterwards. Yet very large adobe spans are still standing after five hundred years. Why
is there such a dichotomy? Because technology give us only piecemeal
knowledge of individual materials, rather than the relationship of the
elements in nature.
With that same earth, that same clay, we can build many forms . We
can build many forms for many functions, without using any equipment,
tools, or form work. Look at this window, the lintel arch. See how it is
formed? Adobe has become its own form work.
The issue of passive heating and cooling is very popular today. Here
too, the arched roof deals with the sun very efficiently. A flat roof is
exposed to the sun all day long. But a curved roof always has a shade
zone and a sun zone, which creates two different temperatures and thus
a draft.
I have seen some interesting examples of what happens to these adobe
or mud-pile buildings after a disaster. Many of the houses built by the
government were of concrete and had flat steel roofs. But the people tore
some of these roofs down and built arched adobe roofs themselves. They
said it was cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Very simple
logic-and yet it was not understood by the technocrats.

16 CERAMIC HOUSE S
Many of these beautiful old earth structures are sliced right through
to create parking lots and boulevards. The officials involved have no idea
as to how these traditional forms were constructed or used. Just for the
sake of progress, the old must be destroyed to open room for the new
and so-called modern!

Towns and villages built with earth are not without problems. Sometimes EARTHQUAKES AND
an earthquake destroys an entire town. The town of Tabas in Iran suffered EARTH ARCHITECTURE
an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale. Practically the only
things left standing were rug frames and gates. But then, the modern
concrete and steel structures were also destroyed.
Now I am not saying that we cannot build steel or concrete structures
that can withstand earthquakes. I have been involved in designing and
building many standard earthquake-proof buildings in California. What
I am saying is that, to several hundred thousand towns and villages in
the world - to 65,000 villages in Iran alone - we will never be able to take
architects, engineers, steel welders, concrete. With the going rate of build-
ing, it would take thousands of years to do that in Iran alone.
What happened to the steel frame building in the Tabas earthquake
was this: Plenty of steel was used, but the workers in most cases did not
know how to weld it. So the whole thing collapsed. That applies to many
of the high-rises in the modern cities of the Third World. Buildings are
professionally designed and stresses calculated by computers, but they
are welded by kids who can barely stick one piece of steel to the other.
The material alone has no meaning; it must have the appropriate tech-
nology to work.
We cannot buy the technology in the marketplace, as we buy a bag
of cement or a piece of steel. Once a technology is imported or exported,
its implementation in the new place becomes very important. When we
talk about appropriate technology, we also mean the people involved in
its implementation.
It is also necessary to differentiate between a ''big'' earthquake and
just any earthquake. Every year hundreds of shocks pass through the
adobe buildings of the world. They either ride out the shocks safely or
develop cracks, which are promptly repaired with mud. It is only when
a "big one" hits that the disaster starts. And a big one is what they had
in Tabas. Comparing the 7.7 magnitude of Tabas with the 6.4 quake in
the San Fernando Valley, California in 1971, we can see how destructive
both are, regardless of construction techniques. But at Tabas, the old brick
water reservoirs, several of them over a century old, withstood the earth-
quake; the modern buildings did not. Many adobe and mud structures,
especially those with domes, also resisted well.
The argument about the vulnerability of earth architecture to earth-
quake is one of the greatest weapons used against it. Even though no
one can deny the low seismic resistance of adobe structure, the argument

EARTH ARCHITECTURE v
itself is more destructive than the earthquake. And instead of improv-
ing on its seismic resistance, almost all efforts are directed to replacing
adobe with manufactured materials. There are many fIles, studies, and
reports by architects and engineers who have studied the aftermath of
the great earthquakes in the mud villages of Iran. Almost all of them point
to the survival of the domed brick or adobe structures, and to how they
could be the right solution (especially in the harsh climates) if their struc-
tures were strengthened. Official reports also tell how some of the newly
constructed concrete structures failed the concrete core test, since the
compressive strength of concrete was weaker than that of adobe. The
construction workers didn't know how to mix the concrete. Many
prefabricated steel and concrete housing projects have been put up in
a hurry after disasters, but many people ended up using the prefab boxes
for their animals. They then built their own buildings with familiar
materials and familiar spaces.
But many such points are completely ignored. Reports are left to gather
dust, while the technocrats keep prescribing steel and concrete and press-
ing people in a struggle to fmd a piece of this or a bag of that. I made
the following observation after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Tabas.

To complete the Tabas episode, I decide to take the twenty-

hour bus ride back to Tehran. It will give enough time to
brainstorm with myself and to complete my notes on my
thoughts. The bus passes by many villages and thousands
of adobe and clay buildings with their vault and dome
roofs hugging the horizon. What keeps my mind occupied
more than anything else is the damage of the earthquake
in this country; not the damage done by the tremor alone,
but that done by the specialists. Every time a quake hits, it
becomes happy days for the technocrats, the housing min-
isters' advisors, and the cement and steel merchants. They
keep attacking the traditional architecture, the "unedu-
cated local masons and builders," and the lack of govern-
ment control on construction. They create such fears in the
hearts of the officials that for a long time the officials don't
dare to touch anything without these advisors' sanction.
The man in the village goes through hell and fIre to put to-
gether enough money to buy steel beams and bricks. To
construct brick walls with mud mortars, to build a steel
beam roof sitting on shaky support, to use huge lintels for
a giant window facing the sun, and to mount a gigantic
water cooler on top of the flat roof to fIght the desert sum-
mer. The whole work is nothing but a mockery for a cul-
ture that has boasted of the ingenuity of its native
architecture for centuries.
The myth of the earthquake-proof structures created by
the specialists and the government advisors should be un-
covered. Sixty-fIve thousand villages of Iran will wait for

18 CERAMIC HOUSES
1.7 In San Fernando Valley, California, an
earthquake of 6.4 on the Richter scale
damages beyond repair a newly con-
structed, all-concrete hospital (1971).

1.8 In Tabas, Iran, an earthquake of 7.7

on the Richter scale destroys most steel ,
concrete, masonry, and adobe buildings
(1978) .

3,000 years if they are hoping to be rebuilt with these tech-

nocrats'recipes:
'All structures should be built with steel and concrete to
become earthquake proof. Government should not invest
in any type of building that does not follow the seismic
code, neither should it let the people do so."
I write down these notes in agreement with them: Yes,
all the new buildings in 65,000 villages and small towns of
Iran should be built as they say, but only-
If there are enough engineers to design them.
If the engineers would be ready to leave their comforts
in a city and go to the villages to supervise.

EARTH ARCHITECTURE 19
1.9 In the Tabas earthquake, the steel-
frame structure, shown on the previous
page, fails within a hundred feet of several If there are roads to these villages.
adobe domes and vaults such as this, If there are enough supplies of imported cement and
which withstand the shock. Most large-
steel after the building of dams and infrastructures.
span domed underground water reser-
voirs built with masonry also survived . If these materials could withstand the scorching heat
and freezing cold'weather to make life bearable.
If steel and cement are not used as the symbols of
wealth by well-to-do families to reinforce the social classes
of richer and poorer people.
If they would be accepted by the villages.
And if all these were possible, and we were able to re-
place all native buildings with the so-called modern and
earthquake-proof buildings, at the end we would have
nothing but a disaster: the loss of a wealth of culture and
tradition.
It is amazing how blind these specialists and govern-
ment advisors are to seeing that every time a large quake
hits, all their "modern" buildings are leveled as well, and
all that is left, if there is anything, are domed clay or brick
traditional buildings, more of which will last if some im-
provements are made on their materials and techniques.
But the advisors have access to the media and the offices of
the decision makers, and they have thick books, in foreign
languages, to prove their authority beyond the shadow of
any doubt.

20 CERAMIC HOUSES
If we compare earthquakes, floods, fIres, and other disasters around
the world, including automobile accidents, we can get a better perspec-
tive on how "right" it is to abandon earth architecture because of its short-
comings. Wood construction in America and other parts of the world
should be totally abandoned because of its vulnerability to fIre, and the
immeasurable loss of life and property it causes. Automobiles, which
probably bring more deaths and injuries than earthquakes, fIres, and all
other natural disasters put together, should also be abandoned. Out of
a yearly average of ninety thousand deaths by accidents in the United
States, around &fty thousand people are killed in auto accidents alone.
There is no great effort to abandon wood construction or the automo-
bile in the West, but the Third World is willing to abandon earth architec-
ture. "Modern" thought says it is more logical to fInd fIreproofIng
protections for wood construction and safer design for cars and roads.
The main factor is the "profIt motive." Earth architecture could not be
as easily sold to people as wood, steel, or cars.
But as the Western world discovers the great advantages of earth
architecture, and invests in it and improves on it (some of the new
changes in local adobe building codes point in this direction) it will not
be long before the Third World must start buying its own traditional con-
struction techniques from the West - either improved, or just presented
in more glamorous ways. The Third World now has an unprecedented
opportunity to invest in research and thus improve its own appropriate
earth architecture, rather than run wild to imitate the already discarded
industrialized ways. The authorities in the developing world must de-
mand that their architects, engineers, and researchers come up with earth
architecture that is safe, affordable, hygienic, and beautiful.

Water may be even more destructive to earth architecture than earth-

WATER AND EARTH
quakes. Plain wet weather is the major enemy of buildings built with ARCHITECTURE
earth. A big earthquake is like a raging war, while water is like a chronic
disease. Earthquakes get the big headlines, just like plane crashes; but
except when it becomes a flood, water is a quiet killer.
The inherent strength of an adobe arch, dome, or vault becomes zero
when the material is wet. These strong structures become liabilities when
they start melting in the water. If an earth building is not well protected,
it will fall apart with rain or snow.
Straw and dung, rice fIbers, animal blood, egg yolks, oil, stones, ce-
ramics, lime, cement, asphalt emulsion, and chemicals are among the
materials used to protect earth buildings in different parts of the world.
Even today, when new materials have flooded the market, we can build
and protect earth buildings against rain and snow using traditional
materials and traditional ways. However, new ways to improve the qual-
ities of the materials and techniques could set new traditions if the basic
philosophy of earth architecture is followed.
Water, like the other universal elements earth, air, and fIre, is both con-

EARTH ARCHITECTURE 21
1.10 Snow and rain have destroyed most
of the houses built with adobe in this vil-
lage in Iran.

structive and destructive. When in equilibrium with the other elements,

water can create balance. The water that destroys the strong structures
of earth could also help create landscapes integrated into the building,
or help to cool interior spaces.
The concept of four elements is simple, yet crucial. For example, to
a ceramic bowl, which includes three elements (earth, air, and &re) water
is a welcome addition. Each element enhances the other, none destroys
the other.
In a word, what we lack in our earth architecture may be the fourth
element, &reo Fire can bring about an equilibrium with the earth, water,
and air. And that thought led me to search for an answer.

22 CERAMIC HOUSES
• C·H·A·P·T·E·R ~
GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE)
----.~--~---

EARTH ARCHITECTURE

Midway in my life I stopped racing with others. I picked up

my dreams and started a gentle walk.
My dreams were of a simple house, built with human
hands out of the simple materials of this world: the
elements - Earth, Water, Air and Fire.
To build a house out of earth, then £Ire and bake it in
place, fuse it like a giant hollow rock.
The house becoming a kiln, or the kiln becoming a
house.
Then to glaze this house with £Ire to the beauty of a ce~
ramie glazed vessel.
I touched my dreams in reality by racing and competing
with no one but myself.

It started £Irst as an inspiration, and then became a dream: to create

human shelter out of the four universal elements.
Right in the middle of the building boom in Iran, I folded my successful
architectural practices in Tehran and California, bought a motorcycle, and
drove out to the desert. I was ready to give up many times during the
£Ive years of searching, but too many forces had power over me: God,
the search for a meaning in life, deep enjoyment of being involved with
common people, hunger for knowledge, my strong educational back-
ground in the East and the West, determination, and probably fate. It
took £Ive years of struggle mixed with joy-the national revolution mixed
with my own inner peace, but always the intensity of the quest- before
I touched the £Irst results as buildings, and seven years before I saw my
odyssey in print.
When I sat in my workshop at the edge of the desert - three mud walls
and a tent cover- I was burning with my dreams. I also had a great love

23
and respect for the native architecture-not the grand monuments, but
the people's architecture, particularly those built with earth alone. I
started making clay models, copying the existing forms and experiment-
ing with new shapes. With a boy as my assistant, a village family as my
neighbors, and lots of time, life was molding me as I was molding the clay.
We built clay models for imaginary, but ideal situations. We built a
room model on a sand foundation, fused it with fIre, and let the "earth-
quake" shake it as much as it could. We separated our building from the
ground rather than anchoring into it. We made small models towards
the assembly-line production of building single-vault forms that could
be carried to the site and arranged in various combinations. We explored
building a house, a school, or any other complex with monolithic vaults.
We created a model &red wind tower, which could also collect heat
through a solar collector sculpted over it . The clay forms with sawed
flower-pot windows and sculpted interior shelves and spaces and many
other experiments were encouraged by the &ring process. We learned
that once a sculpture, a room, or a building is &red, a new phenomenon
is created!
After a year of work I discovered master craftsmen working with clay
who were many, many years ahead of what I was trying to do. There was
Nasser Aga, the man who was making huge bread ovens, that looked
like small rooms. They had 4-centimeter- (11f2-inch-) thick walls and,
when dried could be carried to another town on a truck bed for several
hours without cracking. There was Ali Aga, the kiln operator and ce-
ramist, who could tell what temperature a &re was just by looking at it.
I began to learn their techniques and expand our earth architecture
experiments.

1.11 Large-size bread ovens made of

clay-straw or clay-dung mixtures.
Tehran , Iran.

24 CERAMIC HOUSES
The major problem was how to build a room and put it in a kiln, or
build a house and then construct a kiln around it. I started searching for
£Iring systems and kilns around the world, but I found my answer right
where I was, in the fork of a desert village road. There is a Persian poem
that says:

aab dar koozeh a rna teshneh laban rnigardirn

yar dar khaneh a rna gerde jahan rnigardirn
(Water is in the jar but we go around thirsty, the sweetheart
is in the house but we search for one around the world.)

In the West we would say, "Diamonds are in your own back yard:'
The system I came across was this: Make sun-dried adobe blocks, pile
them up in a circular form, like a tower, 100,000 or more blocks, and start
a £Ire in the tunnel under the tower. Simple. No kiln. One-centimeter-
(3fs-inch- ) thick mud-straw plaster covering the outside perimeter works
as the kiln. The £Ire penetrates all the way to the outside and bakes all
the blocks. I realized we could bake our houses just like this, £Ired from
inside out! The building becomes its own kiln. Adobe block walls and
roofs have no vertical mortar, and thus £Ire can penetrate to the outside
plaster covering. Pictures and explanations of this no-kiln system are
given in Part 4.

Our £Irst chance to implement this technique came to us not as a new

A TYPICAL VILLAGE
construction, but as a rehabilitation work of a village's old housing. This EXPERIMENT
village, Ghaleh Mo£Id, was typical of thousands across Iran and neigh-
boring countries - houses built for farmers and their animals from the
earth alone, dug out from the site. The sixty families who used to live
in this village either left or were harmed by cave-ins of the mud roofs.
Twelve were two-room houses still standing, and twenty-£Ive were par-
tially or totally ruined.
The twelve families living in the surviving houses became our clients.
These clients had no money to give us; they could only afford part of
their time and the abundant earth around the village. They were also
ready with their prayers and their bread and yogurt, to help us do our
work. And except for one or two who stayed suspicious as a matter of
habit, we had the fortune of winning everyone else's trust and coopera-
tion. Our small budget came partially from the new provincial govern-
ment and a private organization, and partially from our own pockets.
Ghaleh Mo£Id, like many other small villages, is almost unknown to
outsiders. The typical house was built with a single-vault roof and a low
partition in the middle to divide the one room into two; there were no
living room or bedroom divisions. In this part of the world, the rooms
are not divided into living rooms, bedrooms, and dining rooms. All rooms
are for living, sleeping, or dining; they are built smaller or larger. There

GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE) EARTH ARCHITECTURE 25

was no electricity or plumbing. The village houses were infested with
vermin and mice, and even the drinking water was contaminated.
We approached our work with a philosophy we religiously tried to
adhere to: We would make no compromises in our quest for the simplest
and most basic solutions-solutions that would employ materials and
techniques that could be used anywhere in the country. We were also
hoping to reach out to similar bare-minimum-existence villages in other
parts of the world.
We found a local mason who repaired the damage done by rain and
snow, and helped get the fIrst house ready to be fIred. He cut a few vent
holes and a fIre-pit under the direction of yet another local man, who
had the native knowledge of how to fIre brick or ceramic kilns. We took
out the door and the window of the house and built a mortarless tem-
porary adobe partition in the openings.
At this point, an amazing idea presented itself to me. The house it-
self was becoming a kiln; and if we could fIll this kiln with sun-dried
adobe blocks, tiles, water jars, and flower pots, we could fIre and bake
them along with the house. Then we could use the products for court-
yards and walls, or sell them in the marketplace. Thus the house could
become a producer as well as a consumer of building materials. And if
the process is done right, then every time that we fIre a building we can
bake brick, tile, pottery, and ceramic products with it; sell the products;
and pay for the house. The dream of making no-cost housing instead
of low-cost housing with earth architecture could become a reality. We
discovered that every time a conventional pottery kiln is fIred, around
two-thirds of the fuel is wasted in baking and rebaking the structure it-
self. In a simple calculation, we determined that with the wasted fuel
of a modem brick kiln we could build and fIre several thousand two-room
houses - because in this process every time we fIre the kiln, we keep the
kiln as our house.
First we fIred one of the houses in the row of old dwellings. This house
was damaged and was only used as storage. Our team fIred and fInished
only two of the village houses, as prototypes, and the villagers did the
other ten structures on their own. They used the same equipment for
the fIring, but paid for the fuel and replastering from the budget given
them by the governor's office. Each house used the equivalent of $52*
in kerosene to fIre its two-room, approximately 30-square-meter
(300-square-foot) area.
Our team, the Geltaftan Group, consisted of a kiln operator (Ali Aga),
two architectural students (Mahmood and Ezzat), an engineer (Sedehi),
and myself. The mason (Ostad Ghodrat), my young sister (Nahid, a social
worker), and others also participated. The villagers and other volunteer
workers were all behind the success of the simple, yet important work
we were involved in: the fIring of an old adobe house.

* All dollar figures are in U.S. dollars.

26 CERAMIC HOUSES
1.12 The door and the window are re-
moved and the openings closed temporar-
ily by adobe blocks without mortar. The
two-room house, which has become a kiln ,
contains clay products to be fired along
with the structure.

1.13 One of the two homemade gravity-

flow kerosene burners used for all the
firings in the village of Ghaleh Mofid.

GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE) EARTH ARCHITECTURE 27

THE FIRST FIRING Our fIring technique and equipment consisted of the basic kerosene
gravity-flow system used and tested by native potters and kiln operators.
The steel burner was made of two pieces of sawed pipe welded together,
with an air sandwich between them. It was built by a local blacksmith
at Ali Aga's direction. Ali Aga was originally from Hamedan, a city of
Iran known for its ceramics. Like other potters he had been making and
using this homemade torch for many years.
With two barrels of kerosene oil on top of an adjacent roof and con-
nected to the burner with pipes near the ground, we had enough head
pressure to start a great fIre. And as long as we had enough kerosene
in the barrels, the fIre would continue nonstop. No pump, no electricity,
and no complicated control system-just a valve to control the flow of
the oil and thus the amount of fIre produced.
We fIred the fIrst house from underneath for twenty-four hours, just
as if we were baking a pot of rice. The fIrst experience was mixed with
great excitement, fear, and miracles. One miracle happened just an hour
after fIring. We started the torch slowly. Around an hour later we heard
the screaming and laughing villagers, with sticks and shovels in their
hands, chasing and killing hundreds of roaches and dizzy mice that were
running out of the fIring house -.!'Revenge, revenge!" With the heat and
smoke, all the rodents were either burned inside or were running for their
lives with people in hot pursuit, fIred by the remembrance of all the
wheat, blankets, and clothes they had lost to the vermin. In those mo-
ments the excited villagers praised us - not for our architecture, but for
what the fIre was doing to their house. The disease- and rodent-infested
house was becoming clean, and what the poisonous insecticide sprayers
hadn't been able to do, the fIre was doing: creating a completely hygienic
environment, without the use of polluting chemicals. The element of fIre
now found a new dimension for us: a hygienic medium. We suggested
that they fIre their storage buildings and animal shelters once a year, to
get rid of disease and vermin. One farmer even thought of moving his
own furniture out once a year to refIre the house, just for an hour, to keep
it hygienic.
As we started the slow fIre, the steam began coming out of the house
from the flues as well as the roof. For ten to fourteen hours, steam rose
from the old adobe structure. Tests showed 17 percent water in the old
adobe and mortar material. The inherent water of the earth-clay mixture
will only come out after the material is heated to several hundred de-
grees. And since the atmospheric heat on earth never reaches that high,
there is always enough water in old earth buildings to be fIred to brick,
as long as the material is suitable for fIring.
After the fIring and two days of cooling, we opened up the house. It
seemed as though a miracle had happened. The old and crumbling mud
structure had changed gradually from a solid brick shell inside to a less
burned adobe outside. The owner of the house began digging with a pick
from within, to test it, while his wife and children sat on the roof drill-
ing with long donkey nails to see if it had really become solid. Since a

--------------------------------------
28 CERAMIC HOUSES
1 .14 Steam rises from the old adobe
structure for many hours as the fire con-
nearby house had collapsed under the rain a week before, their joyous tinues to burn inside. The firing process
cries of "It is solid, it is become brick:' became more meaningful. Even also makes the vermin-infested house
hygienic.
though we had predicted this result, it still seemed unbelievable when
we were touching it.
Our greatest reward came when a farmer's wife arrived with her
incense tray and praying lips, saying, "Now I can sleep in the rainy and
snowy nights without fear of the roof collapsing and killing my children
and my man. It is brick. It is mud no more:' This was the greatest re-
ward for me personally, since my quest and her need had met: A safe
house for her, and a dream reached for me. And we all were happy to
be rewarded with the knowledge that what we were doing was right.
The most important part of this work was the people's acceptance of
it. At the beginning we had a hard time convincing everybody in the vil-
lage to let us do our experiment. One of the greatest factors in rural re-
fusal of government housing has always been the superimposition of new
materials and techniques. But what we were doing was in reality nei-
ther new nor strange to them. They had already seen the end result be-
fore letting us try it on their houses. An accidental discovery, or what
I believe to be an act of God, helped me break this barrier.

GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE) EARTH ARCHITECTURE 29

AN OLD KILN: One day, several hundred steps from the village, I discovered an old and
LESSONS OF HISTORY abandoned structure. This structure was used as a kaval kiln. Kaval is
the Persian name for the short pipe sections used in the traditional
underground aqueducts, known as qanats. They used to fIre clay kaval
in this kiln until a few decades ago, when concrete and plastic pipes
flooded the market and the kiln was abandoned. There were hundreds
of these kilns around the country, and almost all of them were dead. This
kiln structure looked like one of the village houses - a long barrel-vault
room. This room was about 7 meters long, 3.5 meters wide, and 3 meters
(22% x IPh x 9V2 feet) high. The kiln was made out of adobe blocks
and clay mortar and was baked along with the clay pipes during the fIring
processes.
We took all the villagers to the kiln:

The several-hundred-step march is like an exodus from the

village. To me it is an exodus from the present to the past.
We reach the kiln. Children climb all over the roof and
the walls.
"What was this building used for before?" I ask the old
man of the village aloud, while everyone is trying to guess.
"It was a Kaval kiln. In my childhood time I saw it fIred,"
says the old man.
"How long ago was that?" I ask.
"Oh, maybe forty or fIfty years ago, maybe even more. I
don't know how old I am now." He laughs as he says that.
I let them play around with the walls and touch the
rocklike pieces.
"They used to fIre it right from underneath on this big
hole. They used to burn wood, animal dung, or anything
they could burn. Yes, see, right around the fIrepit the soil is
melted to rock:' the old man says while he tries to break a
piece but can't. A younger man kicks a piece with his boot;
he can't break it either. Everyone laughs.
Then I stop them and ask them in a low voice, facing the
old man and trying to have them observe silence. "Amoo,
why have all your houses collapsed but this roof hasn't
collapsed? Yet you all plaster your roofs every year and you
say that this roof is just left under the rain and snow for
thirty years:'
"Not thirty but fIfty years," he says.
"Okay, fIfty years. Why is it still standing?" I ask.
A middle-aged peasant answers in a loud voice from
behind: "Don't you understand? This is fIred and baked to
a rocklike brick. Even a cannonball can't break it."
Then there are a few seconds' silence. Several have al-
ready made the connection. My architectural students and
engineer friends make the connection fIrst, but before they

---------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ ..- - - _.. _. ------ - .-

30 CERAMIC HOUSES
start to explain what I am trying to say, someone in the
crowd says, "So this is the puzzle?"
And in a few seconds everything falls in place.
The history connects with the present. Moments link,
and the chain is completed. There is more silence, and
everyone is digging a piece or climbing to the roof.
More conversation, more comments, and more photo-
graphs, even several group portraits for the memory's sake
are taken on the roof.
By the time we walk back, there seems to be no question
as to the validity of what we will be doing. And everyone
offers his own house for the &rst &ring.

So the idea of &ring their houses was easily accepted, since no new
material or strange processes were involved. Some of the people could
easily have lived in that kiln, which had the same familiar form and space
as their houses. They were also very familiar with the idea of building
with earth-clay (khak-e-ross, in Persian), as they dealt with the earth all
1.15 A kava! kiln , near Ghaleh Mofid
the time. And even though they hadn't done any &ring themselves, the village, was used in the past to fire clay
elders had seen it done and the younger ones had experienced &ring in aqueduct pipes (kava~. The kiln is a room
brick or pottery kilns. similar in size and shape to village houses.
The kiln has been abandoned for dec-
ades. There are hundreds of such kilns all
over Iran.

GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE) EARTH ARCHITECTURE 31

Kilns are abundant allover the world, and many of them are built with
earth-clay. Kilns of China, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, and the West, includ-
ing the Native American kilns and bread ovens, are based on the same
principle: The earth-clay kilns are fired along with the product inside.
We can see many of these kilns -like strong houses, built with earth and
fired to last a long time. People live across the street from the old kilns
in flimsy shelters that fall in the rain, break with a small wind or earth
tremor, or even catch on fire, while their kilns keep living for decades
or even centuries. These kilns are time-tested lessons of history to be
learned from and followed.
As we continued searching for more lessons from old kilns, we were
amazed to find that the interior plaster finishes had also lasted for dec-
ades, even though they had been exposed to the harshest weather. The
simple mud-straw plaster, fired in place, had become a durable and
attractive finishing material.
Once the houses were fired and the villagers knew that they would
not disintegrate in the rain and would have a more lasting life than their
old houses, they started plastering and decorating the interiors accord-
ing to their own tastes. The elimination of roaches and mice was an added
bonus to encourage them to take better care of their living environment.
Some of them paved their porches with baked bricks that were produced
in the firing process, and even began dreaming of the future when they
could own the house and work on their courtyards. And even though
such great problems as contaminated drinking water, land ownership,
health care, and job security were still unsolved, their enthusiasm and
hard work to rehabilitate their houses greatly improved their living
conditions.
As far as our own work was concerned, our first project was far from
perfect; but we were confident that there were no problems that could
not be improved by more time and experimentation. Yes, we could fire
a structure; we could even glaze one.

A SCHOOL BUILT WITH While working on the Ghaleh MofId village rehabilitation program, we
EARTH AND FIRE were asked to look at the possibilities of building an elementary school
in the village of Javadabad. Before meeting to discuss terms with the cli-
ent, we went to the village. There we found a local mason who, up to
fIfteen years ago, had built many earth buildings with arches, domes,
and vaults. He was now busy building a "modern" house: imported fIred
brick to construct walls with mud mortar, huge Swedish steel sash win-
dows, flat roofs built with Japanese steel beams and lintels, Italian PVC
plastic pipes, Portland cement finishes, and a German-American water
cooler.
We asked Ostad Asghar, the mason, if he could still build adobe build-
ings with vault and dome roofs. He said he could, but didn't any more,
because people wanted "modern buildings." We told him about the pos-

32 CERAMIC HOUSES
1.16 Interior of one of the houses in
Ghaleh Mafid after the farmer fired the
structure himself and the surfaces were
sibility of the school project for the village, and he was interested to be plastered by a local mason.
the subcontractor for the labor and the material- but he wanted to do
it the modern way, not the traditional way.
'~dobe and mud are old-fashioned and people don't like to build with
it, even though the houses are comfortable to live in. But city people don't
use it and the villagers don't want it either:' he said. We didn't tell him
about the geltaftan system, but asked him if there were any old kilns
nearby. He pointed to the other side of the village and said that there
was one there. By now many villagers had gathered; and as we started
walking towards the kiln, with the mason in the lead, they all followed .
The episode of the villagers' march in Ghaleh Mond to the kaval kiln was
repeated here, and they discovered by themselves the "secret" of build-
ing with earth and &ring it in place.
Excited by such an idea, Ostad Asghar volunteered to build the school
for one-third of the cost he was charging to build conventional buildings.
He asked us to do the &ring and accept the general contracting respon-
sibilities. We shook hands, returned to the city, and signed a contract with
the development department of the provincial government of Tehran.

GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE) EARTH ARCHITECTURE 33

We prepared the design and plans, submitted them to the department,
and were awarded the contract. The design was for adjacent boys' and
girls' elementary schools with common administration facilities. But later,
as the work was completed, they decided to use the building only for
the girls' school and to make the surrounding courtyard walls taller.
We developed the design with the mason's help, especially the dimen-
sions, since he was more experienced than any of us with earth struc-
tures and he was also a native. Later, when the construction started, we
found that he could not read blueprints. So we drew lines on the ground
in small scale and discussed the details with him. He took with him our
notebook page, which had the dimensions. He then put that page, with
his own markings, in his shirt pocket, and used it as his "blueprint" to
build the entire school.
Ostad Asghar, with the help of the village adobe maker and others,
including his children, built the school as he had promised. But he
couldn't keep the cost as low as he had promised, since there were many
delays-the land-deed problem, which made us move to a new location
after the foundations were already built, the crises that arose as the result
of Iran's ongoing internal revolution and the war with Iraq. He raised
his cost 25 percent. He had also underestimated the cost at the begin-
ning, because he hadn't built adobe buildings for many years and was
surprised by the "lazy worker;' as he put it. We accepted his demand
as a fair addition, but the client didn't raise our budget.
With all this, we still built the fmal project for one-third of the cost
of conventional buildings. Why? The construction involved only a single-
trade system: no carpenters, no steel or concrete workers, just a mason
to do everything. Also, we used only available material and local labor.
We started and fInished our school, with all the delays, within a year,
while a nearby school waited four years just to receive imported materials.
Our group of four (two students, an engineer, and myself) worked for
free, but with the total acceptance of the project by the client. This meant
that after a year of occupation and correction of faults, we ended up with
some cash-which we promptly put into the Geltaftan Foundation.
Many students were trained at the site, including those sent from far-
off towns and villages. We also gained experience in building and espe-
cially fIring, since we had to do most of it ourselves. Ali Aga fIred the
fIrst classroom; but then, for many reasons, he could not come to the
site. (It was far away from his work, and his wife had asked us to dis-
courage him from coming to the fIring because of the danger of the war
and bombing. We had to keep the fIre going at night, even though there
was a blackout order. The fIre coming out of the roof vents would light
the area, and the nearby town had already been bombed.) So we were
forced to learn to do all the fIring ourselves.
The plan of the ten-classroom school was like a T with long arms. The
arms were the classrooms and the stem was the administration section,
with two courtyards on both sides. A continuous domed but open ar-

~--.----------

34 CERAMIC HOUSES
cade connected all classrooms and the administration area. The toilet
facilities were built out in the yards, as is the tradition. We only used
domes to cover the arcade and vaults to cover the classrooms. The prin-
cipal's room was also domed. The school, about 500 square meters (5,000
square feet), was bred like a kiln, from inside. First one classroom was
bred to test the result; then several rooms were bred at the same time.
Different sections were bred and baked, and the adjacent spaces were
dried out by the heat of the bred rooms. All together, in actual construc-
tion time, it took four months to build the structure and around ten days
to bre it. The bring was done in the period of many weeks, however, as
the oil was rationed because of the war and other crises. With more
experience and facilities, the entire building could have been bred in
twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
The roof was covered with mud-straw plaster, as was the tradition .
Some of the plastering was done at the tail end of the bring, which made
it bake, to a certain degree, with the roof. The interior was covered with
gypsum plaster, although we left some of the ceiling areas exposed.
Today, even though it has already gone through a few severe winters with
heavy rain and snow, the building is still in good condition. But while
we were more experienced because of the previous work, it still did not
match the ideal example of what could be built with earth and bre. As
our frrst fully designed, constructed, and bred building, however, we
have all been proud of the result and its promise for the future .
It was amazing to see how a middle-aged adobe maker made over
60,000 adobe full blocks for the entire job with a single wooden form and
a bucket of water refilled by his son, who was the main helper for all his

1.17 Javadabad Elementary School

under construction.

GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE) EARTH ARCHITECTURE 35

work. It was even more amazing to watch the mason build the entire
school with his bare hands, avoiding even simple tools. There was no
form work or centering; he didn't use even a standard adz to break
adobe - he used the hard heel of his hand. One assistant would some-
times be there, or his ten-year-old son would hand him dry-packing. That
was all. And it again was a miracle to watch what the fIre was doing to
this structure, and then touch the result.
We brought the earth-clay from outside the village. The earth from
the site was rich and appropriate, but the earth we brought in was even
better. It was from the sites they used to make brick in a local kiln that
had long been abandoned. The cost for digging and transporting the
earth was minimal. We did not mix anything with the earth to make the
adobe blocks. The earth-clay alone gave the good result. We used small
features in our design, such as skylights over the classrooms, to aim a
natural light over the blackboard. Since Persian writing is from right-to-
left, and Roman alphabets are written from left-to-right, classrooms
generally need the light from both the right side and the left side. So we
decided to combine them by providing the light from above.
In this project we took advantage of the available budget and pur-
chased a hand pump; and instead of fIlling the oil barrels on the roof
with rope and bucket, as we had done in the fIrst project, we pumped
the oil to the roof with the hand pump. This truly was an example of the
use of an appropriate technology, which saved us a great deal of waste-
ful and dangerous work.
During the fIring, as in the previous project, we and the villagers both
took advantage of the great heat rising from the flues to cook pots of pota-
toes, sugar beets, and other meals. The shortage of energy because of
the political crisis drove us to many ingenious uses of every drop of fuel.
The experiments for the utility lines ranged from using lead-covered
wiring in between the adobe joints after the fIring, to using outside pip-
ing. One of the simple solutions was to provide wood strips where the
conduit chase would be needed. During the fIring, the wood strips would
burn out and create the chases. We also used the rooms as kilns to fIre
adobe bricks and sculptures. But the freezing winter limited our adobe-
making ability. We made many experiments in fIring with raw oil and
drops of water, which creates a higher temperature output by quantity.
It also makes a beautiful fIre. But the simplest method was still the gravity-
flow fIring system.
Each classroom-and the small quantity of brick products inside-
was fIred with fuel that cost about $54. It was calculated that the cost of
fuel used to produce and transport fIred brick from the factory to the vil-
lage would be at least two times that much. And of course the cost of
building with imported fIred brick and imported cement mortar would
have been even more.
The economic justifIcation of what we were doing was a determining
factor in our building techniques, but it was not the main philosophy
behind the work. The main philosophy was to use the local material and

~-~-~-~---- ------.---- .. -----.~.-.-.-

36 CERAMIC HOUSES
indigenous techniques, and to provide jobs and self-sufftciency while
creating beautiful architecture that respected the traditional forms and
spirit. And toward that philosophy we dedicated our hearts and efforts.
Here are some of the points we learned from our mistakes in build-
ing and fIring:

• Adobe-making time should be scheduled to fIt the seasons.

• Don't plaster the roof before fIring, since it will crack when steam
tries to escape. It is better to plaster at the tail end of the fIring, if safe
conditions exist.
• All important cracks must be repaired before fIring. Cracks also may
develop during the fIring for several reasons: expansion and contraction,
faulty dome and vault construction, weak supporting walls and not
enough buttressing, overly fast fIring and cooling cycle, or wrong type
of materials used for blocks and mortars. Small nonstructural cracks can
be repaired and lived with, but the structural ones will call for the rein-
forcing of the affected areas.
• All materials must be tested before beginning to build the structure.
Fire the adobe samples alone and then with mortar to assure good fusion,
soak them in water for a few days, and then test them for strength.
• Many more construction and fIring experiments must be done before
conclusions can be written to standardize construction and fIring details
and specifIcations. And many tests must be conducted before the sys-
tem is perfected.
• Wet the walls and ceiling of the fired space after the cooling cycle, to
neutralize the lime reaction to humidity.

GELTAFTAN (FIRED STRUCTURE) EARTH ARCHITECTURE 37

•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R ~
A CERAMIC HOUSE-
A DREAM COME TRUE

Now the time has come to create a new scale in the ceramic
world, to walk out from the womb of a pot to the space
of a room.

This was the climax of our work. The glazing of a house, a ceramic
space! We were all burning with the desire to sculpt at least an interior
space, and to £Ire it with a ceramic glaze £Inish.
Throughout history, humans have always associated ceramic glazing
or clay firing with any unit that could be carried with the hands - a £Ired
brick, a jar, a ceramic bowl. Now we would use all the techniques and
materials used throughout history, but in a new scale. It was obvious that
we needed to learn from the past and move into the future. The ceramic
tiles used in the kitchens and toilets in traditional houses, even the wash-
basins and water closets, are all made with clay and taken to the me. Here,
instead of taking the materials to the £Ire, we were bringing the £Ire to
the material. And thus a new horizon had opened up to us.
Ali Aga, the kiln man with forty-£Ive years of experience, was our
greatest asset. He could look at a £Ire and tell us what temperature a £Ire
was just by the color of the flame and his own intuition. He was sixty-six
years old, but was as full of zest and anticipation of this new venture as
the youngest of us.
We immediately started making our own ceramic glaze solution, with
Ali Aga's formulas. We used lots of milled Coke bottles, and native glaze
agents. It took us a long time to £Igure out how to apply the glaze on the
walls, floor, and ceiling. We couldn't just dip the house into a glaze solu-
tion the way bowls are dipped. We couldn't brush the building, since
it would take a long time and create uneven surfaces. The obvious an-
swer was to spray the glaze. But in a village with no electricity or pump

39
1.18 Villagers are using an insecticide
sprayer to cover the surfaces with a coat
of glaze. Their faces are protected with
plastic bags placed loosely over their
heads for the short spraying time.

and spray gun, and the almost impossible task of bringing an electric
generator and equipment, we were pushed to a simple and yet beauti-
ful solution : using the farmers' insecticide sprayers. Every farmer had
one. And since the glaze solution is a water-base mixture, we could use
their bicycle-pump-operated sprayer cylinders.
We did several room-glazings on different occasions. We even did a
single-fIring experiment; instead of fIring the bare bricks and then refIr-
ing for the glaze, it could all be done in a single operation. But most of
our experiments were with double £Iring.
Most glazing experiments done over the old plaster and adobe walls
developed small cracks and blisters, caused by gravel-sized lime pieces
in the existing materials. The lime had been fIred, later absorbed mois-
ture, and then expanded. Ali Aga later suggested that we should have
immediately sprayed water over the surfaces after the room was bisque
fIred and before applying the glaze. This way we would have "killed"
the lime before its growth. From then on we always sprayed water over
fIred surfaces before glazing or plastering.
The fIrst experimental room was fIred for twenty-four hours and refIred
with low-fIre glaze for twelve hours. And thus we had the hrst glazed
house in the world!
Then we approached a new horizon: the integration of graphics, sculp-
ture, and decorative arts into the already integrated arts of ceramics and
architecture. What we did was very modest and basic; but what we
imagined we could do had no limits - and our master kiln operator would
sanction our dreams and help make practical the applications of the
dreams.

40 CERAMIC HOUSES
We were thinking and experimenting in a small way with salt
glazing-that is, to use kitchen salt as the glazing agent. The ceramist
who uses salt glazing knows its advantages and shortcomings. For ex-
ample, one of its main drawbacks is that the salt glazes the kiln before
it glazes the vessels. But this shortcoming becomes an advantage for us,
since our structure is the kiln itself to be glazed.
The possibilities of sculpting and glazing the &replaces, bookshelves,
even some furniture and tableware became very promising. We even &red
and glazed some pieces of ceramic jewelry, heart-shaped necklaces for
the woman farmer the same color as that of her house. One farmer helped
sculpt and glaze several coat hangers right into the wall. The use of the
graphics and arabesque design gave us the idea of &ring the geometric
design and the holy Qur'an scripts right into the inside of a mosque dome.
We wrote words of wisdom, and the farmers wrote their names to be &red
and glazed for eternity.
And this was the beginning of a greater vision. The vision inspired
by volcanoes, and the message they have been giving us as they belch
out molten earth and make cave spaces and sculpted forms : The use of
the element of £Ire to bring into equilibrium the destruction created by
the element of water, as in earth structures. To &re coastal cliffs to stop
the mudslides and erosion caused by the water. To create habitats for
humans on the other planets, or the moon, from the soil of the planet
and the &re of the sun, and to apply the same techniques in outer space.
And to approach all these ideas, not only for sake of beautiful dreams, 1.19 Ali Aga, sixty-six years old , is the
but to show the unlimited possibilities that the pursuit of the Elements first ceramist in the world to participate in
the firing and glazi ng of a house.
could bring into arts and architecture, from a human shelter to the vast
universe. Some of these visions are described in Part 7.

A CERAMIC HOUSE-A DREAM COME TRUE 41

2
Earth, air, fire, and

•
water are obedient creatures,
they are dead to you and me,
but alive at God's presence.
-Rumi
P·A·R·T

. Philosophy
,,;; and Design
Principles
•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 5
THE PEOPLE'S ARCHITECTURE:
WORKING WITH NATURE

Many volumes are needed to do justice to the indigenous earth architec-

ture of the world. From China to the Middle East and Africa, and from
Europe and Australia to North America, a great wealth of knowledge can
be documented and used for today's needs. Even though there are un-
limited variations in the use of earth for the human shelter, certain basic
principles and limitations must be understood. These principles are
related to material, climate, design, culture, and more. When we under-
stand these lessons - both physical and spiritual- not only we are not
pushed to follow the past, but we continue to improve in the best tradi-
tion of earth architecture.
The greatest contribution to earth architecture at this time may well
be the documentation and dissemination of the existing know-how of
the world's people. We can then draw from the creative ability of all
humans, rather than just the few in the building professions, since earth
architecture is truly the people's architecture. Let us now explore some
of the principles behind earth architecture.

Indigenous architecture in different parts of the world has always been

~~~~---------

EARTH ARCHITECTURE
created based on the philosophy of living in tune with nature. AND NATURE
The architecture was created from the earth and, over the
centuries, learned to live with the desert: to fend off the
sun with its thick walls and long shadows, and to break the
hostile winds by labyrinth streets and wind catchers. A city
in the spirit of genuine Persian architecture, living in tune
with nature with no intention of dominating it. The wind

45
catchers, backing to the gusts while inhaling the gentle
breeze, cool a house for its entire life. The qanats, an indi-
genous Persian irrigation system, let the underground
water flow to the surface non-stop for a thousand years.
The yakhchal keep ice from the winter to the summer to
quench the thirsty city with ice water, a true recycling of an
abundant potential energy. Amazing: a town built with
earth structures at the edge of a desert, having scorching
hot days, chilly nights, dusty winds, freezing winters, and
boiling summers, and yet creating such architecture that
embraces every season, not with fears but with welcoming
arms.

The philosophy of living in tune with nature was based on human

intuition, which got the work done, and on human logic, which explained
it later. The true confusion started to appear when humans began think-
ing they could control nature. Environmental damage, misplaced social
and economic values, and many more problems were a chain reaction
caused by the movement of philosophy away from unity with nature.
Climatic control is one example of this shift in human thinking and its
effects.
For the last several decades architectural and engineering education
related to the climate has been limited to choosing heating and cooling
systems from one catalogue or another, usually supplied by the equip-
ment manufacturers. Thus architects and engineers have received the
best training from the manufacturers of the products and unwittingly
become their salesmen. They will go through their normal professional
life without questioning the validity of such a route. The basic
questions-why use mechanical coolers or heaters? why use air condi-
tioners?-have just begun to bother the public's mind.
It has only been in recent years, since the energy crisis became an
important issue in the West, that such questions started surfacing. All
of a sudden the sun and the wind started to be felt and noticed again;
and architects and engineers did not feel awkward talking about them,
even for sleek buildings. All of a sudden millions of buildings, which were
designed based on minimum-frontage lots and interesting views, had
to be quickly redesigned with makeshift openings to allow the sun to
enter and the wind to circulate. All of a sudden thousands of books and
catalogues on passive cooling and heating, solar design, and energy
efficient buildings were published. Most of these books prove through
complex language that the sun is good, the wind is good, the earth is
good. These books are good as far as raising knowledge and conscious-
ness is concerned; but they are also bad because, once again, they move
toward categorization by the climate-manufacturing industries.
We have seen the most complicated equipment and computer pro-
grams employed in the high-cost centers to prove the simplest facts
known to every human being-thick adobe walls provide better protec-

- - - - -----------_._--------
46 CERAMIC HOUSES
tion from the sun than narrow concrete blocks. We had the agonizing
experience of proving to the Iranian building officials the validity of the
use of adobe or brick domes and vaults in the hot and arid climate, even
though they see people tear down the flat concrete roofs of the
government-built houses and rebuild with their own indigenous vaults
or domes. We have seen the struggles of architects to prove to the Egyp-
tian ministry, with costly computer analysis, that the indigenous wind
catchers next to the Nile are more appropriate than air conditioning
equipment. We have seen how federal housing agencies or banks in the
United States will not help Native Americans build with their own
indigenous adobe, since they don't fit the codes or comforts-even
though the same types of buildings, still standing after centuries, are right
there under their noses. Many such events may be plain mockery for the
human intellect and common sense, but they are realities that show our
loss of respect for our own non-catalogued intuition for living in tune
with nature.

An adobe, rammed earth, or mud-pile building with well-arranged win- EARTH ARCHITECTURE
dows and vents will not require additional heating or cooling, except in AND CLIMATE
extreme climates and for short periods of the year. The sun's radiation
does most of the heating. Additional heating could easily be taken care
of by a fireplace, an oil or coal heater, or a simple solar collector system.
Since the warm air is retained in the earth walls, roof, and floor for a long
time, heat loss is very gradual. Once the interior space is warmed, it stays
warm; and with a small heating element, the atmosphere could be kept
comfortable.
Since most adobe buildings are built in the hot and arid regions of
the world, the cooling system is generally more critical than heating. The
use of air conditioning and evaporative cooling units may be an easy way
out. But the genius of humans who live in tune with nature has given
us simpler, more permanent, economical, and ecologically balanced
solutions, which should be followed and improved upon through mod-
ern technology.
There are some basic rules related to climate that we must observe any-
where in the world in general and in arid climates in particular.

1. We must use an appropriate material, which is generally the earth

or other natural materials.
2. We must orient our buildings correctly toward the sun and wind.
3. We must design our buildings with minimum surface exposure to the
undesired outside environment.
4. We must make our windows and other openings an appropriate size.
5. We must create as much shade, catch as much desirable sun and wind,

----------~~

THE PEOPLE'S ARCHITECTURE: WORKING WITH NATURE 47

and design with as much water and indirect light as possible; basically,
we must design in harmony with nature.

When we have followed all these time-tested, ancient rules, we will

have no need for extra help from manufactured equipment. But if we
decide that modern technology should be employed, then we must use
it to help us achieve the ultimate in basic rules - for example, to catch and
store more sun and wind for us in extreme conditions.
Now let us look at these basic rules in more detail.
1. Appropriate material. Buildings constructed from earth provide one
of the best types of natural insulation against hot and cold weather, if
all factors are considered. What happens to a building in a hot and arid
climate, during chilly nights and hot days or sizzling summers and freez-
ing winters? When the sun hits an adobe wall or roof, it takes a long time
for the heat to penetrate from outside to inside. This is because the
earthen material is a poor conductor and the walls are thick, and because
there are sun and shade zones on the curved roofs. By the time the heat
enters the interior of the building it is already evening, cooler, and thus
the extra heat is not objectionable.
Similar action in reverse happens at night when the interior heat tries
to move from inside to outside. By the time the heat goes through the
mass to the outside, it is morning and the sun heats the wall from out-
side and reverses the action. This is one of several cycles of cold and heat
transfer during the year, which have similar advantages for the interior
spaces. One of the main problems is very hot and long summer days that
create unwanted heat inside during the evenings. Traditional solutions
have included the use of sunken courtyards, wind catchers, water for
evaporative cooling, or simply sleeping outside in the courtyard or on
the roof.
In recent years, great amounts of valuable knowledge have been
gained by scientifIc research and data collecting, such as that done on
the thermal mass studies of earth walls, which in some ways disproves
the traditional beliefs of the great value of thick earth walls; but the dan-
ger of using specifIc knowledge to challenge the validity of earth architec-
ture is to miss the forest for the trees.
2. Correct Orientation. Orientation of a building and a community
according to the sun and wind is extremely important and should be done
with sensitivity to the local and regional climatic conditions. Depend-
ing on the climatic or cultural conditions, the living area is sometimes
south-facing, toward the sun; but most often on the north side, with its
constant shade and cooler air. In the south-oriented buildings, usually
an Ivan, a porch or portico, an overhang, and deepset windows protect
the interior spaces from the summer sun and its vertical rays, while it
enjoys the direct sunshine in winter when the sun rays are in lower angle.
The western orientation is almost always avoided because of the long
exposure to the hot afternoon sun.
Orientation according to the wind involves similar basic and perma-

----------------- - - - - - ---------------- ------------- --

48 CERAMIC HOUSES
2.1 Borujerdi residence in the desert
town of Kashan , Iran . This house has
nent considerations. Gusty and hot winds must be avoided; the build- some of the most sophisticated examples
of wind catchers, skylights, curved roofs,
ing should be oriented with sensitivity to seasonal winds; openings and interior finishes. The forms are all
should be protected; and the vault roof should be oriented for maximum functional as well as sculptural , and the
winter sun exposure. roofing is a natural mud-straw plaster
finish .
Of course, all this may seem very complicated; and it is sometimes
impossible to achieve both sun and wind advantages. But the solution
may be much simpler than what we imagine. By observing the local tra-
dition in orientation in an already existing community, and by talking
to a few people who have lived in the area for a long time, we can get
almost all the information we require.
A house with a good view may be important to some individuals,
especially Westerners who are more "extrovert" in their way of life, in
contrast to the "introvert" spirit of Eastern societies. Then the tradeoff
is a matter of personal preference and the price may be the sacrifIce of
some of the basic climatic orientation rules. However, if a building is

THE PEOPLE 'S ARCHITECTURE : WORKING WITH NATURE 49

2.2 Contrasting with the mud-straw roof,
the interior of the Borujerdi house inte-
grates finely crafted gypsum plaster finish
with the structural and decorative ceiling
ribs, wind catchers, and skylights. Such
contrasting exteriors and interiors are com -
mon in Iran's earth architecture.

meant to be efficient in energy-conscious design then it must be oriented

for the sun and wind rust. When planning a community, of course, such
orientation is vital.
3. Minimum Exposure. Minimum exposure to the outside environ-
ment, another basic rule, works in close relation with the other rules.
Earth architecture, with its inherent unity of the physical and spiritual

50 CERAMIC HOUSES
characteristics, dictates its own conditions. An adobe unit is small; thus
it must be utilized in the form of arch, vault, or dome to cover a space.
Because vaults and domes create horizontal loads, they need to be close
to each other to balance one another. Thus common walls are essential;
thus compact design is created; thus minimum wall surface is exposed
to the outside; thus the least amount of heat and cold has the chance
to enter.
Such a harmonious relationship exists in the material, form, pattern,
color, texture, and spaces created by earth architecture. The pattern of
the courtyard houses has been evolved by employing the maximum in
structure, the minimum of material, and the ultimate in climatic relation-
ship. Then it is obvious that a house or a community tightly woven to-
gether is protected from the harsh environment; it is an organic pattern,
just as a tree or a flower is an organic pattern.
4. Windows and Openings. Appropriate size and orientation of windows
is an important factor in keeping a good balance between the outdoor
and indoor atmospheres. Window sizes should also follow traditional
as well as regional considerations. The intensity of the desert sunlight
allows a small window to bring in ample light for a room. Like an incan-
descent lamp, the intensity of its light depends on its wattage and not
on its size; thus a window should be proportioned to the outdoor
"wattage:'
Adobe arches are themselves good limiting structural elements that
create smaller openings than wood or steel lintels. "Modern" architec-
ture has done great damage to traditional architecture through its use
of large windows and giant-size glass panels, considered symbols of
modernity throughout the world. In many cases, they have destroyed
the appropriate relationship between window size and room space.
Today, most Third World windows, traditionally deep-set and small, are
being replaced by the large, Western-size windows-even as the West-
ern world changes its codes to restrict window size.
Other factors relating to windows and similar openings include avoid-
ing the afternoon sun; designing window locations across from each
other for cross ventilation; and locating the openings away from indirect
radiation (the reflected radiation from the ground or neighboring
buildings) .
5. Shade. Finally, we must remember to use different design elements
and appropriate technology to create shade, to catch wind and coolness
through water evaporation, and so forth. In humid conditions, ample
cross ventilation and exhaust is a must. Some design elements-
especially the courtyard, wind catcher, and curved roof-are invaluable
when incorporated into earth architecture. Porches and shade-giving
walls and landscapes also can play an important role in design.

Courtyards
Building around a courtyard, as has been done for centuries in many parts
of the world, is a design pattern that has evolved organically. A group

~~-~-- ------~

THE PEOPLE'S ARCHITECTURE: WORKING WITH NATURE 51

of people sits and talks with faces toward each other and backs to the
outside; nomads pitch their tents close to each other and protected from
the outside - these are such natural patterns.
Such instinctively created patterns can also be observed in animals
and insects. The formation of a group of termites against ants is a good
example. The termite's very soft lower body can be torn apart easily, but
its head and the protecting prongs are its strongest defence. When a
group of ants attacks, termites immediately form a circular pattern in
which their heads are looking out and their soft bodies are inside. This
way they fend with their heads and prongs from the outside, while their
bodies are protected on the inside.
The courtyard pattern is an instinctive and logical human solution to
living in harsh climates. There are several advantages to this pattern. One
advantage is the formation of the minimum number of surfaces against
the wind, sun, or outside intruders. If the same number of rooms that
are built around a courtyard were built freely, in an open plan, more sur-
faces would be exposed to the outside and thus less would be protected.
Second, the close compaction of the rooms around a courtyard is struc-
turally stronger because they buttress one another; and they are econom-
ically more valid because common walls are shared and thus less building
materials are needed. Third, building around a courtyard allows the utili-
zation of sun and shade for summer and winter seasons.
The courtyard space itself behaves like a giant chimney to pull up the
warm air, while cooler air sinks at lower elevations and into the rooms.
If there are basements under the house, and wind catchers, trees, and
a pond in the courtyard, a cool microclimate can be created in the hot
desert.
In the Middle East a courtyard is an extension of the living room for
eating, playing, sleeping, meeting, and praying. It is also developed
around the lifestyle of the extended family. As the children get married,
more rooms are added around and on top of each other in a courtyard.
The concept of the courtyard has also evolved based on the Eastern phi-
losophy of the "introvert:' While the extroverted Westerner adores a view
and sacrifIces much in the way of design to attain that view, many other
cultures feel exalted to sleep in a protected courtyard and gaze out at the
stars and the dome of heaven at night. This pattern can also be seen as
underlying some Native American life patterns, such as the pueblos of
New Mexico. These are far removed from the Eastern world, but they
share a similar environment. The use of the courtyard as a universal de-
sign element is invaluable in earth architecture.

Wind Catchers and Vents

To ventilate and cool a building with wind catchers and vents is another
ingenious architectural solution of our ancestors, and one we can learn
to use today. Mechanical cooling and air conditioning equipment have
done great damage, particularly in rural areas, to the philosophy of a
design based on the permanent elements of nature. Had we spent the

52 CERAMIC HOUSES
2.3 Detail of a sculptured wind catcher
and skylight, Borujerdi residence.

last forty years developing a heating or cooling system for our buildings
based on the sun or the wind, the whole picture of the building profession
in this regard would now be quite different. Our renewed consciousness
of the necessity to design with nature, pushed by the high electric bills
for coolers and heaters, are all hopeful signs of the forced return to the
traditional, basic design elements such as natural ventilation and wind
catchers.
The best-known wind catchers (bad-gir, in Persian) used in the Mid-
dle East and Africa are those of Iran, Pakistan, and some of the Arab coun-

THE P E 0 P L E ' 5 ARC HIT E C T U R E: W 0 R KIN G WIT H NAT U.R E 53

tries. Wind catchers, especially in these arid climates, are very effective
when designed to work in conjunction with basements, pools, and foun-
tains. The wind enters a house and goes through the basement or across
SECOND STORY the pool, thus becoming an evaporative cooling system. Some wind
(LANDMARK ELEMENT) ~
catchers, in Iraq and some Arab countries around the Persian Gulf, are
built with a sail-like attachment that can catch the wind from all
directions.

]
A wind catcher can be a simple chimney-like stack, or a structure built

ODD on the roof that catches the wind from outside and brings it inside. Air
intakes can be arranged behind the wind catcher, taking advantage of
O~D
DOD the negative air pressure created by unwanted winds to exhaust the warm
air from inside.
A wind catcher performs many functions. It can operate as a wind
PLAN scoop which, on a cool summer night, directly brings the cool breeze
inside the building. During the nights when there is no wind, a wind
catcher works like a chimney, exhausting the warm air from inside the
building. In this case the wind catcher's structural mass releases its gained
solar heat to the night sky and causes a draft inside the building. Dur-
ing the days when there is a warm wind, a wind catcher with its inside
access doors closed will circulate the wind in and out of its tower, from
windward to leeward, and thus create draft inside. When there is no wind
during the day, the structural mass of the tower above the roof will lose
the coolness it gained the night before and cool the air inside the tower.
This cool air sinks down to cool the building. In all these cases the wind
SECTION catcher works in connection with the windows and openings of the rooms
to let the air in or block out the outside atmosphere.
2.4 A two-story wind catcher with nine
shafts, Agda, Iran,
A wind catcher works as an evaporative cooler when it is used in con-
junction with water. If the wind catcher's access doors are opened in a
room with a pond and fountain-especially if the room is a basement-
a cooler, more pleasant environment is created. Such basements have

2.5 A wind catcher with an underground

tunnel. SECTION

54 CERAMIC HOUSES
2.6 A dome covering an underground
water reservoir near the desert town of
Yazd , Iran. The two wind catchers keep
been used as cold-storage houses in some of the desert towns of Iran, the water fresh and cool. The sun and
shade zones of the dome also create a
such as Yazd, and have been used for living in during the hot summer draft underneath . The dome is covered
days as well. Another ingenious use of a wind catcher and water is in with fired brick for external protection .
the desert town of Bam in Iran, where the wind catcher is built as a sep-
arate tower, about a hundred steps away, and is connected to the house
by way of an underground tunnel. In the garden and above the tunnel,
trees and shrubs are planted. By watering the plants, the tunnel walls
are kept damp and the wind passing through the tunnel is cooled by
evaporation. In another case, a wind catcher works in conjunction with
an underground stream, which usually has cold water and thus cools
the warm wind. In many cases wind catchers are built facing in oppo-
site directions: One brings in the wind from one end of the house, and
the other exhausts the inside air at the other end. A wind catcher can
be built as a simple chimney-like tower; or it can be treated as a sculp-
ture and integrated with the building's aesthetic as a symbolic and func-
tional design element.

THE PEOPLE'S ARCHITECTURE : WORKING WITH NATURE 55

Curved Roofs
After the earthquake disasters of Buen Zahra and Tabas in Iran, the local
government built some so-called "earthquake proof" concrete and steel
houses with flat roofs. But the heat of the summer and the cold of the
winter in the cement and steel buildings were unbearable for the oc-
cupants. Many of these houses were used by the natives for their animals,
while they built their own familiar space with familiar adobe and clay
material. And in some of the buildings, where the people had no choice
but to accept the shelter, they actually tore down the concrete slab and
conventional flat roofs and built an adobe or brick vault and dome, sim-
ply because these structures were cooler in the summer.
Functionally, a curved roof works wonders in hot regions. A flat roof
absorbs the hot sun all day long, but a dome or a vault breaks the sun
into a shade zone and a sun zone. And because the one zone is hotter
and one is cooler, an air current is created in the space below. For snow
regions, if vaulted roofs are oriented north and south, the sun will melt
the snow on both sides of the vault evenly. The curved roof breaks and
softens the harsh wind; and, while a wind runs parallel to a flat roof,
a dome or a vault touches the wind and creates air currents inside. The
curved ceiling is like a collecting funnel, pulling up the hot air; and if
a hole or vent is provided at the top of a dome or a vault, the hot air can
flow out.
The curved roof surfaces may not be as usable as a flat roof for ter-
races and sleeping, but the sun and shady valleys between the curves
have historically been great places to dry fruits and vegetables. For sleep-
ing purposes, a section of the roof can be flattened by fIlling the valleys
between adjacent vaults with smaller buttressing vaults and sectional
walls. This air-fIlled ductlike structure will act as good insulation against
the sun or the cold, and will also help reduce stresses created by the
horizontal roof load. A more sophisticated solution, of course, is the dou-
ble shell dome (discussed in Part 3), which creates greater insulation
against the outside temperature.

-----------------~-

56 CERAMIC HOUSES
C·H·A·P·T·E·R ~
STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES

Building walls with earth and getting help from timber to cover the roof
is an ancient method that has been employed successfully all over the
world. A bigger challenge to human creativity is earth architecture, which
uses the earth alone. The challenge has come about both because of the
lack of timber and also the unlimited possibilities of arch-formed struc-
tures. The inherent strength and beauty in the form of a curved roof has
made its constant appearance possible in history in many ways-rough
or cut stone, adobe and masonry, wood panel, concrete, steel or bam-
boo geodesic domes, and fIber balloons.
Many structural analyses and computer programs are available to
explain and help to design the curved forms. But learning some simple
natural structural principles can also be a good basis for understanding
earth architecture.

If we are going to design our structures to be built with earth alone, we

STRUCTURE AND NATURE
need some understanding of the way nature uses the elements to build
its structures. As we have said, nature generates structures based on the
principle of the minimum material and maximum efficiency. Spider webs,
termite hills, leaves, nests, soap bubbles, sea shells, flowers, and mole-
cules all follow this general rule. A spider web is a natural structure that
works by ultimate tension, and an eggshell is a structure that works by
ultimate compression. Both use the minimum and the appropriate ma-
terial with maximum efficiency. Just as we learn to build suspension
bridges with ropes and cables in imitation of spider webs, we can learn
to build domes in imitation of eggshells, building in maximum tension
or compression.

57
When we dump a truckload of earth on the ground, the mound
naturally takes a conical shape. When lava flows out of the volcano, it
too takes a conical shape; it is dictated by the force of gravity. If we pile
up a mound of earth or carve a mountain in a cubical shape, nature will
eventually change it back to a cone. The earth dumped by a truck and
a volcano formed by nature: both have a similar shape, with a similar
angle to the vertical line. This is their angle of repose; they are at rest
and in harmony with gravity. When humans discovered how to build
a vaulted roof, with leaning arches, their intuition made the connection
with earth's gravity, and the angle of repose. If humans with the knowl-
edge of these timeless principles go to the moon or Mars - with differ-
ent gravity and angle of repose - they can also build arches, vaults, and
domes-without the help of form works-in harmony with those plan-
ets' gravities.
When we pile up a bunch of equal-diameter pipes or spheres in their
natural setting, they all form groups of seven. This is the only way in
which nature compacts circular forms. The structural integrity of the tri-
angles created from this natural compaction is a manifestation of the unity
inherent in the circular patterns.
If we analyze the soap bubbles formed by circular, triangular, or any
conceivable shape frame, we will discover that the bubbles are creating
2.7 The geometric patterns resulti ng from the ultimate spaces that can be formed by the minimum surfaces. Thus
the natural compaction of circles, which nature makes the shortest distance connections with the strongest struc-
express the inherent unity of circular pat- ture and the minimum material.
terns and have special meaning in Islamic
art and architecture. And thus we must try to understand, as it is expressed by the smallest
particle formations to the largest of the structures of the cosmos, the spirit
of unity that exists in the universe. Earth architecture must follow such
a spirit.
To understand the natural structures and the equilibrium of the ele-
ments and then utilize them in their profound sense is to achieve the
ultimate in earth architecture. We can start with an egg. Let us put an
egg between the palms of our hands - two ends touching our two palms-
and then press as hard as we can. All our power against the thin and
fragile egg. The egg will resist an incredible amount of our pressure, and
will probably not break even under pressure equal to the load we can
lift over our heads. The arch, the vault, and the dome work the same
way. If we want to reach such high resistance in our arches, vaults, or
domes, then we must try to build the same type of curvature as the egg.
But let us now make a small interpretation of the unity in the seem-
ingly contrasting principle of ultimate tension and ultimate compression
in nature. Let us make the egg's curvature from the spider's web. Sup-
pose we have two walls across from each other, and we hang a chain
between them. The chain will take the shape of a natural catenary curve.
It is in complete tension, which means all the links are pulling each other
apart and want to rupture. If we weld all the links together so that they
are rigid, and lift the chain upward, we will have an arch that is in com-
plete compression - a catenary or almost a paraboloid arch, as it is called .

. ---~------.-------- ------
58 CERAMIC HOUSES
Imagine each link in such a chain is an adobe brick, or stone. Each piece
presses against the one below; the more gravity pulls, the closer the lit-
tle cells get together, and the stronger the arch becomes. Working with
gravity rather than against gravity-this is being in tune with nature.
Post-and-beam construction does not follow this natural law, because
a flat roof is being pulled down by gravity and will eventually fall. Of
course, this is no justification for saying that we must always build arched
roofs instead of flat roofs, since economic, social, and cultural factors may
be of greater concern to us. But such factors and concerns may not be
a part of the natural and structural patterns.
Nature makes arches, domes, and vaults; it does not make flat roofs.
It gradually changes what is flat into slopes and curves. Building arches,
vaults, and domes to the correct, natural, and mathematical proportions
will give the strongest possible structures. Today's giant-span arched
structures are based on the understanding and calculations for the ulti-
mate in shape and elastic limit of the materials. Thus computer programs
allow us to build very large spans with steel, concrete, and cables.
However, less accurate curvature and shallower vaults and domes can
safely span more modest distances. It is not only modern materials and
correct curvature that will build us safe buildings. Even though today
very large spans could be built with ordinary masonry material to last
for a long time, it may be more appropriate to leave large spans for mod-
ern materials and techniques. The main emphasis when considering 2.8 A chain hanging in a catenary curve
earth architecture should be put on the bigger and more pressing prob- (maximum tension) and a catenary arch,
lems in the world, such as the need for shelters, rather than to prove the vault, or dome (maximum compression).
validity of adobe and brick for big spans.
History reminds us, of course, that such work can be done with the
old materials: The fIrst largest spanned masonry paraboloid vault was
built fourteen centuries ago for the palace of a Persian king. The great
hall of the Ctesiphone Palace was built with simple brick, without form 2.9 The great hall of Ctesiphone Palace
work, to span over 25 meters (80 feet). It was 34 meters (112 feet) high (modern day Iraq).
and la,ted fm many centurie,. The g<eat ma,omy vault, and,::;~\ \'l~\I'l"

~~
IDliiJ[nm~' ,
(\~ ~~
~ ~'b", -'
- ~llIt,,~"'ll ~,,-.
(
'f ~'" t
,~i' flU ,!T, ~ I ,

IrliW' Q
IJt'
,.-....

STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES 59
Islamic architecture, as well as Gothic and many other European monu-
mental buildings, successfully were built before any mathematical cal-
culations could prove that they could not be built. Human knowledge
and intuition of the natural principles have created great buildings with
the simplest materials. Even today in many Middle Eastern cities, such
as Yazd and Kashan in Iran, comparatively large spanned domes and
vaults built with adobe and mud have lasted for centuries.
Building houses or common-use spaces such as offices, shops, and
schools is possible with earth architecture, especially in the appropriate
climates. Utilizing arched roofs with shallower ceilings than a catenary
curve may be easier, cheaper, and more desirable to build. The simple
arch, vault, and dome elements must be built with appropriate spans
and heights. The basic concern must not lie in how high the dome or
vault must rise or how large a span can be built. The main emphases
should go to the fact that buildings, especially shelters, can be created
with earth alone, and that everybody can learn how to build one for and
with the help of friends or family.
Then we must learn how to build with earth alone - no timber, steel,
2.10 Honeycomb hexagonal pattern. concrete, or plastic - beautifully, safely, economically, and quickly. Af-
Maximum spaces are created with mini- ter we learn to take into consideration all the climatic and socioeconomic
mum material. factors, we can concentrate on the design, the material, and the method
of construction.

HONEYCOMBS, ORANGES, Let us use the structure of honeycombs and oranges as models for our
AND ARCHED FINGERS earth architecture design. A study of the hexagonal pattern of the honey-
comb or the radial division of an orange will show the maximum com-
pact plan. It reveals again how nature constructs with minimum material
to create maximum space and structure. For real-life design, it means the
maximum common walls and minimum exposure to the outside envi-
ronment. Look again at the honeycomb structure - here is the same hex-
agonal pattern that is created by the natural compaction of circular units,
as discussed earlier.
There are unlimited numbers of such structures in nature, all follow-
ing the same spirit of unity between material, form, color, pattern, and
structure. In earth architecture with flat roofs, we could learn and uti-
lize similar principles; but when we construct with arched roofs, the
integration of such principles into the design brings us closer to the nat-
ural limits. Using the honeycomb or orange-cut radial plan as a basis for
construction with earth walls, arch, vault, and dome forms is a great step
towards the use of maximum space, and minimum material. It will cre-
ate a lasting structure that works with gravity instead of against it.
The arched forms - a simple window, a vaulted or domed roof - work
with the force of gravity, rather than against it. Earlier we learned how
the form of a catenary arch is in total compression. Now we will look at
the equilibrium of these forms when used together.

60 CERAMIC HOUSES
.....,-~
~

2.11 A model of an office buildi ng, motel ,

hospital , or market with rows of vaults and
a courtyard surrounded by a domed ar·
cade: minimum material, maximum space,
short walking distance, short utility lines,
If we make an arch with our thumb and forefInger, and stand this arch minimum exposure, and maximum struc-
over a table top and press on it, we will feel the separation of the two tural equilibrium . (Rendering by Mr. Pashu-
fIngers - the legs of the arch - as we press harder and harder on them. tan , architect.)
To stop the separation of the arched fIngers we can form another arch
with the other hand and locate it next to the one on the table -like two
arches in rows - to counteract the forces. The touching arches will resist
all the force we can muster, and will not slip until the fIngers are crushed.
Similarly, by producing rows of arches, we will have a lasting form as
long as the material doesn't crush.
Arches, vaults, and domes work on the same principle. To counter-
act their forces we must use more arches, vaults, and domes. At the end
of the last row or leg, we can either build a very thick wall, or a counter-
acting structure called a buttress. We can also reduce the size of the last
arch, vault, or dome to be used as a useful space and at the same time
buttress the last leg. The Gothic flying buttresses, the minarets of the
mosques, and wind catcher towers are good examples of how the last 2.12 Radial division of an orange- a
leg could be stopped from slipping while the buttress itself is used compact plan .

STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES 61
2.13 Counteracting arched fingers.

2.14 Rows of arches balance each other.

End arches need buttressing to counter-
balance the horizontal force.

2.15 Small arches buttress the large

arch.

architecturally. Then it is obvious that if we build walls with compact

patterns-as we have seen in the honeycomb and the orange-with no
end wall, and put domes and vaults over them, they will counterbalance
each other endlessly and permanently.

62 CERAMIC HOUSES
•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R ~
BASIC FORMS AND DESIGNS

If we learn how to build a wall, an arch, a vault, and a dome, we can con-
struct a building with earth as its only material anywhere in the world.
But we must only build where it is appropriate. Hot and arid deserts are
not the only suitable climates, as is the common belief. Earth buildings
have been built all over the world: in the hottest deserts of the Middle
East; in the freezing and snowy climate of Scandinavia; and in tropical
countries such as Costa Rica in Central America, which has an annual
rainfall of 180 cm (70 inches). Thus to build with earth is appropriate
everywhere in the world. But it is not the earth alone that makes a build-
ing. Skills, availability of the earth itself, local tradition, acceptance, and
socioeconomics playa great part in the whole process.
Where appropriate climate and conditions do exist, we could build
an entire town with earth alone. Everywhere in the world people know
how to construct a wall. Then it is only a matter of learning how to build
the other three elements. Structurally speaking, a vault is but a deep arch
and a dome a rotating arch. Other curved forms, such as the apse, are
simply derivatives of these three basic forms; all stem from the arch.
Here is the rule of thumb for designing a vault or dome roof:

1. A room with a rectangular plan, or close to rectangular shape, should

have a vault roof.
2. A square or circular plan room, or a many-sided shape close to a square
or circle, should have a dome roof.
3. Rooms that can be broken into semi-rectangular or semi-square shapes 2.16 An arch is a single-curvature struc-
should have a combination of vaults and domes. The connecting elements ture (curved up and down).
between the spaces are the arches.

63
Construction of single-space or detached rooms should be avoided.
A single room with a vault or a dome roof built over the walls will either
need very thick walls or end buttresses. If a dome or a vault is built directly
on the ground, without walls, or buttressed by the ground, individual
spaces can be safely constructed.
Unlimited spatial possibilities are created when the earth is the only
material and simple geometry is the pattern. This can be seen in millions
of buildings built in the world. To expand even further, beyond the soft
earth and the simple geometry the element of frre and human vision
could open new frontiers of earth architecture.

2.17 A vault is a deep arch, a single-

curvature structure (many arches stacked
back to back).

2.18 A dome is a double curvature struc-

ture (curved up and down, and sideways).

2.19 An apse is a section of a dome

(commonly used as an entrance porch).

-~-~~---~-~-~--

64 CERAMIC HOUSES
3
Earth, air, fire, and
water are obedient creatures,

•
they are dead to you and me,
but alive at God's presence.
-Rumi P·A·R·T
- - ------_._----

Materials and
if;; Techniques
•

C·H·A·P·T·E·R ~
APPROPRIATE SITE,
APPROPRIATE MATERIAL

If we are concerned about providing shelters for humans, then an ap-

AN APPROPRIATE SITE
propriate site is a luxury in which we should not indulge ourselves. It
rarely happens that one can afford to purchase an appropriate site for
an appropriate earth architecture. We must concentrate on the idea of
being fortunate enough to have a piece of land, and we should do our
best to build a good building on it. And by a good building we mean one
that is strong enough, beautiful enough, efficient enough, and afford-
able enough. The "enough" is a factor that changes from person to per-
son and condition to condition. It is a grand mistake to try to standardize
earth architecture-we have seen the bleak housing projects, faceless
office buildings, and other disasters created by the overuse of the Inter-
national Style of modern architecture.
It is important to learn as much about the site as possible before start-
ing to build on it. We begin by observing where the sun rises and sets
and in what direction the winds blow. A design based on the sun and
the wind is a good start.
Then we start digging, to learn about the earth. Is the earth good
enough to build with, or should we bring other earth to mix with it? Of
course, the ideal condition is to dig the soil from our land and construct
the building with it. Or dig a basement and use the earth to construct
it. But bringing the earth from outside or buying earth-clay is not like
buying steel, concrete, or timber. We may be able to dig in a nearby area
or purchase it from other spots. The major cost is transportation, which
can mean renting a truck or borrowing a few donkeys. Even buying blocks
can sometimes be justifIed, since the earthen material is the only major
material we will need.
For those who have the possibility of selecting a site, choose a site with
the following attributes for maximum safety and economy: dry land

67
instead of wet and marshy; soil containing clay and sand instead of or-
ganic materials and rocks; a site with no chance of being flooded; site
with available water, well or piped, and other utilities; good access, size,
view, and neighborhood. However, on every piece of land a structure
can be built-with an appropriate material and suitable design. Earth
architecture has been built on cliffs, marshlands, snowy mountains, and
the harshest deserts. This is not to say that earth architecture is suitable
to be built anywhere in the world. But since the earth is the most abun-
dant material, with unique environmental qualities, it will fmd more
places in the world to be appropriately used than other materials.
Digging our site and trying to understand the soil and its suitability
will require some basic knowledge that anyone can learn. Of course, we
could get help from specialists or testing laboratories - but this is a far-
fetched idea for most of the world's population. If international organi-
zations or local government bodies could provide people with such basic
information as what type of earth is good for what building technique,
then leaps in providing shelters would be achieved. But for now, let's
learn the way of knowledge for individuals-the homemade tests and
ways of fInding, extracting, and mixing earth. When we understand the
earth, we will be able to use it wisely.

AN APPROPRIATE Humans are created from clay. These words are inscribed in holy books
MATERIAL and the writings of saints, philosophers, and poets. Avicenna, the great
Islamic-Persian philosopher and doctor, treated human illness based on
the unity of the soul and body and the equilibrium of the elements (earth,
water, air, fIre) in the human body-the body being the earth-clay and
the blood being the fIre. In the Persian language, the most common word
for "beauty" or "attractiveness" is formed from the word gel, meaning
clay. Khosh-gel means beautiful, good clay, happy clay, and bad-gel means
ugly, or bad clay. Thus a beautiful woman, flower, or building is molded
from a good and happy clay and a bad one is made of a bad clay.

I wake up thinking about clay.

Why is it that we still know so little about this simple
material? Humans have used it since the dawn of civiliza-
tion, and even earlier.
Ignorance about clay-the substance and its behavior is
acknowledged in every book on ceramic, brick, and clay
technology. The mystery of clay shows how little we under-
stand the nature under our feet, yet simple men and
women making jars can feel their way with clay. Clay is a
phenomenon to be understood only through the extension
of our senses, not through our logic. The coming of indus-
trialism with its spangles has thoroughly blinded the
human creature to the soul that is alive in clay. The protec-

68 CERAMIC HOUSES
tive layer that industrialized people have developed has
numbed their senses.
Concrete and steel have stopped the progress of the clay,
which can so beautifully mold imagination into form and
space. Vaults and domes, the children of clay, are but imi-
tated in concrete and steel, while the opportunity to create
new forms with clay has been stopped somewhere in his-
tory. Except for the ceramicist, who is sensitive to earth,
today no industry would use the material were it not
cheaper than plastic.
Clay is the gift of the Eastern civilization to the West.
The altars of the temples of the Western world are made of
gold and silver, but here the devout Persian touches his
forehead to a bit of clay and bows to God.
There are as many poems in this culture about clay as
there are forms in a piece of it. I reach for the book of Omar
Khayyam on the shelf and search for his thoughts on the
subject. He is most sensitive to clay in the culture of this
land. His whole philosophy is kneaded from clay. I fmd
some couplets:

And strange to tell, among that earthen lot

Some could articulate, while others not:
And suddenly one more impatient cried-
"Who is the Potter, Pray, and who the Pot?"

None answer'd this, but after silence spake

A vessel of a more ungainly make:
"They sneer at me for leaning all awry;
What! did the hand then of the Potter shake?"

Then said another- "Surely not in vain

My substance from the common earth was ta'en.
That He who subtly wrought me into shape
Should stamp me back to common earth again."

.. One of the hangups that has become almost second

nature to us is that we can think of clay only in the scale of
our hands. The analogous size of this word, clay, is so
limiting that we cannot break away from it. It is like
handing a bullet to a primitive man: he can only see and
feel the lead in his hands, but has no idea how far it can go.
Our understanding of the clay is just that-a vase or a brick
that can be moved with our hands, just the way it has been
for thousands of years, and no more.
The more we know about clay's ingredients and its
technical properties of elasticity, the more we replace it

APPROPRIATE SITE, APPROPRIATE MATERIAL 69

with plastics. This is a problem of technology, which gives
us only piecemeal knowledge of each individual substance
in a test tube.
We can't see the clay as a mass with a soul that might
create new phenomena should we, for example, set fIre to
it. We talk about its low strength and unpredictable be-
havior. We don't talk about how rocks and mountains are
created from it.
The simple elements of water, earth, air, and fIre can still
create, if the magic of their intimacy is understood, the
most perpetual relationship between matter and spirit. . . .
How is it that humans created the most beautiful struc-
tures and spaces out of clay units before the technology of
today stopped them at the elastic limit of this material?
How is it that since the strengths of materials have been
known and sophisticated calculations have been devel-
oped, no architect or engineer dares to build a mud vault
of more than a 3-meter span? And yet, far bigger spans
were built hundreds of years ago and still stand in the
ancient cities, such as Yazd and Kashan, along the great
desert.
Those 6-meter mud vaults and domes of Yazd were not
built from mathematical theories, but from the freedom of
soul to soar beyond the accepted 3-meter limit. To say that
we know a lot more about clay and its properties today
than at any previous time in history is no justifIcation for
the fact that we have lost the feel for it.

Working with the earth requires patience and hard work. If we learn
to work with it instead of against it, we will fInd the rewards to be both
physical and spiritual. What is under our feet is not "dirt;' is not "soil:'
It is better than gold.

- - - - - - - - - - . _ - - - - - - - - - .... _....._
..• _----_._-.

70 CERAMIC HOUSES
•

C·H·A·P·T·E·R 9
ADOBE

Adobe is a sun-dried construction block made of earth. Its main ingre-

dients are clay-earth and sand. Other materials are sometimes added to
this mixture to meet the local conditions and markets.
Adobe blocks are usually rectangular or square, and their dimensions
vary in different parts of the world. Iranian master masons have found
great flexibility in small sizes, such as 20 x 20 x 5 centimeters and its
half-size of 10 x 20 x 5 centimeters (8 x 8 x 2 inches and 4 x 8 x 2
inches). They also make shallow grooves by drawing their fIngers across
the face of the block, parallel to the edges to give the block better adhe-
sion to the mortar. Nubian (Egyptian) masons have been using adobe
sizes of 25 x 15 x 5 centimeters (10 x 6 x 2 inches), especially for roofs,
with added straw to make the block lighter. They also draw a diagonal
groove across the face of the block for better adhesion to the mortar
through suction. Such sizes and dimensions are used all over the world
because they are usually easy to handle - small blocks can even be tossed
in the air to reach workers on the roofs.
The largest and heaviest blocks are used in the West, specifIcally in
the southwestern United States. These blocks measure 25 x 35 x 10 cen-
timeters (10 x 14 x 4 inches), and they weigh anywhere between 15 to
18 kilos (35 to 40 pounds). Only strong and husky men can handle these
blocks - smaller or older men, women and children are out of the pic-
ture. These huge blocks were used more frequently during the days when
Native Americans were taken as prisoners, and the soldiers and prisoners
were used as construction workers.
Shelter that is within the reach of ordinary people should be made
to fIt the people's scale-young and old, men, and women, and children.
The size of the construction block or the method of construction should
allow the whole family to participate. The smaller sized adobe blocks and
the human relation with the physical and spiritual process of earth ar-

71
chitecture shows the reason for the abundance of earth buildings in the
East. Unfortunately, even though smaller-size adobes are also being used
in the West, very heavy blocks are what people visualize as standard.
Since most of the building codes are based on large-size adobe blocks,
then the block sizes have already been decided by the building codes.
It is a good practice, anywhere in the world, to try to use blocks that
are already familiar to the people. If a new block is produced it should
be used in conjunction with the familiar ones. In the United States,
20-centimeter- and 40-centimeter- (8-inch and 16-inch- ) thick walls are
common dimensions.
It is a good general rule to use one size block throughout the build-
ing. This will result in the minimum waste. If two sizes are used, the larger
ones must be utilized in the construction of the walls and dose-to-ground
sections, and the smaller ones used for the roof structures.
The adobe size used for general construction and details in this book
is the common Iranian block of 20 x 20 x 5 centimeters (8 x 8 x 2 inches),
which weighs about 3 to 4 kilos (7 to 9 pounds) and the half-size of the
same block, 10 x 20 x 5 centimeters (4 x 8 x 2 inches), which is also
a standard fIred-brick size in most parts of the world. In addition to its
human scale, the small adobe has other advantages. The single wooden
form used to make it can be washed in a standard-size water bucket. This
becomes particularly important when a high-day-content mixture is
used, since day sticks to the form. Another advantage to smaller blocks
is their flexibility in the wall and roof structure; the ability to toss them
in the air for higher elevation use; and the relatively small loss when a
block is broken.
Adobe construction is a low-cost, labor-intensive system. It is of great
value to almost all Third World countries, because of the availability of
cheap and relatively unskilled labor. But this applies only if the whole
process is done by hand and with traditional methods. Today we can use
machines to make our adobes, use pallets to carry them to the buildings,
and use forklifts to bring the blocks within arm's reach of the mason. Even
though making adobes by hand is a slow process, and constructing the
buildings with hard labor and high spirits has the greatest spiritual re-
wards, there are other ways of making buildings out of earth.
It is good to determine right from the beginning our own involvement
as a builder or user of an adobe building. Earth is the most suitable all-
around construction material in most of the world. Getting to know the
material and its vast possibility is a good start. And if we are concerned
only about the economics, then new tools and methods should be stud-
ied and used. For example, to use only big blocks as the quickest route
may be a complete misconception. A better way is to calculate the amount
of energy, humans, and fuel that will be used to achieve the set target.
We may fInd that it is a better solution to use rammed earth and mud-
pile construction (described later in this book). Or we even may want
to try a completely new approach. The material is the earth, but the limit
is the sky.

---.~~--------

72 CERAMIC HOUSES
Earth, soil, clay, mud, silt, fme earth, sand, straw, and stabilizing mate-
THE COMMON ADOBE
rial are the most common words we hear when someone is talking about MIXTURE
making adobe blocks. The word earth or soil is used to mean the natu-
ral, common material under our feet. Clay is the good and rich earth,
which we will talk about in greater length. Clay can also mean a mixture
of water and earth, the same as mud. Silt, fme earth, or very fme sand
may also mean the same thing, referring to very small particles that are
coarser than clay, but smaller than sand (just as rocks are broken to grain-
size particles as seen in beaches, deserts, and rivers). To simplify the
mixture we will talk about clay and sand, fme silt being a part of clayey
earth. (Beach sands are not appropriate because of their salt content.)
Straw and stabilizing materials are added to the adobe mixture for specifIc
reasons, which will be discussed.
"Clay" is the most important ingredient in every mixture. Clay in adobe
is like cement in concrete block, the adhesive element. Even the build-
ing codes* usually specify only the minimum or the maximum amount
of silt and clay allowed in the mixture of adobe blocks. Then to learn about
clay, it could be said, is to learn about adobe.
Let's divide the adobe mixtures into two types. First common adobe,
and second hred-structure (geltaftan) adobe. Clay will be discussed un-
1'---------1C WATER LEVEL
der the second category.
Generally speaking, almost anywhere in the world we can dig the
earth under our feet and build adobe blocks with it. In most cases, the
common earth is suitable for our purpose. This is to say that there is
enough clay and sand (coarse and hne-sand and silt) in the common
earth to make a good mixture. And, of course, a percentage of the block
will be a mixture of stones, roots, and other natural materials, which are
also acceptable. 3.1 Soil test jar.
We can learn what type of earth we have by performing a very simple
test, the jar test. Pour a handful of earth into a glass jar full of water. Then
shake the mixture and observe the settlement of the earth at the bottom
of the jar. The lowest layers are the rocks and pebbles; next the sand and
silt; and at the highest level, the clay. (Because the clay mixes with the
water, it will take a while to settle down and will be the last to separate.)
A look at the different layers will give us a good idea about the composi-
tion of our earth. From this simple test we can estimate the approximate
percentages of each material.
The U.S. adobe building codes specify the amount of silt-clay for adobe
blocks to be not less than 25 percent and not more than 45 percent. We
have worked with mixtures of much higher percentage very satisfactorily
in small blocks.
The best way to test our mixture is also the simplest. The simple test
is to make several full-size adobe blocks and let them dry. If there is too
much clay in the mixture, the blocks will have many cracks. If there is
too much sand, they will break easily and fall apart in the water quickly.
* See the Appendix for a more detailed look at codes, tests, and minimum allowances for
adobe mixtures in the United States.

ADOBE 73
The earth we use to make our sample blocks must be dug from below
the surface, at least as deep as the depth of our hand to the wrist, and
it must be free from topsoil and organic materials. When dried, the sam-
ple blocks will probably show some cracks and warpage. Cracks are not
bad if they are not too large and too many. Some codes allow up to two
or three cracks 7.5 centimeters (3 inches) long and 3.5 millimeters (1/8 inch)
wide. To see how bad the cracks are, we try to break them either by twist-
ing the block in our hands or dropping the blocks to the ground from
above knee height. After making a few hundred blocks, we will be able
to tell if the block is right just by looking at it.
The earth and water can be mixed in a pit, in a mechanical mixer, or
simply on the ground. An experienced adobe maker in Iran separates
a portion of the piled earth, fills it with water, and lets it sit over night
to "ripen." The next day he mixes gradually and makes his blocks; he
gives the water a chance to seep through as long as possible.
3.2 A simple mi xing technique for mak-
When it is ready, the mixture of clay-sand-water should have the con-
ing clay adobe bricks is performed right at
the site.

.'.... .. .1. . . t

.. .' --

74 CERAMIC HOUSES
sistency of bread dough; it should stay in the shovel rather than spill over.
Neither the water nor the soil mixture should contain much salt or lime.
The only way we can be assured of having the right mixture, the right
consistency and the right blocks is to work with the earth, to work with
the earth, and to work with the earth.

The use of straw in the mixture is practiced in some parts of the world.
STRAW
The straw is used for several reasons. First, it works as a reinforcing ele-
ment to stop the adobe block or mud plaster from cracking during the
drying and shrinkage period. Second, it is a good insulating material and
slows theprocess of heat transfer through the adobe block or mud plas-
ter. Third, it is water repellent and can help the waterproofmg ability of
the adobe block or mud plaster.
Straw can also be used to make the block lighter or to create special
textures. When clay-earth and very fme straw are mixed and "mellowed"
by time, they can be used to make a beautiful buff-colored plaster for
interior or exterior surfaces. Such natural color plasters, in combination
with white plaster trims and edges, have lasted in the Middle East,
especially Iran, for centuries.
The amount of straw to use is determined by the type of soil. Making
several blocks with various quantities of straw is the best way to fmd a
suitable proportion. A good start may be to use one or more handfuls
of straw for f1Ve small adobe bricks. The amount of straw used for plaster-
ing will depend on use and the exposure of the mud-straw plaster to the
elements. The more straw we use, the less surface cracking or erosion.
The straw size should be small, about a fInger length for block use
and much smaller for plaster use. Large-size straw in exposed surfaces
may attract insect nesting.
The use of straw in adobe blocks is not necessary. As a general rule,
any extra mixture with the natural earth should be avoided. The basic
idea in building with the earth is to use the earth alone. The use of straw
is a must for appropriate earth plaster material, but is not necessary for
the structural elements.

"Treated adobe" or "stabilized adobe" are common terms for adobe blocks
TREATED ADOBE MIXTURE
that have special additives. These additives are used mainly to limit the
water absorption of the block. Such mixtures are basically similar to the
common blocks, except for addition of a percentage of asphalt emulsion.
Portland cement or other additives are also used to achieve better
waterproofIng. Stabilized materials must be used for mortar as well.
Stabilized or treated adobe is usually manufactured and sold ready-made.
Such blocks, if made to correct specifIcations, can have a long-lasting life
without the protection of a stucco-coating.

A DOB E 75
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•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 10
GELTAFTAN (FIRED-EARTH)
-----~ -~~----

ADOBE MIXTURE

Adobe mixture for geltaftan - "fIred-earth" or "tired-structure'~ differs

from a common adobe mixture in its higher clay content and the purity
of the mix. The basic ingredients for ageltaftan adobe are clay and sand.
As a matter of fact, we use as much clay as possible, and enough sand
to create fusion in tire. To put it simply: For the best geltaftan structure,
use the mixture that makes the best tired brick. That means a clean mix-
ture of clay-sand without rocks and organic material. We don't need to
use pure clay, as is used in pottery; we can use clay-earth with very small
percentages of lime, salt, or organic matter. The mixture for geltaftan adobe
is similar to the common adobe mixture as far as the method of mixing,
time of setting, and method of casting and drying; the main difference
is the admixture.
Adobe containing rocks, especially the lime type, will crack after being
tired and after being in contact with moisture. Water will cause the tired
pieces of lime to expand and crack, or will chip the block. Some impuri-
ties can be tolerated, since we are making bricks, not ceramic bowls. After
tiring and cooling the experienced mason, ceramist, or kiln operator
immediately soaks the pieces with water or sprays water over the sur-
faces, so that the existing lime will get wet and break out. This is done
to prevent damage to the plastering. If the interior is plastered, then the
plaster moisture will cause the bricks to chip and crack and ruin the plas-
ter work. The adobe made for tiring must have rough surfaces. This is
usually made with grooves created by dragging tingers through the soft
adobe before it comes out of the form.
With the high percentage of clay content in the tire-structure mixture
it becomes obvious that we must search for more clay. Let's discuss clay
in more detail. What is clay? Where can it be found? And how can it be
used?

77
----------------
CLAY Clay is the fme earth. To the common person, clay is the sticky earth.
Our planet is making clay at this moment, just the way it has always been.
When most mountains are washed down by rain, the rocks are eventu-
ally turned into fme particles of clay. Clay is a type of earth that covers
the crust of this planet. Most of the crust of our planet has the chemical
substance that is the clay body. In most countries of the world large clay
deposits are shown in geological survey maps, but those are only regional
deposits. Clay pockets are everywhere and can easily be found by any-
one who has a little knowledge and a sensitivity for the earth.
Here is how we can detect clay. Drive a car through a piece of land,
or an unpaved road. The more dust that is raised and floats in the air
behind the car, the more clay is in the earth. Pick up a handful of the
earth and mix it with water. The muddier the water gets, the more clay
there is in the soil. There are several lab tests that will tell us all the
properties of the earth-clay we have found, but that is too involved to
be encouraging.
One of the best ways I have found to locate clay anywhere in the world
is to ask the natives, the potters, the brick makers, the farmers, or any-
one familiar with the area. They all know where the "good earth;' as they
usually call it, is located. And if we see any brick buildings around, we
know that there is probably lots of clay, because fIred brick is heavy and
is not usually transported over long distances.
It is simple and helpful to make some fIeld tests to learn about the type
of clay we have found. To see how plastic the clay is, we wet the clay to
a dough-like consistency and roll it into a coil between the palms of our
hands. If the soil has too little clay, it will fall apart. If the earth-clay makes
a good, rope-like coil, then try to bend it like a rope. The cracks created
at the bend will show us the amount of clay in the earth. Earth that is
almost all clay will bend and fold like a piece of rope, with hardly any
cracks.
To fInd the amount of shrinkage in the earth-clay, we make some flat
,-<;.,,;,;.~ _ --'--:--::::.--';.::-7'(;,
10 CM_'-.-
_
test bars about 3 centimeters wide by 15 centimeters long and 11fz cen-
timeters thick (1 x 6 x 1fz inches). Put this stick-like bar on a table and
draw two very thin lines across the bar, exactly 10 centimeters, which is
3.3 Clay bar made in the field for shrink-
age test. equal to 100 millimeters (4 inches divided into 100 fractions - engineer
scale), apart. The reason for making it in centimeters and millimeters,
or the 100th fractions of an inch, is for ease of calculation of the percent
of shrinkage.
After the bar has dried completely, measure the same distance again.
If it is 9.5 centimeters (or 95 fractions, instead of 100), for example, we
will know that it has shrunk 5 percent. Some clays shrink a lot, and may
need more sand added to the mixture. Common earth-clay shrinks any-
where between 8 percent to 20 percent or even more. If we fIre the bar,
it will give us the fIring shrinkage. The shrinkage due to fIring is much
less than the shrinkage due to drying, generally from 2 percent to 6
percent.
Since a large amount of clay is needed for the mixture, and since clay

--------------
78 CERAMIC HOUSES
3.4 Scored clay after drying in separat-
ing pit.

deposits are not always pure, we should separate the impurities from
the clay-earth. If our earth is clay, but all lumpy, then we soak it over-
night in a shallow pit and use the mix the next day. (The lumpy clay does
not fall apart in the water quickly; it needs time.) If our earth is a mix-
ture of £me clay and pieces of rocks and pebbles, we just use a screen
to sift the £me clay-earth.
The best way to extract clay from soil that is mixed - filled with rocks,
gravel, and other impurities-is as follows: Dig two pits 30 centimeters
(12 inches) apart of around 3 x 3 x 0.3 meters (10 x 10 feet x 12 inches)
in gently sloping ground. (If you have flat ground, dig one pit deeper.)
Connect them by a spillway-trough. Fill one pit with water, closing the
spillway-trough . Mix the soil in the water with a shovel, and let the
muddy water spill over to the next pit. Let the clay in the muddy water
set in the second pit. Repeat the action until the second pit is filled with
muddy water, and let the muddy water settle. At the bottom of the sec-
ond pit will be clay. All rocks, gravel, and the like will settle in the bot-
tom of the frrst pit. These must be removed before the next soil-water

/J
mix operation is started. (This action could also be done with empty
containers in a semi-mechanical way.) This simple operation will give 3.5 Cross section of clay-separating pits.
us all the clay we need for mixture to make our adobe blocks, and we
can even make pottery out of it.

_ .<;'I,I1ol1. ~ I. ¥("

GELTAFTAN (FIRED-EARTH) ADOBE MIXTURE 79

The best fmal test is to mix the soil and make several sample adobe
blocks. Let them dry out and then fire them at about l,OOO°C (l,830 0 P,
or cone 06) in a potter's kiln or in a nearby school kiln. Taking the fired
brick and trying to break it will give us an easy answer. Good clay-earth
makes strong blocks after fIring. If we bang a couple of them against each
other, the sound will tell us how good our fIred brick is. The sound made
by hitting a couple of pieces of unfired or low-fired bricks against each
other is a dead sound; well-fired, good clay brick rings like a bell.
We can also test the brick by soaking it with water. Good fired clay
brick does not erode or fall apart, no matter how long it soaks in water.
An acceptable brick absorbs anywhere from 18 percent to 25 percent of
its weight in water. Codes specify the amount.
The firing temperature is around 1,000°C (l,830 0 P). This temperature
is known as "cone 06/1 in pottery language.
We must remember that we are not making a piece of pottery, we are
making a fired brick. Our clay does not have to be as fine and pure as
the clay used for pots. It can tolerate some impurities, organic material,
salt, lime, or other substances. Ceramic pots made of such clay will crack
and fall to pieces; but in a heavy piece of brick, it does not matter as much.
As long as it is fired well, won't crack, and can fuse together, some im-
purities are acceptable. If we look at a good structural, factory-fIred brick,
we will see that it is dense and has few impurities; but there are other
grades of bricks that have lasted in buildings for centuries - handmade,
less pure, and less dense. A good rule of thumb is take out all rocks and
other organic materials to keep the mixture as soft as clay. Pieces of rock
or gravel will fall apart when the block is fired or when it comes in con-
tact with wet mortar or moisture.
Materials for common adobe or geltaftan adobe may both be bought
and brought to the site. It may seem expensive at first glance; but it is
the only material to be transported, not one of several. The proportion
of clay and sand does not vary greatly. The clay-earth, almost all clay and
silt, could be dug and, without any other mixtures, be made into adobes.
The amount of shrinkage resulting in cracking could be controlled by the
addition of some fine sands. Large adobe blocks will shrink and crack
and will need a lot more sand than small blocks. This is one of the basic
reasons for standard, small sizes of fired brick. We can easily use 20 x
20 x 5-centimeter- (8 x 8 x 2-inch- ) blocks, which are small enough
to avoid shrinkage and cracking. The amount of sand, up to 20 percent
or 30 percent, depends on the clay types. But the best mixture could be
found by making and fIring test blocks and then trying to break the sam-
ple bricks. The sophisticated systems of fired-brick industries are un-
limited sources of research, of course. But basically the clay has kept its
mysteries and humans have yet to completely understand this substance.

--------._--------
80 CERAMIC HOUSES
11
ADOBE: FORMS AND
BLOCK-MAKING

-------------
To make adobe blocks of full size and half size, square and rectangular,
FORMS
we have to make forms. The forms are usually made of good quality,
smooth wood. Single, double, or multiple forms may be made, depend-
ing on what is required. If we are after large and fast production of adobe
blocks, and if we have manpower available, then multiple forms can be
used. But if the adobes are made by the members of a family, including
women and children, then single forms and up to three-section forms
are practical for full-size blocks. For half-size blocks, two- to six-section
forms can be used.
For full blocks, the forms are 20 x 20 x 5 centimeters (8 x 8 x 2 inches);
and half-size forms are 10 x 20 x 5 centimeters (4 x 8 x 2 inches). When
making the forms, the sharp edges and corners should be sanded smooth
to avoid injury. Sometimes metal sheets are used to tie the wooden pieces
together for a better, more uniform fit with the least number of nails. Metal
sheets may create sharp edges if the forms are not handled with care.
A skilled and motivated adobe maker can make all the adobes required
with a single form and a helper, as quickly as the blocks could be made
with multiple forms. One adobe maker and his son, using one adobe
form for full-size blocks and one five-section form for half-size blocks,
made all the blocks needed to construct a ten-classroom school-with
only one month of lead time before construction began.
After the adobe is dried out, the block will be smaller than the form.
If we want to make a more accurate block size, then we must first learn
about our mixture and its shrinkage-percentage and make the form that
much larger. However, for general use and non-machine-made blocks,
such accuracy is not needed; shrinkage can be accommodated by adjust-
ing the mortar joints during construction.

81
~
'!'
"

\()c,

bt "

3.6 Adobe block forms and stacked

blocks. Single, double, or multiple forms
can be used for small or large blocks.
Forms for half-size blocks usually hold five,
to fit an arm span. A simple method of
stacking adobe blocks is vertically in
slanted rows. (Large-size adobes are stan-
dard in the U.S., while smaller ones are
common in Iran.)

1. The day before block-making begins, transport enough adobe mix-

BLOCK-MAKING
ture for a day's work to the block-making area. The closer at hand the
mixture is, the faster adobe making will go.
2. Have a thorough knowledge of the local weather conditions. Wet or
freezing weather will destroy adobe-making efforts.
3. Designate a piece of flat, raw land for the operation and sprinkle the
area with some sand. This will let the block breathe, and will also ab-
sorb the extra water during the drying period. Blocks made on an as-
phalt surface, for example, are subject to nonuniform drying and
cracking. As a general rule, to prevent adobe blocks from sticking to the
ground, or to prevent wet mixture from sticking to the wheelbarrow, we
can use sand, straw, or just some dry adobe mixture.
4. Soak the form in water. The water container, usually a bucket, should
be right next to the adobe maker for constant use. It is best to dip the
form in the water before making every other block.

82 CERAMIC HOUSES
3.7 An Iranian adobe maker, with a sin-
gle form, a bucket of water, and his son
assisting him , makes all the blocks for a
ten-classroom school.

3.8 A Mexican adobe maker (adobero)

uses a wheelbarrow, a bucket, and a four-
block form.

ADOBE : FORMS AND BLOCK-MAKING 83

5. lay the form on the ground. Pour the earth-clay mixture into the form
with a shovel, or with both hands if the material is next to you and your
form is small. With both hands, work the mixture well into the corners
of the form so that there are no gaps. Then flatten the top of the block
even with the form edges by wetting and rubbing with the hands. For
the £mal touch, after the surface is even, make shallow grooves with eight
fingers in a parallel line from edge to edge. These grooves will help the
block and mortar make a tight bond. When the block is used to build
a curved roof, the grooves help reduce the chances of slippage. And for
fIred-structures, the grooves help the fusion process. Then hold the form
by both hands and pull up, and start the next one.

6. Dry the blocks flat for a day or more, depending on the weather. Then
stand the blocks on edge to dry evenly. Wait one more day before stack-
ing them to sit for the total drying period, which may take between one
and two weeks.
Stack the adobes on the ground as close together as possible, for mini-
mum land use and ease of stacking. Each row of adobe can be made with
no separation between the blocks (other than the dividing form thick-
ness), which makes a little distance in between it and the next row. At
the start, if the form sticks to the adobe and the block doesn't come out
easily, this just means we must practice more.

To check the adobe for dryness after the total drying period, break one
and look at its color. A uniform color means a dry adobe; shades of light
and dark at the broken edge means there are wetter and dryer parts. Dur-
ing the drying period the adobe blocks will develop some cracks, due
to the shrinkage. Most cracked adobes are acceptable if their cracks are

3.9 Mechanized adobe making in the

United States, San Juan Pueblo adobe
yard , New Mexico.

84 CERAMIC HOUSES
not too many, too long, and too deep. Dropping a block from about knee-
high to the ground will show how bad the cracks are. In some building
codes these cracks are specifIed and their acceptability defined. For ex-
ample, Western codes usually accept up to three cracks, each one as long
as 75 millimeters and as wide as 3 millimeters (3 inches long and Va inch
wide). Cracks may be caused by too much clay, too fast drying, or too
large block size; but incorrect mixture proportions are the main cause.
After the first few days of drying, the adobes must be stacked on their
edges for the one-to two-week drying period. The stacking is done to
clear the ground for the next batch, for ease of transportation, and for
better protection.
Many patterns of stacking are used in different parts of the world. In
brick-manufacturing yards, where the kilns are burning all year round,
the large amount of adobe blocks are made during the warm seasons,
and saved for the winter. These large masses of tightly stacked earth
blocks are sometimes covered, only at the top, with a very thick layer
of the same earth to protect the blocks from rain and snow. Adobe blocks,
once made and dried, can resist several showers of rain, depending on
the amount of clay in the mixture.

The best mortar for common adobe construction is made from the same
-----~-----~

MORTAR MIXTURE
material as the adobe blocks. The important difference is the amount of
rocks and organic materials. The mortar must be as free from these
materials as possible. Screened earth will give us a good clay-sand com-
bination for mortar. In the old Persian tradition, to separate the rocks from
mortar or even adobe mixes, the owner would drop coins into the mud
mixture and the workers or the mason would try to find the coins. They
would pick out and throwaway the rocks in their efforts to get the money.
Such practices bring humor and good results to the work.
Use of additives such as lime, sand, straw, cement, or other stabilizers
in the mix is not necessary, and may even be damaging because their
reaction to weather will differ from pure-earth adobe blocks (unless, of
course, the block is made from the similar materials).
Mortar for fired-structure construction is also the same material as its
adobe, except when a better fusion is desired between the block and the
mortar. The best materials to use in the mortar mixture are the common
ceramic glazing mixtures such as glass, soda, or Colmanite. Colmanite
(known among potters as gerstley borate) is a natural mineral used in
powder form and mixed with water. It is relatively abundant and inex-
pensive in some parts of the world, and mixes with clay and sand easily
to make a good mortar. Colmanite, soda, and glass are fluxes - materials
used in ceramics to create better fusion and lower the melting tempera-
ture of the mix. Fluxes will help melt and fuse the mortar in the relatively
low temperature used for firing structures (around 1,OOO°C or 1,830°F).

~ ~-~--------------- ._--
ADOBE: FORMS AND BLOCK-MAKING 85
3.10 Machine-made blocks are stacked
on pallets and delivered to the site.

The amount of Colmanite or other fluxes in the mortar varies depend-

ing on the clay, the mixture, or the frre .
It is best to mix some clay-sand mortar and add one or more of the
fluxes in 5 to 20 percent test samples. We make some block samples from
the adobe mix we will be using, and stick them together with this mor-
tar, and frre them. We will then see which mixture provides the best bond,
and can adjust the mortar mix accordingly. Local potters can be of great
help in these determinations. Hundreds of tests have been carried out
by my students to fmd the most available, least expensive, and basic mix-
ture materials around the world. The result showed very promising fu-
sions created by the following mixtures :

• clay and table salt

• clay, lime, borax, and crushed glass
• clay, crushed glass, and slag
• clay and borax
• clay and crushed glass
• clay, sand, and colmanite

86 CERAMIC HOUSES
•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R
--------
12
FOUNDATIONS

Why do we need a foundation? Any type of ground can resist only a

certain amount of load, dead or live, before it cracks, slides, caves in, or
slips. Dead loads include the weights of our walls, roofs, and so forth;
and live loads include people, furniture, and snow. These are all vertical
loads coming to the ground via our structure, and the ground should
support them safely.
Earthquake and wind loads are similar to live loads, but they are
mostly horizontal- they push, pull, and uplift, creating unbalanced loads
both for the building and the ground. There are also pressures and reac-
tions from the ground - moisture, freezing, and swelling can uplift build-
ings. And adding to all these comes the greatest enemy of all for buildings
built with earth: wet weather.
With all these problems surrounding our buildings, if we add social,
cultural, and economic problems to them, it seems amazing that humans
even dare to pour foundation to their shelters. But building shelters, even
more than fInding food, has always been foremost in the human mind
and soul; and despite all the problems, perhaps the greatest portion of
human ingenuity has gone into creating buildings. Humans are build-
ers by nature.
We don't need to worry about many of the factors concerned in build-
ing other foundations, since our earth structure is simple and is a part
of the earth itself. There are many buildings built with earth-adobe blocks
or chineh ("mud-pile" in Persian) in the world that do not have a special
foundation. The earth is simply dug to a shallow depth and the adobe
blocks are set right from the ground, up to and including the roof. Many
such buildings in the hot and arid climates of the Middle East have lasted
for centuries.
Use of concrete for adobe foundations has become common practice,
especially in the Western world, where cement and steel reinforcing is
relatively inexpensive and abundant.

87
While in many parts of the world a bag of Portland cement is a black-
market item, in the West it is quite common. Almost all building codes
are deeply involved with the use of such manufactured and tested
materials. Even for common adobe buildings, it has now become a great
challenge to replace the required concrete items in earth buildings with
materials other than concrete. The inherent strength and predictability
of concrete members has pushed building officials to the easy-out expla-
nations of the charts; earth structures, on the other hand, are not so easy
to categorize and thus are harder to explain in official language. The time-
tested adobe structures are good evidence to use to challenge the set rules
and regulations pushed on earth structures by the codes. The more strict
the codes, the less chance there is that we will develop affordable shelters.
The use of manufactured materials such as cement or steel in adobe
buildings becomes ridiculous in much Third World construction. Ce-
ment, for example, is often mixed with salty water and muddy sands to
make concrete. And it is a proven fact that some concrete tests in these
areas have shown lower compressive strength than the common adobe.
Use of concrete foundation and treated adobe blocks in the West must
not be a reason to use modern materials without technology to back them
up. The basic indigenous and natural materials of clay, sand, lime, and
rocks can still create the most durable foundations, if used with the tra-
dition.
Fortunately, the great wave of interest shown by Westerners in adobe,
rammed earth, and other earth architecture has created many challenges
to the dogmas of the Western building codes. And it won't be too long
before many of the traditional ways and materials will become Western
trends as well. And then it would be scornful to see the industrialized
West choosing the tradition of Third World construction systems, while
the Third World is busy imitating the discarded ways of the Western
world.
Before we begin building the foundation to our earth building, we
must learn about the earth on our site. It is also a good idea to lind out
what kind of foundations nearby buildings have, and what the local
building traditions are. Even though each site in the area may have a
different type of soil, long experience usually leads the whole region to
build similar foundations.
The depth of the foundation is mainly determined by the frost depth,
since freezing makes the earth swell and lift and crack the walls. For
example, if the ground freezes to about 2 feet deep, then the bottom of
the foundation should be below that. Earth architecture is commonly
found in the desert regions of the world, and there are a lot of freezing
desert climates, despite the connotation that desert means "hot:' But
since there is hardly any ground moisture in arid regions, then even the
freezing depth may not be a serious factor. In countries or regions with
building codes, the minimum depth for foundations is usually pre-
determined. Even though their validity is questionable, the codes must
be followed.

-------------- ---------------------------
88 CERAMIC HOUSES
---------------
Unless the site and soil is unusual, the following simple rules should TYPES OF SOIL
be enough to help us build a solid foundation. After digging into a piece
of ground to, say, knee-high, we may fInd one of the following situations:

1. A hard ground with a mixture of rocks, gravel, sand, and the clay that
has glued them together. This conglomerate soil will make a solid ground
for our foundation.
2. Rocky ground, which is solid and fme to build on.
3. Clay ground must be looked at for suitability. If the soil is solid, dry
clay, it is ftt to be built on. But if the ground is a wet clay, it is not suitable-
especially if the wet clay land is on a slope, which may cause the foun-
dation to slip. The wet clay ground creates slippage and cracks under
the load differences of the walls.
4. Organic soil or ftll is a weak ground. It should either be avoided, or
the foundation should be dug deep enough to rest on the solid natural
and dry soil.

The foundation must be built on a piece of land with a uniform type

of soil. Differences in soil condition under different walls can cause
uneven settling and cracks.

Once suitable soil is found, we dig a foundation ditch that is 20 to 30 COMMON ADOBE
centimeters (8 to 12 inches) wider than our walls - 20 centimeters (8 FOUNDATIONS
inches) wider if we want to use concrete footing, and 30 centimeters (12
inches) wider if we want to use rock footing. Rock foundations are built
with clay, cement, or a lime-clay-sand mortar. The rocks must ftt snugly
so that if floods and heavy rains wash the mortar away, the foundation
won't fall apart. The foundation under bearing walls must be wider than

~;;:=!!=-o...,( c; STABILIZED ADOBES

~, WATERPROOF MEMBRANE

:t z ~ -:_~~~.i=~ ? FINISHED FLOOR

<O~:L;Q_ _. -:,... 1-=----------
'~.'<I .~2tL~:J·:::. :.i"::."~:.._~~_
NATURAL CONCRETE OR CONCRETE
GRADE BLOCK FOUNDATION WALL
REBAR

CONCRETE FOOTING

WIDTH OF WALL +20 CM. (8'1

3.11 Concrete foundation.

FOUNDATIONS 89
WATERPROOF MEMBRANES t:li:=t:1~~ ADOBE Wi\LL

~ r- FINISHED FLOOR

NATURAL ~
GRADE?

i 60 eM.
--.1'------- - -- -~
3.12 Rock foundation. 2'0"

the wall itself to give it more bearing capability. But for partition walls,
a wider foundation is not generally needed. Foundations with packed
gravel as the only material can also be built on.
A very common material used for foundation in some parts of the
world is earth and lime or lime concrete (called shefteh, in Persian). Shefteh
is a mixture of earth-clay, sand, and lime with a proportion of about 250
kilograms (550 pounds) of lime powder to one cubic meter (35 cubic feet)
of common adobe soil that has clay and sand in it. Sometimes pieces of
rocks are also added to the mix. After the mixture is placed in the foun-
dation ditch, we let it sit overnight to lose its water to the ground. The
next day we compact the foundation with a hand ram. For deeper foun-
dations, shefteh is poured and rammed in layers of 30 centimeters (12
inches). Lime mixes of different proportions have successfully been used
in the Third World and the West as water resistant material.
If the soil is dry clay, and the climate is hot and arid, we can dig our
foundation trench and start our adobe wall right from the fIrst layer into
the ground. Generally, no rock or concrete foundation or any special
treatment is needed in very arid climates. Common adobe must always
be protected from water, especially from ground water, which seeps up
the wall by capillary action. To have a lasting adobe wall it is advisable
to build-even if building codes don't specify-a water resistant foun-
dation wall that extends above the natural grade at least 15 centimeters
(6 inches). However, in dry desert areas of the Middle East, walls that
have no foundations have been standing for centuries.
Treated adobe may also be used to build the foundation walls. The
foundation wall, or the stem, is the short wall built over the footing up
to a distance above the natural grade. If the foundation is shallow, then
the footing is built as one piece to the above-grade height; but if the foun-
dation is deep, then the footing is built wider and it is continued, with
the same material, in a narrower width as the foundation wall to the
above-grade elevation.

90 CERAMIC HOUSES
After the foundation has been built with concrete or rocks to 15 cen-
timeters (6 inches) above the natural grade, the adobe wall can begin.
A layer of tar paper or lime-cement mortar waterproofIng could be laid
in the joint between the top of the foundation wall and the fIrst layer of
the adobe, although in normal conditions it is not needed. A Portland
cement mortar cap can also be built as waterproofIng over the founda-
tion wall. When concrete block foundation wall is used the cavities are
fIlled with rocks, and then capped with a layer of Portland cement mor-
tar. The waterproofIng will stop seepage of water from the foundation
wall to the adobe wall.

The foundation for fIred structures isn't much different from the com- GELTAFTAN FOUNDATIONS
mon adobe foundation, except in some cases. If we want to fIre the walls
all the way down to below-grade level (that is, including the adobe-block
foundation), then we leave the foundation walls exposed to the fIre. To
achieve a uniform fIred-foundation we must provide flue openings at the
lowest part of the structure, so that the fIre is pulled down to the lowest
adobes. (Flues are discussed in Part 4.) The base of the foundation is over
a layer of volcanic sand-gravel for base isolation.
After the fIring is done, fIll and pack the trench at the foundation wall
with loose gravel and cover it with packed clay. If we want to fIre the fInish
floor at the same time, we leave a distance equivalent to a fIred block-
say 20 centimeters (8 inches) - between the inner face of the foundation
wall to the inside floor line; after fIring, we just cover the inside trench
with a fIred brick to match the fInished floor. In this case it may be prefer-
able to fIre the structure fIrst, including the foundation, and construct
floor slab and fInishes later. If flooring is uniformly constructed with the
foundation, it must also have a packed base.
If our foundation is conventional rocks or concrete, separate the adobe
walls that are to be fIred from the foundation wall by four or more layers
of pre-fIred bricks. This creates a fIred-brick buffer zone between the rock

FLUE ---~'>I ADOBE

~~k FINISHED FLOO?

3.13 Uniform geltaftan foundation section

SAND-GRAVEL BASE at a flue.

- - - - - - _ .... --------_._-------

FOUNDATIONS 91
WATERPROOF MEMBRANE
CONCRETE OR CONCRETE
NATURAL)
BLOCK FOUNDATION WALL
GRADE 1::;;:
< . () REBAR
cot~

+
I

3.14 Standard foundation modified for WIDTH OF WALL +20 CM. (8")
firing.

or concrete foundation wall and the adobe wall. Even if waterproofmg

membrane is used, it will be in the lower level, under the pre-fIred bricks,
where the fIre cannot melt or destroy it. In this condition, the floor could
also be fired along with the walls, since the flue openings are at the
underside level of the finished floor. In the area of the flue openings, the
floor-slab adobes could either be left out and Wed later; or mortar spaces
between the floor blocks could be left open so that the fIre can go through
the floor and up the flue. Constructing the floor after the fIring of the
structure can be a simpler job. Generally speaking, the fire could be led
into any area, below or above the foundation, depending where the level
of the flue openings are located. This is similar to the downdraft system
of kiln construction (discussed in a later chapter). It means the fire has
to bake all the surfaces before it is vented to the outside through the flue
lines. The fIring is done by the combination method of updraft and down-
draft systems, discussed in Part 4. To standardize uniform or conventional
geItaftan foundations and walls, tests in different regions of the world with
varieties of earth-clay materials and fIring techniques must be carried out.
The details explained above are based on experimental design data.

92 CERAMIC HOUSES
•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 13 WALLS

Adobe walls for buildings with dome and vault roofs are usually thicker
than the walls for flat roofs. This is because we are building more space
with more material (of the roof) and also because curved roofs create both
horizontal and vertical loads.
The thickness of the walls, then, will depend on roof span, roof height,
and the amount of compressive strength our adobe blocks have. For large
projects, all these must be calculated and laboratory tested. But for typi-
cal, short-span, small buildings-which means most buildings in the
world -- such technical information is neither available nor necessary. A
few experimental rooms built and tested locally will give all the needed
information. (Local governments and institutions would do a great ser-
vice to provide such safety information, rather than restricted codes,
which often succeed only in creating great discouragement.)

The typical supporting wall for a span of 3 to 4 meters (10 to 14 feet) for COMMON ADOBE WALLS
a dome or vault is between 40 to 60 centimeters (16 to 24 inches) thick,
depending on the height of the wall and whether or not the structure
is fIred. The general rule is to build a solid wall, with minimum open-
ings, to support the roof. In a vaulted room, which is rectangular in shape,
the load of the roof is on two side walls only; thus it is possible to have
large windows in the end walls. In a domed room, which is close to a
square shape (depending on dome style), four walls and/or the corners
carry the roof. In rooms that combine domes and vaults, the supporting
arch acts as the supporting wall. Door and window openings and an-
choring of their frames must be well thought out before the walls are con-
structed.

93
3.15 Wall two adobe blocks wide. Layers
of two full blocks alternate with layers of
one full and two half blocks. Blocks are
laid next to each other without mortar in
the vertical joints.

Laying of the walls, depending on the thickness of the wall and the
adobe sizes, follows these general rules:

1. Lay the blocks so that all joints are staggered in alternate rows.
2. Build the wall straight.
3. Make sure the wall is solid.
4. Use mortar made of the same ingredients as the adobe.

Walls are built with both square adobes, 20 x 20 x 5 centimeters (8

x 8 x 2 inches), and rectangular adobes one-half size of the square, 20
x 10 x 5 centimeters (8 x 4 x 2 inches). The number of square adobes
used in a building is around twice the number of the rectangular ones.
(This proportion changes at the roof, which may be built of all square
or all rectangular adobes.) One of the simplest wall construction meth-
ods is the double and single alternative for two-adobe-thick walls, and
a similar system for a three-adobe-thick wall. If larger adobe blocks are
used the pattern can differ, but it must follow the general rules. Build-
ing a curved wall onto the end of a rectangular room, or wherever a vault
starts, is discussed later in Part 3 under vaults. Some of the code require-
ments for bond beams and horizontal and vertical reinforcing are in the
Appendix.
For fIred structures, the adobes are put next to each other with no
mortar in the vertical joints. Each row is laid over the mortar on the row
below. The ends of the adobes actually touch each other, dry and with-
out mortar. This type of wall construction is suitable for fIring, as well
as for a common wall. But if the horizontal and vertical joints were both
fIlled with mortar, the fIre would not penetrate the wall easily and there
would be no room for expansion and contraction during fIring.
Walls for fIred structures are usually built two adobes 40 centimeters
(16 inches) thick. The wall must continue in a straight line up to the spring

94 CERAMIC HOUSES
line (the top of the wall where the dome or vault starts). The arch open-
ings in the wall for doors and windows must be constructed so that they
integrate with the walls to create a bond at the top.
Vertical reinforcement of the adobe walls is dealt with in local codes,
which vary as far as numbers, sizes, and distances are concerned. In most
parts of the world however, reinforcing bars are neither available nor
affordable. There tree trunks, bamboo, adobe-mud-pile, adobe-rock and
other combinations are used in common earth buildings.
Many very tall unreinforced adobe or mud-pile walls - either stand-
ing alone or as supporting structures - still stand after centuries. But such
walls may not be safe or practical in high seismic zones. One-story un-
dulating walls without reinforcing have been successfully used in some
earthquake regions. For example, a young Iranian architect-engineer
successfully built a housing complex in the great Buena Zahra seismic
area, using unreinforced masonry undulating walls over a sand-gravel
foundation. Careful tests and calculations were done beforehand, and
the results were successful. In spite of its success, however, the local
building bureaucrats ignored the project and continued to build their pet
precast concrete buildings.
That unreinforced adobe and masonry buildings survived the Tabas
earthquake shows the possibilities of combating seismic forces without
reinforcing steel. And if researchers would continue to explore options
other than only using steel and concrete for earthquake safety, innumer-
able lives and buildings could be saved in seismic areas in Third World
countries, where the poor could never afford manufactured materials.
Partitions and nonbearing walls are commonly built in single-adobe
width of 20 centimeters (8 inches). Lightweight walls are constructed with
adobes used in hollow box patterns. In this case, each six adobe blocks
make a hollow cubic box-side blocks that are standing on edge. Such
walls have been used in Iran as parapet walls on the roof. Thin curatin
walls, 5 centimeters (2 inches) thick, called tigheh (''blade-thin'') in Per-
sian, are constructed with adobe blocks and laid up on edge to close small
openings in walls. Larger tigheh walls are commonly constructed with
fIred brick, laid up on edge and cemented with quick-set gypsum mortar.

A vertical slice of solid natural ground is like a rammed earth wall. By RAMMED EARTH WALLS
piling and tamping damp earth, we can make a solid mass of wall in the
shape of its mold. To make a rammed earth wall, follow these four steps:

1. Construct a wooden cavity form for the wall.

2. Place damp earth inside the form, in 20-centimeter- (8-inch- ) layers
at a time.
3. Ram the earth in consecutive layers with a heavy device.

WALLS 95
3.16 Rammed earth walls with different
composition s, textures, and orientations
built at the Environmental Research
Laboratory of University of Arizona, 4. Remove the forms.
Tucson. Architect Helen J. Kessler has
conducted the research .
The material for the rammed earth is the same as for common adobe
block.
Rammed earth walls, called pise in French, are especially promising
for industrial countries, where labor is expensive and equipment rela-
tively inexpensive. The technique can be even more successful than the
adobe block system, particularly in projects where equipment is avail-
able and forms could be used repeatedly. In damp climates, the rammed
earth method is faster than adobe block construction, because rammed
earth walls do not require the drying time before use that adobe blocks do.
Forms used for constructing rammed earth walls are similar to con-
crete forms, and can be simple or complex. Ramming devices can range
from a wooden pole to a machine-operated pneumatic system. In recent
years, much progress has been made both in research and development
of this technique, especially in the United States. Firing rammed earth
walls is similar to fIring mud-pile walls. The rammed earth structure must
be bred from both sides.

BUTTRESSES A buttress wall is a wall built at an angle for shoring and bracing. But-
tresses have been used as structural, functional, and sculptural elements.
The common wall between spaces supporting vaults or domes car-
ries the roof loads vertically down to the ground. The end walls must

96 CERAMIC HOUSES
A o

A. B.

also carry horizontal loads (the push that a vault or a dome creates). To
carry this load, as discussed before, either the wall must be much thicker,
or buttresses must be built behind the wall. Very thick walls are both
costly and space consuming; thus buttresses are preferable, and also
create a stronger structure.
Arched forms (arches, vaults, and domes) create horizontal forces that
try to rupture the supporting walls. To counteract such forces, buttress
walls or other structures are constructed. The shallower the arch, the
greater the horizontal force, and the need for bigger buttressing. A tall
arch, called a parabolic arch, transfers the horizontal load at its base to
the ground.
The general proportion for a buttress wall is a triangular shape, with
the long leg against the wall and the short leg on the ground. The num-
3.17 Lines of force in A. a barrel arch
ber of buttresses used depends on factors such as the height of the walls, (half circle). B. a shallow arch (section of
roof loads, and length of the building; and calculations can determine circle). and C. a parabolic arch.
their size and location. In general practice a vaulted room has buttresses
on the two side walls, and a domed room has buttresses on each corner.
Chains, bars, and wooden poles connecting the arch supports at spring
lines are traditionally used to take horizontal stresses in conjunction with
buttresses. Smaller-span vaults could also be used at the end of the struc-
ture to work as the buttressing element. Finally, the more sophisticated
earth structures almost always utilize the buttressing element for func-
tional, symbolic, aesthetic, and other purposes.

3.18 Simple dome buttress walls.

3.19 Simple vault buttress walls.

WALLS 97
[

3.20 A flying buttress (known as Posht

band-e-Shamshiri, "sword buttress," in Per-
sian) in Yazd , Iran. Buttresses are struc-
tural , functional , and sculptural elements.
A buttress can be in the form of a small
vault or serve as a base for a staircase.

98 CERAMIC HOUSES
The simplest way to build a wall is with earth, water, a shovel, and two MUD-PILE (CHINEH) WALLS
people. Just wet the loosened ground, dig the mud, and pile it in rows
about 40 centimeters (16 inches) high. Such a wall is commonly con-
structed in a tapered form when built around the property, and straight
when used as a supporting wall. Mud-pile walls can be built without
the use of any adobe block, and vaults and domes can be built on them.
These structures are certainly the cheapest and quickest to construct.
Adobe is only used for the roof.
Mud-pile walls may be &red with the addition of bamboo, weeds, or
other burnable straw-like material, which is laid across the wall to carry
the &re through; or flues may be incorporated into the walls. The &re
penetration is not as easy as in adobe walls. Like the rammed earth walls,
mud-pile walls must be &red from both sides.
Tapered mud walls are built around the individual property, to pro-
tect a community or even to make long shadows for ice-making. Such
mud walls over 8 meters (25 feet) long have been built this way and have
lasted for centuries. These ice-walls are a great traditional technology of
creating and keeping ice from winter to summer.

Mentally, I design a very tall wall, like the ones they have
been building in this country for hundreds of years and all
of a sudden stopped building two decades ago-one of
those yakhchal (ice pit) walls. Then, just as it was done be-
fore, I dig a huge, canyonlike pit at the south side of the
wall and cover it with a roof a little above the ground. In
the winter, in the shade of this wall and with abundant wa-
ter, I make ice, lots of ice to fill up my giant-size ice pit.
To this point, I almost follow the traditional ways step by
step; but from here I depart in a new direction. I am not

3.21 Chineh (mud-pile wall) is the sim-

plest wall construction . Mud is dug adja-
cent to where the wall will be; then it is
loosened, wet, stamped on , and left
overnight.

WA LLS 99
3.22 Two people construct the chineh .
One tosses the mud up with a shovel ; the
other, resting on the dry row, piles it up in
a fresh row.

3.23 Property walls are tapered chineh

covered with mud-straw plaster, Iran.

100 CERAMIC HOUSES

3.24 Decorations are sculpted in mud or
made with adobe blocks.
collecting ice as before, just to dig it up in the summer to
make ice water, but I am building an entirely new type of
cold storage house - a cold storage house that will contain
thousands of tons of meat, fruit, vegetables, and perish-
able goods. A giant-size cold storage house that is built
entirely around my giant-size yakhchal. A giant cold stor-
age house that will need no automatic freezing equipment,
no electric energy to run it, and will have no chance to fail
any time of the year.
I start listing arguments against the modern and expen-
sive cold storage houses built all over the world. I argue
with the Western concept of energy-The problem with
modern and Western thought about energy sources is that
they are all on one track: fossil fuel, nuclear fuel, and the
sun's rays are thought of as the only main sources of en-
ergy. Direct energy is the only energy people are con-
cerned with. They worship the sun energy but forget the
energy that is hidden in the shade of the sun. The shade,
the cold, and ultimately the ice, are some of the greatest
energies available to humanity.

WA LLS 101
I then divide energy into two types : hot and cold. Hot
energy we all know, but cold energy is what I have just
discovered. Cold energy is energy multiplied by three:
One, we use the fuel to make electric power. Two, we use
energy to construct freezing and cooling equipment.
Three, we use the electric power to run our equipment and
make ice. In other words, we try ever so hard to change hot
energy into cold energy. If we can make a shortcut and
eliminate the three processes and still have our ice, then
we make a great jump in energy savings.
Potential energy-snow and ice-is available and abun-
dant in nature. Yet, like fools, we go our wasteful way of
creating ice by all those three processes. Look at us. This
unlimited, inexhaustible cold energy available to us in
nature is completely ignored.
Look at us. Our cities all have power failures in the
summer when we are in great need of cold air, and we
spend fortunes making this cold energy, whereas we can
just save it from the winter for the summer, for free. We can
store it in winter, or even by bringing it from our snow-
covered mountains to the heart of the city.
A piece of ice is a bundle of energy that can breed more
forever-if we let the melted ice flow deeper into the layers
3.25 Interior supporting chineh is built up
of ice below. A piece of ice is more lasting than the sun; it
straight inside, tapered outside for but- exists even after the sun is extinct-eternal freeze.
tressing. Now I fInd a name for my new design - sardgah, "cold
place," in Persian . Sardgah is the cold storage house built
on top of a yakhchal, ice pit. It will be a huge place for hun-
dreds of trucks to load and unload. It is a place entirely
built on the energy given by nature to use, for free, for love,
forever.
I start comparing the economy of a cold storage house
that I build as a sardgah with the conventional one. The
cost of construction? Less than one-tenth - cost of clay
versus the cost of steel. The cost of operation, say for
twenty years? Less than one per thousand - no electricity.
And the chance of failure? None-no mechanical parts.
One ice pit may last for a hundred years - by adding and
breeding. And building the cold storage houses is just the
beginning.
I walk, I think, and sometimes I squat and sketch some
fIgures on the ground with my little stick. Yes, the sardgah
for the cold storage houses is just the beginning of using
cold energy. The sardgah system can be used to cool a
building, or a complex of the buildings, and even an entire
town in the summer, with this simple method:
Build a wall, use the shade in the winter, and make ice;

102 CERAMIC HOUS ES

3.26 Arches, vaults, and domes can be
constructed with adobe blocks over
chineh .

store the ice in an underground ice pit; use wind catchers,

small towers catching winds, to catch the wind and send it
down through the ice pit to cool; then viaducts take the
cool wind to the building; or just use the same pit for the
storage on top of the ice.
The thought goes further, and I start sketching actual
towns with these sardgah systems with many new uses of
the sun, shade of the sun, and the wind. And then in a
small sketch I use this tall, tapered wall for both the hot
energy and the cold energy : the south side exposed to the

WALLS 103
sun has sun collectors that make hot water that is stored in
the hot water tower. The north side makes shade and ice
opposite the hot water tower, on the shady side is the wind
tower to catch the wind and send it through the ice pit and
from the underground ducts to the buildings. So it is easy
to see how the new towns should be built now. The new
criterion for the building of a town is this:
A new town for now and the future should be built frrst
according to the sun and the seasons. The new towns
should be built based on the availability of hot energy and
cold energy-the availability of the sun, fuel, nuclear
power, and all the hot energies from one side, and the
availability of ice from the other side. The mild climate
cities are not to be populated, but used as the resort places.
Finally I come to the conclusions that Tehran, Paris, and
New York are lucky, because they have cold seasons, and
Bombay and Los Angeles are unlucky because they have
only warm and mild seasons.
The globe cannot afford all the waste of energy that goes
to the cities that have only natural hot energy, the sun, or
natural cold energy, the ice, but not both.

104 CERAMIC HOUSES

•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 14
HOW TO BUILD ARCHES,
DOMES, AND VAULTS

The arch support and curved roof, of which domes and vaults are the
main forms, is one of the greatest inventions of civilization. To learn how
to build an arch, a dome, or a vault is to take advantage of the secrets
and formulas our ancestors have left for us. I have visited the earliest
recorded vaults still standing, in southern Iran, which date from 1300
B.C. They were thought to be the frrst ever built, yet new diggings in an-
other area have turned up a vault roof dating back to 2000 B.c., perhaps
earlier.
Obviously, curved roofs have several functional and structural advan-
tages over flat roofs. This great invention was not only inspired by the
"dome of heaven;' as Omar Khayyam calls the universe, but from the
basic need to cover a house with a roof in a land where there were no
trees to cut and thus no wood available. The only materials at hand were
the earth and pieces of rocks. To ftgure out how to build a roof over a
shelter with these small units as the only construction materials, and
one's hands as the main tools, took great human genius. Once done,
humans went on to develop the sophisticated dome. (Some Persian poets
suggest that domes were inspired by the shape of a woman's breast, and
many of the dome roofscapes in Iran plainly give this feeling.)
A small dome, made centuries ago from small pieces of rock in a vil-
lage in the south of Iran, was as great an engineering feat for its time as
the geodesic dome of the American architect/philosopher Buckminister
Fuller is for our time. Both work on the same principle of compression
and uniformly distributed loads, and both are composed of small units.
Domes and vaults in general work with the hot and arid climates much
more effIciently than flat roofs do, because they make sun and shade
zones, catch the breeze, and create an inside air current.
Curved roofs also have some structural advantages. Their inherent

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES, AND VAULTS 105

3.27 A domed structure built entirely of
on-site rocks with lime-mud mortar, Fars
province, Iran.

3.28 A geodesic dome, California Poly-

technic State University, San Luis Obispo
(a Geltaftan workshop is being held here).

106 CERAMIC HOUSES

strength is greater than that of flat roofs. Further, curved roofs can be
built with small units and natural construction materials to gain the
highest strength; while a flat roof needs large supporting members,
which necessitates the cutting of trees. And, of course, arched roof con-
struction lends itself to earth structures.
Once the technique of dome and vault construction is learned, roofs
can be combined and used interchangeably in the most suitable and sim-
ple manner to create the strongest structures and the most beautiful
spaces.

Architect Louis Kahn once said, ':Ask bricks what they want to do and ARCHES
they'll say, 'Make us into an arch: Try to sell them lintel and they'll say
'make us an arch:"
The arch is a structure with a spirit; it is the structure that nature cre-
ates to be in tune with itse1i. An arch is a cut of a vault, a curve of a dome.
And it is a simple and satisfying structure to build.
Arches created by nature, such as the Landscape Arch in Arches
National Park, which spans 89 meters (291 feet); Pont d:Arc in southern
France, 34 meters high (112 feet) and a 59 meter (194 feet) span; and La
Arch, the great arch of Porta in northern Chile, all point to the natural
limits of an arch structure in balance with the earth's gravity. Manmade
arches-of the great mosques in the Middle East, the cathedrals in
Europe, and the old Persian and Roman palaces and monuments-
manifest the human quest to reach the limits of arch structure in tune
with gravity.
An arch is a curved structure kept in balance by the pull of gravity.
An arch is a curved structure that supports its own weight. Our mason,
Ostad Asghar, showed us how to pile adobe blocks on top of each other,
without form or mortar, to make an arch. To show the inherent strength
of an arch, and also his skill, he held up some adobes in the air until they
met at the arch point, then thickened the stems with a few more adobes,
and the arch was made.

Adobe Forms
Here's a way to use the adobe itself as a form for an arch.

1. In a wall opening, such as a door or window, make a temporary stack

of adobes, without mortar, as high as where the arch will begin. Then
use smaller pieces of adobe and mortar as fIllers to create an arch form.
2. Make the arch. The usual method is to lay one row of adobes flat over
the form, with mortar in their joints, and then lay adobes vertically to
create the arch. (The double-adobe width arch is formed this way. The
upper flat lay can be eliminated.) The vertical adobes will have smaller

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES, AND VAULTS 107

3.29 Arches two adobe blocks wide
made with adobe block form work. Note
the top of the wall stepping at the arch
spring line to receive the first skewback
adobe.

108 CERAMIC HOUSES

joints in the inner circle than the ones at the top of the arch. Use mortar
to adjust differences in joint distance.
3. Remove the stacked adobe. If we fIre the structure, we can take the
adobes out after fIring. Since they have no mortar, they won't fuse
together.

Plaster Forms
You can pour a portable form right on the site using quick-set gypsum,
plaster of paris, or any other quick-drying plaster or cement material.
If our arch is small, as for a doorway, the form can be made in one piece;
if the arch is large, it can be made in two pieces for easy handling.

1. Draw the top line of the arch right on the ground.

2. Draw a 15-centimeter- (6 inch- ) smaller arch inside.
3. Lay two rows of dry adobes tightly next to each other on both the outer
and inner edges of the arch. This will be our mold.
4. Pour some sand, straw, or sawdust, or lay a piece of newspaper in the
bottom and edges of the form, so that the gypsum or plaster of paris won't
stick to the ground or the sides.
5. Pour the gypsum or plaster of paris into the mold and smooth out the
top.
6. To make two half-arch forms, for easy handling, put a piece of nar-
row board at the top.
3.30 Casting arch forms. For an arch
wider than a doorway, insert a dividing
After the plaster has dried (it will take about an hour), we can remove board at the top to cast two halves of an
our arch forms. We now have a form about 15 x 15 centimeters (6 x 6 arch form.
inches) thick, which will support our adobe arch while it is being built.
If we use a larger form, let us say over 1 meter (3 feet) wide, we can
put some steel reinforcing bars, bamboo pieces, or long branches in the
mold before casting our form for added strength. These unreinforced
forms are usually used only once, since they may break.
For arches built with two rows of adobes, two forms must be made.
Each one is secured under each row of adobe arch. Sometimes these
molds are left in place, and become part of the structure. Of course, in
this case the opening must be calculated accordingly, and better materials
must be used.

Wooden and Metal Forms

Wooden and metal forms are usually used to save time and material and
to create uniform arches. They can be used again and again for all open-
ings of the same size, such as doors and windows. The usual material
is plywood, but these forms can also be made of scrap metal. Using six
wooden forms we built 144 semicircular arches - two bricks deep and two

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES, AND VAULTS 109

3.31 Plywood or scrap metal can be
used as a form to construct arches.

bricks high, with three meter (10 feet) span - in a large office building con-
structed with fued brick masonry near Isfahan, Iran. In the school proj-
ect we built fifty adobe arches with only three sizes of scrap-metal forms .
To make the form:

1. Construct a truss to support the arched surface.

2. Bend a piece of plywood or sheet metal as an arched surface and nail
or weld to the truss.

To construct the arch :

1. Wedge the form between the side walls of the opening, or stack two
temporary (mortarless) columns of adobe, one on each side, under the
form (or use wooden posts) .
2. Construct the arch as described for adobe forms .
3. Pull out the form and reuse if needed.

110 CERAMIC HOUSES

3.32 An arch springing from a wall.

Arch Geometry and Construction

The curvature variations of arches, domes, and vaults have no limits.
Historically used arched forms arose from human intuition, logic, cul-
ture, religion, or simply from copying nature. Some of the curves-
semicircular arches, hemispherical domes, and barrel vaults- have been
used more than others because of their inherent strength and simplicity

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES , DOMES , AND VAULTS 111

of construction. Others have been dictated by the material and method
of construction, such as earth block and corbelling techniques.
Here are some of the more common arch geometries:

1. Semicircular Arch. The arch span at the spring line is equal to AB, and
the R radius is one-half of the span. With center at 0 we draw the half-
circle ACB and build our arch, starting from the spring lines and fInish-
ing at the top. The mortar joint at the inner circle is minimum and in-
creases to maximum at the outer edge of the arch. Adobe arches for door
openings are commonly made two adobes deep (the thickness of the sup-
porting walls) and one adobe high. For larger spans, two or three adobes
deep and high i!' needed for strength. A two-adobe-high arch is shown
in this illustration.
3.33 Semicircular arch. 2. Four-Section Arch. The four-section arch (also known as the depressed
three-centered arch in Europe), is a segmental arch with secondary curves
at the spring lines. The center pOint 0 is arbitrarily chosen on the OD
axis (the lower the 0 on the axis, the shallower the arch). The span at
the spring line AB is divided into four equal sections, and OE and OF
are connected and continued. An arc with OD radius will intersect with
two small arcs generated by EA and FB radii.
3. Eight-Section Arch. The eight-section arch (known as the pointed arch)
is similar to shakhbozi ("goat's horns" in Persian). The span at spring line
AB is divided into eight equal sections. Two equal arcs of R from the 0
points, one-eight section, will intersect at the top of the arch.
3.34 Four-section arch.
4. Segmental Arch. The span at spring line AB is intersected with the axis
line of OD at midpoint C. The rise of the arch CD is selected as desired,
and the radius OD is determined by compass so that the arc intersects
with three points of ADB. Since the arch starts with an angle at the spring
line, the top row blocks at both sides of the arch are built in an angle to
accommodate the fIrst leaning blocks of the arch.

3.35 Eight-section arch.

3.36 Segmental arch (the O-C rise can

become almost zero, although some small
rise is needed to prevent the optical illu-
sion of flatness).

lU CERAMIC HOUSES
We can build a dome without using wooden forms, centering, or any help DOMES
from non-earth materials. It is a simple learning process with great spir-
itual rewards.
A dome is built over a square or circular room, or over a many-sided
shape that approximates a square or circle (e.g., a hexagon or octagon).
The curvature and radius of the dome may vary, depending on the
structure and aesthetics we want to achieve. High-profile, low-profile cor-
belling (corbelled domes are built of concentric rings of masonry blocks,
and are tall and conical), simple, or double domes are built in relation
to the total effect, or to achieve the largest spans. Generally speaking,
a room size is decided based on the average span a mason can build with
adobe blocks in common practice, and then a dome is constructed. Com-
mon room-size domes are usually made close to half-sphere geometry.
However, a high dome or a very shallow dome can also be built easily,
as long as the rules of balancing the loads with other domes or vaults,
or buttressing principles are followed.
The pictures in this chapter show how one or two people can build
a dome, continuing from underneath a dome until it closes. An area can
be left open at the top for a skylight. The skylight can be built by making
a curb around the opening at the top and fItting a ready-made skylight
over it, or simply by making a curb with one side higher than the other
and then putting a framed pane of glass over it; the skylight may be ei-
ther fIxed or openable. And of course an arched cupola, skylight, and
air vent over the dome can be sculpted. To make a guide compass for
the uniform curve of the dome and the angle of the inclination of the
adobe rows, a simple pole and rope may be enough. Fix a pole' -. the
middle of the room, say in a large sand-filled bucket. On top of the pole,
and at the height of the wall, fIx a rope. This will work as a compass.
We hold the edge of the rope at every few adobes we have laid to make
sure that we are not too far off. There are very detailed ways to make a
compass that will lead at every course. An adjustable wooden compass
with a lip to fIt over the edge of the adobe is used in common practice,
instead of a rope, especially for pendentive domes. With enough prac-
tice, we can use the reach of our arm as we would the rope, especially
when building a small room.
To reach the top of the wall to build squinches or pendentives (interior
corner supports), and domes, we can stand on empty oil barrels or boxes,
or make a continuous scaffold in the room. We can then walk around
parallel to the wall and inside the dome. The scaffolding can also be made
with the help of the adobe wall itself. Fix four wooden poles into a notch
made into the walls, and put four planks over them. The notch or hole
in the wall can be patched and plastered later. Our mason built the en-
tire 500-square-meter (5,OOO-square-foot) school using six empty oil bar-
rels, four planks, four long poles, and two ladders for support.
A dome may be made in several ways, depending on the desired
shape, and available materials and skills. The terms squinch and pen-
dentive domes are commonly used, and often refer to the same tech-

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES, AND VAULTS 113

3.37 All walls, arches, and espars
(curved walls) are built and left to dry and
settle for a couple of weeks before domes
and vaults are constructed . To the left are
the arcade arches and to the right are the
rectangular rooms with espars at the end
walls.

nique. To simplify the learning process, we will discuss both squinch

domes and pendentive domes; double dome will also be briefly dis-
cussed.

A squinch dome is a dome built over squinches. Squinches are interior

SQUINCH DOMES
corner supports- diagonally built, cupped-hand-shape arches, that hold
up the dome.
Building a dome over a circular room is a simple and ancient technique.
A dome is constructed by building concentric rings over the base by the
corbelling method, which is to project each ring a little over the ring
below-like steps in reverse. But building a dome over a square room
needed human ingenuity. And that is when squinches were invented .
The words sequnj and gushwar are the old Persian words for squinches.
According to some Iranologists, the word squinch is actually derived from
sequnj; squinches are called gushwar, meaning earrings, because of their
resemblance to women's earrings.
Squinch domes and pendentive domes are sometimes used in con-
junction with each other; thus there is not always a defInite use of one
or the other, but many times a little of both. A squinch dome is usually
built over a square or polygonal room, after the rooms walls are fInished.
At each corner of the room, over the walls, a squinch is constructed to
create the main supports for the dome.
To build a simple squinch :

1. Lay one adobe block, with mortar, diagonally over the top of the cor-
ner where two walls meet.
2. Spread mortar on top of this block and lay two adobe blocks over it.
These two adobes touch each other at the top of the fIrst block, and they
also touch the top of the wall; thus a pitched arch is created.

114 CERAMIC HOUSES

3. Repeat the same work: laying blocks over mortar in rows of arches
that lean on each other and are slightly angled toward the inside at the
top. (This angle will decide the height of our dome. It is created either
by the help of a guide compass, a string, a template, or by eyeballing,
and the extension of our arms.)

All adobe blocks touching the top of the walls should be in line with
the interior edges of the walls. The point to remember is this: All adobe
blocks touch each other dry - without mortar-at their vertical joints.
Mortar is only used in laying adobe blocks over each other, but not next
to each other. When building leaning adobe arches for domes or vaults,
the empty space between the two adjoining adobes is filled with dry
pieces of broken bricks or rocks, which is called a wedge or dry-packing.
Every joint does not need a wedge.
To build a squinch dome over a square room:*
3.38 Squinches are built at four corners.
To begin a squinch , an adobe block is laid
1. Build walls on the four sides of the rooms to the desired height, with over the wall at the corner with mortar at a
the door- and window-opening arches in them_Opening arches may be forty-five-degree angle. The block projects
flush with the top of the walls or rise above them. Leave the constructed out a little into the room and tilts inward.
Two adobe blocks are pitched over the first
walls alone for a couple of weeks to dry and settle. one with mortar. The bottom part of the
blocks must touch the top of the wall.
* For more details see Part 5, Model-making. Squinch domes and vault construction
stages are from the Javadabad Elemen-
tary School , Varamin, Iran.

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES , DOMES , AND VAULTS 115

3.39 When the process is repeated , each
layer being tilted a bit toward the inside,
the squinch curvature is naturally created.

2. Build four squinches at the four corners, large enough so that the base
of the last adobe rows of adjacent squinches meet each other at the half-
way distance of the walls.
3. Continue with the last rows of blocks making the squinches, until the
dome is fInished at the top; the top rows will create a square opening
(continuous squinches) .
An alternative route to step 3 is to construct rows of blocks to hll the

116 CERAMIC HOUSES

3.40 When squinches meet at the center
of the wall , continuous rows of blocks are
laid over them to close the dome with a
square opening at the top. Note the dome
base: one corner is a squinch and the
other a semi-pendentive. (An alternative
method is to build up a circular base, and
then close up the dome with concentric
rings, as shown in figure 3.43.)

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES , AND VAULTS IV

·\. ., .

3
E'141 Finished arcade, Javadabad
ementary School .

3.42 Continuous squinches.

3.43 Short squinches.

118 CERAMIC HOUSES

gaps between the adjacent squinches until it creates a circular base at
the top. Then lay rows of blocks in concentric circles to close up the dome
(short squinches).
Once we have learned to build a dome on a square base, exactly the
same steps can be carried out to build over a hexagon, octagon, or simi-
lar shapes. For an octagon, for example, we would build eight squinches
instead of the four we would build on a square. The eight corners rise
and become a dome.
There are many different ways to construct a dome as far as the pat-
terns of the blocks are concerned, but basically they all try to achieve the
same result: a roof structure built with small material modules to trans-
fer all loads to the ground in compression. By building even a small dome
or a vault, we will give birth to a new consciousness, and the round struc-
tures of the past or the future will have new meanings for us.

The pendentive dome is really a refmed squinch dome. As the walls sup- PENDENTIVE DOMES
porting the squinches and the dome are replaced by arches, the term pen-
dentive is used.
A pendentive is a triangular piece of support that springs from the
corner of the room to hold up the dome. It also transfers the weight of
the dome directly to the four corners of the room.
To build a simple pendentive dome over a square room, we must frrst
build four adobe arches, one on each side; we then fill up the open shoul-
ders of the arches with four pendentives until the pendentives meet to
create a circular (or polygonal) base. The dome is built over this circular
base. We lay rows of adobes in concentric circles that gradually move in-
ward. The sequence for building a pendentive dome over a square plan
is as follows:

1. Build the foundation walls to the fInish floor level.

2. Build four arches on four sides of the room to meet at the corners.
The arches start on top of the foundation walls.
3. Build four pendentives to close the shoulder-gap of the connecting
arches.
4. Continue the last rows of the blocks, making the pendentives, until
they meet and make a circular base.
5. Lay rows of adobe blocks in concentric circles, stepping in a little at
a time and tilting, following the guide compass, till the dome closes at
the top.

When domes and vaults are combined, their slopes and forces can
be used as the supporting elements for each other. Even though pen-
dentive domes are used frequently in many parts of the world, the
squinch domes, in small-scale work, may be constructed just as easily.

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES, AND VAULTS 119

3.44 Different stages of building penden-
tive domes are shown at the Dar-AI -Islam
complex, Abiquiu , New Mexico. Guide
compass, made with wood , is secured in a
barrel and located at the center of the
room. The mason walks over a continuous
scaffold and lays the concentric circles of
the dome.

120 CERAM IC HOUSES

HOW TO BUILD ARCH E S , DOMES , AND VAULTS 121
Double domes are sophisticated domes that are structurally stronger,
DOUBLE DOMES
functionally more suitable for climatic control in extreme weather, and
artistically more flexible in design possibilities. The outer dome takes the
sun and the cold, the sandwiched air space works as insulation, and the
size of the inner dome does not fluctuate with temperature. The inner
dome is built to the desired ceiling height and can act as a structural shell
independent from the outer dome. The outer dome in many cases sits
on the base of the inner dome and works as a buttress to counteract the
tension. Both domes may be connected with radial fm walls, built in the
air space; or they may be free from each other except at the base and the
top.
The shape of the outer dome is based on aesthetic rather than func-
tional considerations. Because the outer dome is not in contact with the
interior space, there is less expansion and contraction; thus longer-lasting
roofing finishes are possible. Double domes have been used in public
buildings and larger spans and are mostly constructed with fired bricks.
The thickness of the dome shells decreases from the base to the top. There
are many large-span double domes constructed with masonry in Iran,
which have lasted for centuries. Double domes built without form work;
to achieve the ultimate in structural harmony with gravity was the mas-
ter builder's quest. Using squinches, a square room was first changed
to an octagon, then to one with sixteen sides and finally to a circular base
3.45 A double dome with outer dome
projecting beyond the supporting walls. for a large dome.
The outer dome is integrated with the in- Because double domes require more skill and material to build, they
ner dome at the base to counterbalance may not be fit for the owner-built low-cost housing we are discussing.
the stresses.
However, they are very energy efficient and can work wonders in extreme
climates. If shortcuts in building small double domes can be found, the
contribution to earth architecture in harsh climates will be of great value.

VAULTS Vaults are even simpler to construct than domes. A dome is a double-
curvature form (it curves up and down and it curves sideways), but a
vault is only a single-curvature form (it curves up and down). A vault
may be thought of as an arch built very deep; a dome may be thought
of as an arch rotated around itself. The great secret in building a vault
is to construct leaning arches - build an inclined arch first, and then con-
struct more arches leaning over the previous one.
Even though a catenary or parabolic arch creates the strongest vault
structure, such curves are not always desirable because of the very high
ceilings they form. For simple spans such as common-size rooms, much
shallower vault roofs can safely be built, as long as they are buttressed.
A catenary curve is an arch higher than half a circle. The curve for this
arch may be found by hanging a chain between two nails on a wall. This
technique is common practice among potters who make their own kilns.
A parabolic arch is close to a catenary curve. It may be drawn with the
following steps:

122 CERAMIC HOUSES

1. Divide one half of the arch-base span to equal segments.
2. Divide the total height of the arch into same number of segments.
3. Draw parallel vertical lines from the base segments.
4. Draw parallel horizontal lines from the height segments.
5. Draw the arch curve by connecting the intersecting points.

Vaults have two main supports-the two legs. A dome is supported

on four or more sides, but the main support for a vault is the two side
walls. However, to start building a vault we must begin from a third wall,
an end support.
Vaults are built over long or rectangular rooms. The end wall of the
room is where the vault begins. To build a vault, the following steps are
usually taken:

3.46 A curved wall (espar) with window

opening at the center.

3.47 Layers of adobe blocks are laid flat.

parallel to the window arch , to create the
espar curvature, which is the same as the
vault curvature. Here rows of espars are
ready for vaults.

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES , DOMES , AND VAULTS 123

3.48 To create a skylight, a vault is con-
structed from each end of a room and the
bottom of the gap is filled with horizontal
rows of blocks.

3.49 All vaults are begun and built in

sequence to counterbalance each other's
forces. (This will eliminate the need for but-
tressing during the construction .) Note that
all arches making a vault are leaning
arches; Javadabad Elementary School ,
Varamin, Iran.

124 CERAMIC HOUSES

3.50 A mason and a helper can build a
vault standing on a plank. The helper
usually rubs the mortar on the layers.
Someone else tosses up the adobe blocks
1. Build four walls of a rectangular room to the desired height, includ- from below. Here a son is handing his
ing doors and windows arched openings. father the wedges while learning his
father's skill.
2. Build an espar (a curved end wall) to the desired height of the vault.
3. Build a vaulted roof, starting from the espar wall and moving forward
in rows of inclined leaning arches.

Vaults are often built in rows because they are stronger and more eco-
nomical . Thus the way to build them is not one vault at a time, but in
sequences of around 1 meter (4 feet) deep to counteract each other on
top of the walls. The only tool we need is a plank under our feet . Planks
can be laid over the walls, over poles stuck into the walls, or over the rungs
of two ladders leaning on the two side walls. Sometimes an adz is used
to break the adobe; but with practice we, like the skilled mason, can sim-
ply break the adobe with the heel of our hand or with another adobe.

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES, AND VAULTS 125

3.51 Building a vault. A. One adobe And instead of tapping the adobe in place with an adz, we can simply
block is laid vertically against the espar strike the adobe with force to set it into the mortar (this may make the
over mortar. B. The second row starts with
a half block; a full block is pitched over the
mortar splash).
previous block to touch the espar; another Now let us review the process in more detail.
half block tops it.c. The third row starts
with one full adobe and continues over the
inclined angle. D. Rows continue from
both sides to complete the first leaning
arch. E. The rows are wedged and dry-
packed. (In common practice only some
of the joints need wedging.)

126 CERAMIC HOUSES

1. Build all the walls in standard fashion. If possible, avoid cutting door
or window openings in the side walls, which carry the vault load. A wall
2 meters (6% feet) high will provide ample room space once the curved
ceiling is added. The tops of the arched door and window openings can
be flush with the top of the walls; or the arch may project above the wall
depending on the wall height. (This is true for both dome and vault wall
bases.)

2. Build the espar. Espar is the Persian term for a curved end wall of a
vault. The frrst rows of vault-arches will lean on it.
The easiest espar to build is one without an opening. To do this, sim-
ply build the end wall so that it ends in a curve similar to the vault curve.
To build a curved wall over a regular height, two-adobe-thick wall,
lay two adobes on top and in the middle of the wall. Lay the next adobes
pitching over the frrst ones. As the successive layers are constructed, the
small pitch will automatically change to curves, thus making the curved
end wall.
Another way to make an espar is to build an arch at the door or win-
dow opening and then lay the adobe blocks over it to make the end curved
wall. The distance between the adjoining espars on top is used for roof
drainage. Espars are always made at the same time as the rest of the end
wall to ensure a good bond.
Yet another way to make an espar is to build the end walls straight up,
ending a little higher than the vault curve. Draw the curve of the vault
on the wall with a piece of chalk, and apply the hrst layer of the mortar
following the inner curves of this line. This is easier to do if the design
specmes a taller end wall as part of the roof spandrel. In this design the
straight back wall hides curved forms of the vaults.
Even though the vault is built up from and leans on an espar or the
end wall, the load of the vault rests only on the two side walls and the
espar carries no load.

3. Begin building the vault. Lay one adobe vertically against the espar,
over the mortar. The second row starts with one half-adobe and, with
a full adobe, is pitched over the previous block to touch the espar. The
third row starts with one full adobe and goes over the inclined angle.
Continue in this manner with the next rows, until the hrst arch is com-
pleted between the two side walls, leaning against the espar or the straight
wall. The frrst arch is usually completed in the frrst hve to seven adobe
rows, depending on the angle of the inclination and the span. The inner
row of the espar wall can be curved to become the vault itself, depend-
ing on the skill of the mason.

4. As the adobes are laid up to the top, their ends touch each other. Adobe
blocks on the inside of each row of arches are set tightly next to one
another; but in the outer circle joints are open between adobes, and may
need wedging (dry-packing).

HOW TO BUILD ARCHES, DOMES, AND VAULTS 127

5. Wedge (dry-pack) the blocks. This is, put pieces of rock or fIred brick
in the joints so that the adobes don't slip down. (In fIred structures, these
wedges must be either hard adobe or fIred bricks, since rock pieces will
break apart in the fIre.)
Dry-packing is very important-without it, the vault will not stay up
in the air easily. A Persian saying shows how important the wedging is :
Bandeh ra Khoda negah midarad, tagh ra band(eh}. That is: The human is
held up (in this universe) by the God, and the vault is held up (in the
air) by the wedge. In common practice only the joints near the top of the
arch get the wedges, others are filled with mortar.
6. A vault is built from both sides, and the last adobe is put at the top
like the keystone of an arch. The length of our arm can be the compass,
and the height of the vault is usually determined by the height of the
scaffolding under our feet plus our own height. Once we know how high
we must put the last adobe at the top-this will be the highest comfort-
able reach of our arm-we just follow the routine. Every row uses the
same number of adobe blocks, with staggered joints. To adjust and con-
tinue the uniform vault straight, strings could be pulled at the top. But
some practice is needed. The best thing to do is to practice with smaller

3.52 A combination of squinch domes

and vaults.

U8 CERAMIC HOUSES
3.53 A combination of a pendentive
dome and a short vault (the vault is
form ed by mu ltiple arches in this case) .

models before building rhe actual vault. Sometimes wooden guide forms
are used for speed and uniformity, but what is needed is some practice,
not forms.
7. To close the vault at the end, continue it to the other end wall or espar,
and then close it in by filling the gap with adobe and mortar.
8. To make a skylight, we build the vault until we reach the place we want
the skylight to be. At that point, close in the two sides with adobes until
the desired opening is reached. At the top of the roof, we make a curb
with adobes to receive the skylight.
9. The end of the vault can also be curved in toward the other espar, arch,
or however the end is, to make a semi-curve interior fmish . Or the end
of the vault could become a semi-dome when it reaches the end wall.

HOW TO BUILD A RCH E S , DOME S, AND VAULTS 129

Some classical Iranian arches, vaults, and
dome combinations, Sassanid Period (ca.
A.D. 224-640).

3.55 Chahar Taq (four vaults).

3.56 Floor plan, Chahar Taq.

3.54 Sarvestan Place.

3.57 Ivan-i-Karkheh. Massive arches are

first constructed and then transverse vaults
are built between the arches. (High win-
dows are at two ends of the vaults.)

130 CERAMIC HOUSES

15 ROOFING AND
WALL COVERING

Once the walls and curved roofs have been built, we must think about
the rooftng and exterior wall covering.

Before we can waterproof the roof, we must grade it. The plan for grad- GRADING
ing and waterprooftng should follow the general philosophy for all adobe
buildings: Keep water away from the building. That means to grade the
roof so that rainwater or snowmelt runs away from the building rather
than toward it. Try to avoid gutters and downspouts, which drain be-
tween inner walls or columns that may seep through. Drain the roof water
to the outer spaces or to the open courtyard and lead it away from the
building. The rainwater or groundwater around the building must also
be drained through gravel trenches, perforated pipes, storm drains, or
the like.
Grade the roof by packing clay-earth between the domes and vaults
to get the proper slope for rainwater drainage. We can dump the clay-
earth material into place and roll a small hand roller over it; or we may
pack it with a heavy wood rammer; or we may pack it simply by walk-
ing over it thoroughly.

After the grading is done, the roof is ready to be waterproofed. There WATERPROOFING
are many ways to apply rooftng or waterprooftng over the roof surfaces
and exterior walls.

ROOFING AND WALL COVERING 131

Mud-plaster
The simplest system is to use the adobe mix itself. A high-percentage
clay-earth mixed with straw is one of the cheapest and simplest ways to
cover the roof and the walls. The clay-earth absorbs water very slowly;
and once it is wet, it does not let any more water pass through. When
we see an area of land with puddles of water after it rains, this tells us
that there is lots of clay in that earth . As a matter of fact, some of the best
waterproofmg materials made today, such as manufactured panels or
sprayed-on waterproofmg, are often nothing but clay. So use of the clay
that is present in our adobe can be the base of the waterproofmg system.
Mud-straw plastering often involves community participation. In
Native American villages made with adobe and plastered with mud-
straw, such as Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, the replastering is tradition-
ally done by expert and skillful women. In the desert villages of Iran men
and young children work as a crew, stamping and walking on the mud-
straw until it mellows. They let it set for a week until a "juice" appears,
and then they apply it. Mud-straw plaster has a dimension manufactured
materials lack. The material and process has roots in the culture and the
language. In fact, pregnant women of Iranian desert villages often crave
the smell of the mud-straw plaster, especially in the rain.
In countries where materials such as asphalt, tarpaper, and cement
are readily available, more permanent waterproofmg can be applied.
Using a permanent plastering and waterproofmg material has its own
validity, it is economical, time-saving, and maintenance-free. But mud-
straw plastering is a community project. In societies that have plenty of
time, being involved with each other and helping each other is a way
of life, and a house is treated as a living entity.
To make mud-straw plaster, mix the clay-earth with straw in a ratio
of 3 parts earth-clay to 1 part straw in volume, and let it sit for a few days
to a week. This will create a good plaster. For a fme fmish, mix clay-earth

3.58 The first coat of mud-straw plaster

being applied over a dome with a trowel.

132 CERAMIC HOUSES

3.59 Roofscape of domes, vaults, and
skylights at the Dar·AI -lslam mosque com-
and straw-dust (very fmely ground straw). This mix, which is mostly used plex, Abiquiu, New Mexico, designed by
Hassan Fathy, Egyptian architect.
for interior plastering, gives a buff adobe fmish. It may either be used
for the whole wall or only for the trim and borders.
In the areas with freezing winters, a small amount of salt should be
added to the roofing plaster mixture. The salt will lower the freezing point
in the mud-straw plaster and will prevent it from freezing and cracking.
The straw in the mixture works as a reinforcement and keeps the plaster
from shrinking and cracking. It is also water repellent and creates better
insulation against the heat and cold .
Mud-straw plaster for roofmg is usually applied in two coats. The base
coat &lIs all the cracks and joints and smooths out irregularities. After
the mst coat is dried out, the second coat is applied as the fInish work.
The second coat should have a greater percentage of straw. It may have
to be reapplied every few years, depending on the amount of rain. The
better the plaster is made, the longer it will last. A low-clay, low-straw
plaster must be redone every year, while a high-clay, high-straw plaster,
well mixed and mellowed for several days before being applied, may last
several years. A stone roller is often used after the moisture from a heavy
rain or snow has dried out, to compact the plaster on the roof.

ROOFING AND WALL COVERING 133

3.60 Roofscape, Yazd , Iran. The roofs are
covered with fired brick and mud-straw
plaster.

Asphalt or Fired-Brick Roofmg

Asphalt roofIng or tarpaper and rued-brick roof covering is applied to
curved roofs in much the same way as on sloped or flat roofs, depend-
ing on the region and the amount of snow and rain. The common prac-
tice is to apply a rust coat of plaster and then apply hot tar and burlap
and a layer of asphalt. Square rued bricks laid over the tar and burlap
with a good mortar can create a handsome and permanent roofIng.

Exterior Finishes
We can apply one coat of mud-straw plaster as the base and a coat of gyp-
sum plaster as the fInish. We can also use two or three coats of cement
plaster on the wall for waterproofIng and fInish . For a more durable re-
sult, the cement plaster must be applied over a wire mesh. Even with
wire mesh, however, the plaster and the mesh may separate from the
adobe or crack during severe temperature changes, because of the differ-
ence in expansion rates of the cement and adobe. Systems that use gun-
nite or some other texture instead of mesh may also be used, if the
material is available and proper application is assured.

134 CERAMIC HOUSES

3.61 Building with courtyard , Yazd , Iran.
The roofs and walls are covered with mud-
straw plaster.

3.62 The walls of the Dar-AI -Islam

mosque, Abiquiu , New Mexico are cov-
ered with cement plaster over wire mesh .

ROOFING AND WALL COVERING 135

A frred structure can be roofed like a common adobe structure. It may
GELTAFTAN
WATERPROOFING also be covered with frred brick or ceramic tile.

Mud-straw Plaster
If the mud-straw plaster is applied over the roof before the structure is
frred, it will crack when the steam tries to escape during frring. The

3.63 Jami Mosque, Yazd , Iran. The entry

porch , minarets, and dome are covered
with ceramic tile.

136 CERAMIC HOUSES

appropriate method is to try to bake the plaster with the structure at the
end of the frring period. The following steps must be taken:

1. The mud-straw plaster is made from the same material used for adobe
or the common mortar- clay-earth with very few impurities - and should
contain a small percentage of straw.
2. Apply the plaster with a trowel in a layer over 1 centimeter (liz inch)
thick during the last two to three hours of fIring, when the steam is com-
pletely out of the structure and the roof is dry and hot. Even though the
roof is hot we can stand on the walls, in the valley between the roofs,
and apply the plaster over the dome or vault. This way the plaster dries
and can be baked with the roof. The baked plaster will then cool off at
the same rate as the structure to create a strong bond.
3. After a few days of cooling, apply the second layer of the mud-straw
plaster. This layer is the same as the common plaster, and must be reap-
plied every few years, depending on the amount of rain or snow in the
region. (Instead of the second layer of mud-straw, a more permanent
roofmg, such as tar or asphalt, can be applied over the fIrst baked layer.)
To keep the insulating quality of the adobe, which is better than solid
fIred brick, we may want to create a composite structure - a fIred struc-
tural shell within and an adobe shell outside. In this case the roofIng treat-
ment can be done as previously described.

Fired Brick or Ceramic Tile Roofing and Wall Finish

The roof, whether or not it is fIred along with the mud-straw plaster, can
be covered with fired bricks or tiles. These products can be baked inside
the rooms while they are being fIred.
When the structure has been fired, apply a layer of tar waterproofing
over the roof. Then, with a clay-lime-sand or cement mortar, set the fIred
brick or tile.
Fired bricks or tiles can also be used to cover the outside walls. For
the frring of the exterior walls, a secondary shell must be created to cover
the outside wall and access must be provided to lead the fIre from within
the structure. To fire the roof structure all the way through, put down
a layer of adobe blocks, flat and without mortar, on top of the roof. After
all the steam has left the structure, apply a layer of mud-straw plaster
over the joints of the flat adobes. This creates a kiln-like layer that allows
the fIre to penetrate and bake all the way to the outside of the roof struc-
ture. (We may use a fIre-blanket or fire-insulated panels instead of the
temporary adobe layers. Such materials are frequently used for ceramic
kiln linings and are available in industrial societies.)

ROOFING AND WALL COVERING 137

•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 16
FLOORING, INTERIOR FINISHES,
OPENINGS AND UTILITIES

Common Adobe Flooring FLOORING

In a common adobe building, a lime-day-sand mix slab or conventional
fired brick or tile blocks may be used for flooring. Concrete slab floor,
when used, is generally poured at the same time as the foundation. Plain
clay-earth flooring, sometimes called adobe flooring, can also make an
attractive and durable flooring if it is well maintained with sealer.
To construct an adobe floor, lay a pattern of wooden strips or large
square panels on the floor and with them the day-earth mixture. After
drying, repair the cracks and coat the floor with two or three applica-
tions of sealer oil. (In some areas, such as the southwestern United States,
animal blood and oil have been used both in the mixtures and the
sealant.)

Geltaftan Flooring
In a fired structure the floor can be constructed and fired with the struc-
ture. The adobe layer is set on the packed clay-earth, and the flue open-
ings are located below the slab level, so that the floor is baked before the
fire is vented from the flues. To let the fire through the floor at the points
of the flues, we can either leave an adobe-brick-size hole in the floor, to
be covered with the same flooring later, or provide a duct space around
the room under the floor. This duct space may be used later for plumb-
ing and electrical wiring. If the structure is designed with a wind-cooling
system, the duct space and vent shafts can be used later to circulate air
through the structure.
The flooring can also be done after the structure is fired. This system
may be more advantageous when the floor area of the room is used to

139
3.64 Javadabad School , Varamin , Iran.
The east and central arcade interiors were
covered with gypsum plaster after firing .

bake adobes, tiles, and pottery at the same time the building is being fIred.
After the products are taken out, the floor can be covered with fIred adobe
or tile or even wood flooring. The unfmished floor may also be utilized
for plumbing and utility lines. The sub-flooring can be the natural ground
with a layer of rammed clay-earth over it, which will harden during the
fIring. When the fmished flooring is done afterwards, the flue openings
can be at the natural grade level.

140 CERAMIC HOUSES

3.65 Interior Mirror Palace, Yazd , Iran.
The walls are covered with gypsum plaster
and the plaster carvings are with gach-e-
A general rule in fIring the floor is to locate the flue openings in rela- koshteh ("killed plaster").

tion to the floor elevation. The lower the flue openings, the deeper down
the fIre penetrates.

Common Adobe Finishes INTERIOR FINISHES

The interior fmish of adobe walls and ceiling may be left exposed or cov-
,ered with adobe material, gypsum, or cement plaster. The interior plas-
ter is usually applied in two coats: Mud-straw plaster is the base coat,
and gypsum plaster is applied for a fmish. Both coats may be gypsum
plaster; but the mud-straw plaster base coat gives a less expensive and
more homogeneous fmish.
To use gypsum plaster for ceiling and wall decorations, such as carv-
ings, we must keep it wet and alive. Paradoxically, to keep the plaster
alive we must fIrst kill it (gach-e-koshteh, in Persian). To kill the plaster
we must make it into a doughy paste and knead it for over half an hour.
Such a mix will stay pliable for two to three days.

FLOORING, INTERIOR FINISHES , OPENINGS AND UTILITIES 141

Adobe plaster as an interior fInish (generally in a buff color) is made
with a mixture of straw-dust, £me sand, and clay as the fInishing coat.
This fInishing material can be used for the main plaster surfaces, while
the white gypsum is used for the trim and borders. Such natural and
attractive adobe fInishes have lasted for centuries.
In plastering with cement (stucco), with or without wire mesh, two
coats instead of three may be used. Galvanized wire mesh is nailed to
the adobe on these types of finishes, and local building codes specify
the materials and their applications. For interior plastering, the use of
wire mesh is not necessary.
The easiest way to fInish the interiors is to pay careful attention to con-
struction details, and then whitewash directly over the adobes.

GeItaftan Finishes
Fired adobe and clay structures can become a dream work for graphic
artists, interior designers, and sculptors. The interior spaces can be
3.66 Dar-AI -Islam mosque, Abiqui u, New
Mexi co. The interiors are covered with
plaster.

142 CERAMIC HOUSES

sculpted to any desirable form before fIring and glazing. The fIreplace,
bookshelves, and even the coathooks, light fIxtures, and counters can
be sculpted and glazed. (The system of fIring and glazing is discussed
in Part 4.)

The rough frames for doors and windows are usually put in during wall DOORS AND WINDOWS
construction. When arched at the top, the frame can be used as the form
for arch construction. Later it will receive the door or the window. To
secure frames to the walls, wooden adobe-sized blocks (called "gringo
blocks") can be laid up with the wall, at two or three points of the open-
ing height, for the frame attachment. The gringo blocks will burn out
if the structure is fIred.
A rough frame of either wood or steel is commonly used in many parts
of the world. Steel frames must have an application of rustproof paint
before installation. Finish plastering is joined with the rough frame, and
the door or window is installed.
In fIred structures, the rough frames are installed after the fIring.
Notches for the frame anchors can be made in the wall before fIring; after
fIring, the frame is set with the anchors into the notches, then leveled
and plastered.
Since the adobe walls are thick, double doors and windows can gener-
ally fIt in the thickness of the wall without projecting into the room.
Standard-size doors (90 centimeters, or 3 feet) if cut into two pieces (45
centimeters, or 1112 feet), can create an intimate human effect within the
adobe dimension of arches and curved ceilings. And of course, in areas
of the world where wood is scarce, smaller panels may be made with
leftover wood scraps. There is no law against using square-top doors and
windows; however, curved door and window transoms or curved door
tops create a harmonious look with the arches and curved ceilings.

The existence of piped water and electricity is a luxury most people of PLUMBING AND
the world can only hope for. A common house built in most parts of the ELECTRICITY
world has hardly any plumbing except for a water line to the toilet and
a general use area faucet. Electricity consists of a general lighting lamp
and a plug outlet for each room. The same goes for the sewage system.
In the West and other wealthy societies, however, these utilities are the
basic necessities of daily life and are almost always available. So design-
ing and constructing plumbing and electrical lines can range from provid-
ing a single pipe or wire to the most elaborate means of comfort. The
basic and vital need for a hygienic living environment usually can be met
with simplicity, which the poorest people may easily afford. The loca-
tion of an outhouse with proper regard for wind direction and under-
ground water, and the provision for a simple gooseneck trap in a toilet

FLOORING, INTERIOR FINISHES, OPENINGS AND UTILITIES 143

3.67 Sultan Mirahmad Mosque, Yazd ,
Iran. The interior details are of brick and
plaster with a mud-straw base.

3.68 Domed-roof living room ceiling and

window screen details, Borujerdi resi-
dence, Kashan , Iran. Gypsum plaster geo-
metrical carvings are integrated with the
structural ribs and skylight patterns.

sewage connection, with a pipe as a vent to the roof, can usually save
an environment from being polluted.
The common rule for plumbing and sewage in an adobe structure is
to take water away from the building. The cesspool or sewage connec-
tion must be far enough from the building so that the water will not run
back toward it and seep up the walls.

144 CERAMIC HOUSES

The plumbing and electrical conduits may either be put in the wall
during construction, or located in the notched adobe joints and secured
later, before the plastering is done. If plumbing is left exposed, especially
in low-cost habitats that use cheap fIttings, leaks must be detected and
fIxed before they do extensive damage.
Designing and constructing electrical, plumbing, and sewage systems
for a house is not a complex job and should not be feared. Some basic
skills, learned from books and friends, will allow us to be self-suffIcient
in these area. I do not mean to exclude professional electricians and
plumbers from their jobs. But in many parts of the world fInding such
skilled people, and then being able to afford them, is a difficult prospect
that could discourage anyone from building a basic shelter. If plumbers
and electricians, like architects, engineers, and bankers, cannot be done
without, then the people of this world can never hope for a shelter.
Fired structures, which basically become solid masonry buildings, can
use the same electrical, plumbing, and sewage system as common adobe
or masonry buildings. But there is some interesting innovative work that
can be done before fIring. For instance, if we put wood strips in the wall
or ceilings wherever a conduit is needed, the wood strip will burn out
during the fIre and create a chase to receive the electrical conduit or pipe.
Steel pipes may also be put inside the walls before Dring; since the Dring
temperature is only around 1,OOO°C (1,830°F), steel pipe (which has a
much higher melting point) will not be damaged. The joints between
the adobes may also be left recessed or notched before fIring. After fIring,
the utility lines (which will be covered with the fInish plaster) can be
installed. Larger notches or channels must be cut before fIring when the
adobe is soft-otherwise, to cut hard fIred brick, we will need a chisel
and hammer! The use of lead-covered wires and "plaster wires:' where
3.69 Private residence, Kashan , Iran. The
codes allow, can safely be used. organic mud-straw roofs and the contrast-
ing intricate craftsman ship of the gypsum
plaster interiors are typical of this desert
town architecture.

FLOORING , INT E RIOR FINISHES , OPENINGS AND UTILITIES 145

Earth, air, fire, and
water are obedient creatures,

•
they are dead to you and me,
but alive at God's presence.
-Rumi

Firing and
tf;J Ceramic
Glazing
-----... ---.~-----.-.---- ._---

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 17 GELTAFTAN: FIRING

EARTH STRUCTURES

btld-o kMk-o ab-o atash bandehand

btl man-o tow mordeh, btl haq zendehand
Wind and earth and water and frre are obedient creatures,
they are dead to you and me, but alive at God's presence.
-Rumi

Ten years ago I wrote that "The simple elements of earth, water, air,
and £Ire can still create, if the magic of their intimacy is understood, the
most perpetual relationship between matter and spirit:' Today I am even
more convinced that the most suitable environment can be created, and
the greatest ecological balance can be achieved, when these elements are
in equilibrium. I believe this not only because of my search into the
philosophical thinking that extends back to classical Greece, where
Thales spoke of water as unifying matter; or to Persia, where physician
and philosopher Avicenna treated the human body based on the
equilibrium of the four elements; but also because of very technical,
twentieth-century facts.
There is no room in this book to talk about the philosophical or spiri-
tual sides of the unity of the four elements, nor have I the depth of knowl-
edge to do justice to the subject. But my experience of the microcosm
of earth and £Ire in earth architecture, and my humble reaching for the
thoughts of mystic masters, such as Rumi, have led me to believe in the
macrocosm of the balance of the universal elements. But here we must
talk only about the tangible and so-called physical reality-of the medium
of £Ire, not the magic of £Ire.
Once £Ire is introduced to adobe and clay, it changes the characteris-
tics of the earth mixture so radically that its most vulnerable point-
disintegration in water-will change to its strongest point-permanent

149
resistance to water. And that is the difference between a piece of sun-
dried adobe (three elements), and a fIred adobe (four elements). The
missing link, fIre (heat), moves earth architecture towards its perfection.
Fire introduced to adobe and clay buildings can not only create a more
durable structure; it can also be utilized as a cleansing agent, to get rid
of vermin or disease without using environmentally damaging poison
sprayers. Fire in adobe and clay buildings can permanently sculpt in-
teriors, and can provide a &nish with the eternal beauty of ceramic glazes.
Once the fIre is brought to the building, instead of building materials
being taken to the fIre, a completely new set of possibilities is created.
One such possibility is that the building can become a producer of
material instead of only a consumer. While fIring a room, we can use the
space as a kiln to bake bricks, tiles, pottery, or even the household pots,
and dishes.
The fIeld is wide open, and with vision and effort the unlimited pos-
sibilities can be explored by architects, ceramists, sculptors, interior
designers, artists, landscape architects, scientists, and above all ordinary
people, who like to put their hands into the good earth. And this may
open up new hopes for the poor of the world to acquire safe and beauti-
ful shelters with the only material available to them - earth, water, air,
and fIre.

WHAT IS A KILN? A kiln is a room, small or large, where bricks or pottery or other prod-
ucts are baked. We must think of a room or even an entire building as
a kiln. The best experience we can get is to start making some adobe and
clay kilns. But the main purpose is to build and bake the kiln itself in
the most efficient way.
It sounds simple, and it is simple. But we must fIrst understand the
basic elements before we can successfully fIre a room.

HOW TO FIRE A ROOM First provide the necessary flues and fIll the room with whatever we want
to fIre. Then position the burners. Block the door and window openings
with adobe, stacked without any mortar. Then put a thin mud plaster
on the outside to close the open joints so that the fIre cannot escape. We
can do the plastering a little later, while the fIre is burning. The simplest
way to stack adobe blocks in the opening is to stand them next to each
other and fIll the comers and top with small pieces. Light the burners,
and fIre the room until it is done.

Updraft Circulation
If we build a wall in front of an open fIreplace, we will have an updraft
kiln. This means the fIre is started down below, and the flame and hot
gases move up through the flue and out the chimney. So if we build a

150 CERAMIC HOUSES

small room, create a fire in front of its door and provide a hole on the
top of the roof, we will have an updraft circulation, or an updraft kiln.
Native Americans of the pueblos and many other world cultures make
their bread ovens this way; and the updraft kilns are used by all nations
of the world. The traditional technique of brick making in both Iran and
Mexico, which does not use a kiln structure, is also very similar.
In Iran, the fire is started in an underground tunnel. The heat circu-
lates upward through the holes above the tunnel and through the
stacked, sun-dried adobes. The outer layer of adobe is arranged with a
flat face, called a "mirror" form. They also put a l-centimeter- (%-inch-)
layer of mud-straw plaster over the adobe blocks. This mud-straw layer
becomes the kiln. The stack tower is open on top to allow the water vapor,
fire, and hot gases to escape. The fire penetrates through the adobe joints 4.1 A burner opening is left at the bottom
all the way to the back of the mud-straw plaster and bakes it to brick. and blocks are stacked without mortar to
make a temporary wall in a door or win-
The Mexican system is similar, except that they make smaller tunnels
dow opening .
in the stack over the ground, fill the joints of the flat face layer of bricks

4.2 Traditional brick firing (without a kiln

structure) in Iran. The adobe blocks in the
foreground are fired , while the second
stack in the background is ready for the
flat-face brick layer and mud-straw plaster
put on before firing . An underground tun-
nel is used for the firing .

GELTAFTAN : FIRING EARTH STRUCTURES 151

with mortar, and do not cover it with additional mud-straw plaster. They
also use mostly animal dung for fuel. This form of low heat firing and
the shorter firing period is the reason that Mexican architects and en-
gineers are not satisfied with the bricks produced, which are not fired
as well as they should be.
There are some disadvantages to updraft circulation firing, especially
in a kiln. A lot of the heat is wasted, because it is pulled directly outside.
Also, it does not provide uniform heat to all the spaces within the kiln.
To remedy these and other problems, the downdraft circulation system
is used.

Downdraft Circulation
The firing system in a downdraft kiln is similar to the updraft, except that
instead of leaving a hole at the top of the kiln (or the room) for the fire
to escape, the holes (which lead to the flue) are at the bottom.
When the fire is started, the heat circulates up to the ceiling and around
4.3 Updraft circulation. the room, and comes down again and to the holes at the floor level or
at the base of the walls to go out. This way the heat is kept inside much
longer, and flues lead it to different sections of the room.
Flues may be provided in the walls, or a temporary flue may be
provided at the center, to be removed after firing. However, perimeter
flues give a more satisfactory result. The fire in this system may be intro-
duced from a tunnel under the room, from door or window openings
on the sides, or even from above the roof.
In the first few hours of firing, a tremendous amount of vapor builds
up in the room, making it diff:tcult to vent out in a downdraft system.
It is desirable to exhaust these vapors as quickly as possible, to prevent
cracks. To help alleviate this problem, provide some holes on the roof
for the updraft circulation in the first several hours; then, when all va-
pors are out, close the holes by putting adobe blocks over them. Thus
to fire and bake the adobe and day structure, we are actually using a com-
bination of updraft and downdraft circulation for the first several hours,
and then downdraft circulation for the rest of the firing time.

Updraft and Downdraft Circulation

In this combination system the room must have vent holes at the top of
the roof, and flue openings at the floor or below the floor level. If we start
with a simple square room covered with a dome, say 3 X 3 x 3 meters
(10 x 10 x 10 feet), we can build and fire it as follows:

1. Leave a hole on top of the dome a little smaller than the size of one
adobe, about 20 x 20 square centimeters (8 x 8 square inches).
2. Provide four flues, one on each wall. This is done during wall con-
4.4 Downdraft circulation with temporary struction by leaving out one adobe at the center of the wall at each row,
interior flue. from the base of the wall all the way to the top. These flues can end at

152 CERAMIC HOUSES

the roof level. The curved roof and its valleys will work like a chimney
in both domes and vaulted rows of rooms.
3. After several hours of frring at a very low temperature, most of the
vapors will escape through the hole on the roof.
4. Close the top access with an adobe block and mud. Now the frring
circulation changes, and heat circulates along the walls and ceiling and
the hot gases escape from the flues starting at the base of the wall.

l
In this way, the frre bakes the ceiling, walls, and floor. If the flue open-
ings are located below the floor or lower, the foundation can also be frred.
The upper access on the roof could be incorporated into the design as
a skylight, and the flues could at last be incorporated as vent shafts for
a heater or wind catcher. At the desert village, a farmer uses one of the
shafts in the wall for storing his dairy products to keep them cool, as there 4.5 Updraft and downdraft circulation
is no electricity for refrigeration. with flues in the walls.
The flues do not necessarily need to be part of the wall; they could
be removed after the frring process. However, if flues are incorporated
as a part of the structure, the walls will hold more heat and use fuel more
efficiently.
Crossdraft circulation, in combination with updraft, may also be uti-
lized in fIring the structures. Cross draft is the system of locating the
burner on one side and the flues on the opposite side of the room, or kiln.

A flue is a shaft that acts as a chimney for the passage of hot air, vapor,
FLUES
gas, smoke, and so on. The size, location, and number of flues depend
on the form and size of the space. The general rule followed by tradi-
tional kiln makers is that there should be at least one flue in every wall;
in long walls, there should be one flue at least every 2 meters (6 feet).
They must be large enough to draw the water vapor, hot gases, and smoke
easily. Concentration of too much vapor inside of a room, without an
easy escape route, will cause fIring failure, surface cracking, rupture, or
may even cause a piece of wall or roof to blowout.
The rule of thumb is to provide one flue for each wall, with a mini-
mum area of 20 square centimeters (8 square inches), for a square room
of 3 x 3 meters (10 x 10 feet). More flues are added as the room becomes
bigger. If a flue opening is too large, or there are more flues than neces-
sary, they can easily be adjusted by covering the holes on the roof with
adobe blocks. But if the flues are too few and their openings too small,
then the fIring will be inefficient and no adjustment can be made during
the fIring. An improper circulation often causes the kiln to "choke," put-
ting out the frre. The supply of air to the fIre is the most important factor
in keeping it going. The air is usually taken in at the point of the fIre,
depending on the system of the fuel and the burner.
The size and number of the flues are main factors in creating the draft

GELTAFTAN: FIRING EARTH STRUCTURES 153

necessary to bring in the air to the fire. In conditions where chimneys
are used to vent connected flues, the height of the chimneys become
important. In firing a room, the flues are individually open to the out-
side above the roof and a separate chimney is not needed.
It is invaluable to consult with a potter familiar with kilns, or a kiln
operator, before firing, especially in different parts of the world with
different fuels and traditions of firing. Even though firing technique can
be learned, still it must be remembered that firing is a great art, and the
kiln operators are the artists who know the behavior of fire by the way
it lights, continues to burn, and dies. Knowing how fire grows hotter and
recognizing how the different colors of the fire represent different tem-
peratures are part of the art of firing. Even the most skillful of the kiln
makers are sometimes surprised by the fire's behavior, and how well a
kiln fires. Ali Aga, the kiln operator from Hamedan, could tell the tem-
perature of fire by looking at it. He would even talk to fire on occasion.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING No matter how old or dry adobe and clay buildings are, even centuries
THE FIRING? old, they still contain more than 15 percent moisture. This creates a lot
of vapor, which will try to escape during the early stages of firing - around
2000 e to soooe (400°F to 900°F).
As the moisture leaves the adobe or mortar, the materials soften-
becoming almost like wet clay again - and the structure is at its weakest
point. In Iran we had an experienced kiln operator to tell us the strength
of the roof and the structure as the firing proceeded. So we were able
to stretch out on top of the roof to watch the stars, while the roof was
hot. But until all necessary tests are made in the future, and the degree
of the temperature and the corresponding strength of the roof is deter-
mined, we should avoid the roof as long as the fire is burning. Walking
on top of the thick walls or between domes and vaults, however, may
be safe.
It is important to get the building as dryas possible before introduc-
ing a higher temperature fire. Start a low fire at first. If two or more
burners are used, start only one of them for the first few hours to get the
building dried out. Then light the others.
During the early firing, all flues and access holes on top of the roof
should remain open. It may even be better to leave the stack of adobe
in front of the door or window unplastered for few hours to help the early
steam escape. Using mud-straw plaster during the fire is possible. The
idea is to let the adobe and clay dry outside and inside, and let water
that is trapped between its molecules escape as easily as possible.
After ten to fourteen hours, when the steam is all out, close the top
access holes. Now the system of updraft and downdraft circulation
changes to downdraft. This means that the only way fire and hot gases
can escape is from the flues at the base of the wall, or below the floor.
Flues at the top must be open and clear of any obstructions.

154 CERAMIC HOUSES

After all the steam is out, we can raise the fIre to its highest tempera-
ture and let the heat build up. To fIre a room and bake it to brick, of course,
will depend on many factors. The most important is the amount of heat
and the number of hours of fIring. And if we want further solidifIcation
and fusing, we could actually melt the surfaces to create rocks. For an
ordinary adobe and clay building to reach the stage of fIred brick, a tem-
perature of 1,OOO°C (1,830°F) is usually sufficient, depending on the clay
and the depth of desired fIring. To reach this stage of fIring within an
average size room and using a gravity-flow kerosene oil burner takes from
twenty-four to thirty hours. If the room is next to a room that has already
been fIred, it will take less time because the walls will be much drier.

One of the greatest advantages of adobe and clay buildings is their fIre SAFETY RULES
resistance. If all buildings were built of earth, fIre insurance companies
would go out of business. Fire may be our best friend or our worst enemy
among the four elements, depending on the amount of our understand-
ing and care.
Firing adobe and clay buildings must not present any fIre hazard if
it is done correctly, and by experienced people, since the fIre is well con-
tained. The precautions for fIring structures are similar to those taken
when fIring adobe kilns in the open air. Depending on the type of the
fuel and the system of fIring, the most care should go into the type of
burners and supply lines used.
A fIre caused by the accidental tipping over of an oil barrel on the roof,
or leakage, need not create panic as long as the building is not near other
flammable objects. In one of our fIrings, a heavy storm caused one of the
oil barrels to fall on the adjacent room, starting a large fIre. We simply
stood far away and watched the fIre until it was burned out, since it could
do no damage to our adobe and clay building. But our building was large
and isolated and there was no danger of neighboring houses catching
on fIre.
The biggest fIre hazard is probably crack, rupture, or collapse of the
building during the fIring. Just as a conventional building will collapse
if there is not enough support in the structural members, an adobe and
clay building roof may collapse without or with fIring if there is not
enough strength in the walls or roof. We have not yet experienced a roof
collapse. However, because the structure will expand and contract dur-
ing fIring, we must take all possible precautions. It is of the utmost im-
portance to have someone experienced in working with kilns to help and
advise us.
The shut-off valve for oil and gas burners should be far away from the
burners. If the burner or the line catches on fIre, the fuel can then be shut
off immediately. The connecting oil line to the burner should either be
made of steel pipe or reinforced and noncombustible materials that will

GELTAFTAN: FIRING EARTH STRUCTURES 155

not expand, rupture, or catch fIre if the line gets hot. Also refer to the
oil burner discussion in this chapter for safety pointers.
Use a pair of dark glasses when looking through the observation hole.
The heat comes out of the hole like an invisible flame, and can cause burns
to the eyes and face. Anyone who has seen a ceramic kiln operate knows
how intense the heat is.
When fIring a building or several buildings the help and advice of an
experienced fIreman will be needed. At the beginning, we should plan
to learn about how to handle fIre, just as we learn about adobe and clay
and the construction techniques. The fIring of a building is an integral
part of the structural system and must be learned and done correctly.
Avoid going on top of the roof during this time - the walls and the roof
are still soft and may not be strong enough to support our weight. Later
in the fIring, when all vapors have been released, we may walk on the
walls if we need to inspect the flues.
It is best to fIre several rooms, or even the entire building, at once, but
never get involved with the fIring process if you are not in total control.
The twenty-four to thirty hours of fIring is enough to create a fIred-shell
structure; however, with slower and longer fIring systems, deeper
penetration of the fIre and more solidifIcation of adobe and mortar is en-
sured. The best handmade bricks sometimes take as long as three to fIve
days of slow fIring.
The wind can be a great annoyance and can be very dangerous. The
best time to &re is during off-wind days. However, if we anticipate the
wind we won't be caught off guard. If we are using oil burners, we must
protect them from the wind by stacking adobe block with some sort of
protection covering it for a wind break. The wind can paralyze some fIring
systems. A good pair of gloves and shoes - not made of rubber or plas-
tics - are good safety measures.
The best way to get experience is to &re a small structure or room. This
will help us to fInd the right temperature, fIring time, and depth of
penetration. Then we can utilize this information to fIre our fInal struc-
ture. The best safety rule is to get help from a person who is experienced
and knowledgable about fIring. It will only be in the future when we have
enough experience behind us, that we can standardize the techniques
and safety rules of how to construct, &re, and glaze buildings, and build
faultless gravity flow burners. At the present the best sources are pot-
ters, kiln operators, and the many books available about kilns.

FIRING AND FUEL Firing and baking a room from within is similar to fIring a ceramic or brick
kiln. The fIring system depends mainly on the availability of the fuel and
local know-how. In the West and other technologically advanced coun-
tries, the varieties of fuel and systems of high-temperature fIring are stan-
dard and sophisticated. Most of the equipment works on natural or
propane gas, electric pumps that eject fuel, and even all-electric coil sys-

156 CERAMIC HOUSES

----------------------------------------

tems. But in the rest of the world, such fuel and equipment is nonexis-
tent. Even electricity is a great lUxury.
The basic philosophy of geltaftan is earth architecture created from the
four elements-earth, water, air, and fIre. It is based on human knowl-
edge, appropriate technique, and a technology that works with gravity,
the sun, and the four elements. If we extend this philosophy, it becomes
obvious that sophisticated equipment should not even be considered.
Not that there is evil in such high technology; but it is a far-fetched real-
ity for most of the world, and should be left alone. High technology is
appropriate for societies that have it. It is easy for Western societies to
use gas and fuel-ejecting pumps to fIre a room or a whole building. But
here we consider only a basic system, based on locally available fuels or
easily imported ones, which could be used anywhere in the world.
Even the use of imported fuels such as oil is questionable, since it may
be a strain on the economy. In that case it is good to compare the avail-
able alternatives and calculate the tradeoffs. We cannot say that construct-
ing adobe and clay buildings and &ring them is appropriate for every place
and every condition; this would be a foolhardy claim. Geltaftan is an
alternative-and a more valid one than many others-that could suit
many parts of the world.

Local Firing Systems

The best fIring system is usually the system used locally to fIre brick and
ceramic kilns. The fuel can range from coal and coke to wood, grass, and
weeds; from animal dung and trash to natural gas, oil, bio gas, and elec-
tricity; or even solar energy, microwave, and fusion.
A traditional Mexican fIred-brick maker still uses animal dung to fIre
his brick kiln, even though the country is rich in oil. The oil has not
reached him, and the man has no time to make the transition from ani-
mal dung to oil. In Iran most traditional village kilns are similar to that
of the Mexicans, but the fuel has already been changed to oil. And even
those who used animal dung have found an easy gravity system to burn
oil. The oil is stored in a tank (usually a ditch dug into the ground, plas-
tered, and used as a tank). Then the oil flows through a steel pipe into
the tunnel under the adobe stack and burns.
A small tank of water may also be utilized; a pipe carries water next
to the oil pipe. Drops of water and drops of oil simply flow down and
splash over a piece of fIred adobe in the tunnel floor and catch on fIre.
The water drops are very slow, one or two drops per second, while the
oil comes in a continuous flow as needed. Water drops splash and break,
and the oxygen in the water helps the oil to burn much better. As the
heat rises, the smoke and vapor go through the bricks and up and out.
The mud-straw plaster around the stack of unfIred block is the kiln, and
as the kiln gets hotter the black smoke created by the oil burner is burned
out. In this system there is no chimney stack or flue. And the fIre is a
beautiful fIre, sometimes resembling the fIreworks of celebration nights.

GELTAFTAN: FIRING EARTH STRUCTURES 157

There are many variations on this basic system. There may be ready-
made adobe kilns on top of the firing tunnels, instead of the mud-straw
plastering around the brick stack. There may be a steam line instead of
liquid water drops (the heat of the kiln makes the steam). If power is avail-
able, a small electric pump can change the oil and water to moist spray
and eject it into the room. We can utilize any of these systems for firing
an adobe and clay building, both for baking it to brick or glazing it for
ceramic finishes. A local potter or kiln operator can give invaluable
information. Of course, their word is not the last word, since our kiln
is bigger than theirs and we need to reach out for all other possibilities.

A Gravity-Flow Oil Burner Firing System

Since oil is available in most countries of the world, and diesel and kero-
sene can be acquired in more places than other fuels, we will discuss a
homemade burner system based on this idea. This is not the only sys-
tem everyone should use, but we have found it to be simpler than most.
The operating principle is based on the flow of oil via gravity into a
burner, which changes the liquid fuel naturally to gas and fires the kiln
or the room. It works like this:

1. Put one or two (connected) barrels of oil on a roof or tower approxi-

mately 6 meters (20 feet) high, and connect the fuel line to a burner so
that the oil flows into the burner.
2. Start a fire in the burner. It will burn as long as there is fuel in the
barrels. A valve controls the amount of oil allowed to go to the burner.

Placement of the burners is an important consideration. One or more

burners in a room or several rooms can be located below the floor, or in
the door and window openings. A square room of approximately 3 x

4.6 Gravity-flow oil burner firing system.

158 CERAMIC HOUSES

3 x 3 meters (10 x 10 x 10 feet) with a dome can be evenly frred with
a single homemade burner located under the center of the room.
Such a room can also be used as an ideal kiln for pottery frring. Al-
most all traditional ceramic kilns in Hamedan, a city in Iran, use this sys-
tem to frre their vessels. But digging a tunnel under a room can be hard
work if we are frring a whole building. In this case, the system of side
frring may be utilized. Locating the burner in front of the door or a win-
dow opening is the simplest way to frre a room. The frre inside the room
is directed for even distribution, depending on the location of the flue.
In a room with a door and a window on opposite sides, two oil burners
can do the job well. This is used most commonly in frring of a vaulted-
roof, rectangular room.
Firing from above, as is done in some brick-manufacturing kilns, can
be adapted to the frring of the buildings, if the project is large and the
cost of the system can be justi6.ed.

Hamedan Burner: A Homemade Oil Burner

One of the best kerosene oil burners we have found is the Hamedan
burner. (Hamedan is an ancient Iranian town, famous for its ceramics.)
It works without any need for electricity, pump, or other gadgets. This
gravity burner can be constructed and operated by anyone, after gain-
ing some experience. We have adapted the original design to suit our
work, but have kept its simplicity.
The burner works like this : Elevate a barrel of kerosene oil to about
6 meters (20 feet) and connect it with a pipe to the burner. The oil flow
goes through the hot burner, changes to gas, and shoots flame into the
room. The burner is heated for a few minutes at the beginning, but works
from then on with its own heat. The oil flow is controlled by two valves-
one at the high point where the tank or barrel is located, and the other
near the burner. It is the second valve which is adjusted; the frrst valve
is simply opened at the beginning and shut at the end of operation.
This burner may be made larger or smaller, but an average-size burner
with ample frre, and light enough for two men to move around, is detailed
and described here. This burner would be sufflcient to frre a pottery kiln
or a room of around 3 x 3 x 3 meters (10 x 10 x 10 feet). In full opera-
tion, with the valve completely open, it uses an average of around 32 4.7 Two oil barrels on a tall stand are
liters (8 gallons) of kerosene oil per hour. connected together at their base with a
The Hamedan burner works well with kerosene oil, although diesel pipe to keep the oil at the same level in
each . The oil flows out through two flexi ble
oil may also be used. However, it is less efficient and has a shorter life hoses down to the burners below. Another
because of residue build-up. hose is connected to fill the barrels with a
The burner is made by putting a small steel pipe inside a larger one, hand pump on the ground. The ladder is
used to monitor the oil level. (Instead of a
and welding them together at the top and bottom. The air space between tall stand on the ground, a rooftop could
the two pipes will be filled with kerosene oil during operation. be used to gain the needed height.)
The step-by-step operation is as follows:

GELTAFTAN : FIR I NG EARTH STRUCTURES 159

1. First open the valve at the tank, and then open the control valve near
the burner. As soon as the oil starts to shoot out of the burner, shut the
control valve.
2. With a few sticks, start a little frre around the burner. If the burner

4.8 A burner located in front of a door

opening to shoot the fire inside. (The tem-
porary wall closing the opening was not
constructed here so that the burners fire in
the first several minutes can be seen .)

160 CERAMIC HOUSES

4.9 The burner's fire after it catches on
with a roaring sound . The volume of
flames decreases but the intensity of the
fire increases.

is vertical, start the fIre underneath; if the burner is horizontal, start the
fIre inside.
3. When the burner is hot, try to open and shut the valve a few times
until the roaring sound of fIre is heard; then adjust . (The oil is changing
to gas and shooting through the burner by itself during this period.) If
we open the control valve and oil shoots out, it means that the burner
is not hot enough.

Remember that the fIre must be kept very low the fIrst several hours.
The control valve must be adjusted accordingly. The fIre will catch on
and continue to burn, not inside the burner, but inside the room.
The burner should continue with no problem as long as there is oil
in the tank and the supply line. The oil flow keeps the pipelines cool and
will not let the heat get into the main line. It is better to keep the oil on
top of the tower at a regular temperature and shade it from the excessive
heat of the summer sun . 4.10 Kerosene oil burner.
The air supply for the burner is from its open end. The ejecting gas
takes the air with it to be fIred in the room. Thus it is important that the
burner is located in an area where it can take as much air as it needs.
If a room or a kiln is fIred from underneath, the tunnel should be wide
enough for both the supply of enough air and for someone to crawl to

GELTAFTAN : FIRING EARTH STRUCTURES 161

the burner. When the burner head orifi.ces get clogged with dirt, a wire
pin attached to a handle can be used to clear them.
The gravity flow fi.ring system is almost failure-proof, since it doesn't
depend on any mechanical equipment. It can be used over and over
again, anywhere in the world. Just remember a few main points: The
burner must be located completely outside of the room and must have
an air supply around it. It must be protected from the wind. It must not
get overheated, which will cause it to die. (Sometimes overheating is
caused by not having a good flow of air or oil; or oil that is hot because
<f)
of exposure to too much sun.) The burner generates a very powerful fi.re
CD
.~ and can be dangerous if it is not handled with care and skill.
The main shortcoming of the burner, in its present design, is the lack
12/1 of an emergency shut-off system. Once we shut the valve it may take over
30cm
fi.fteen minutes before the oil inside the burner is fi.nished and fi.re goes
off. This burner must only be used by an experienced operator. An emer-
E
,
0
~
gency shut-off system must be developed for it before its public use.
C\J
To supply the oil to the tank on top, we can use a hand pump. To check
the fuel, climb to the tank or use a float or other shut-off system. A small
compressor can also provide the needed pressure if the tank is located
4.11 Cross section of a kerosene burner.
on the ground.
A group of domes or vaults may be fi.red all at once, with several
burners, or one at a time. In this case, by connecting the rooms to each
other, the building will become like a multiple kiln and the heat will travel
from one space to the other. In sloping sites the fi.ring is carried out from
the lowest room fi.rst-the way the Japanese chamber kilns work. In this
manner, the extra heat generated from one room will cause the others
to dry out; and in return, less heat and time will be needed to fi.re the
other rooms.
The room space, when used as a kiln to bake adobes, tiles, or pottery,
4.12 Placement of the burne[ To con- must be utilized like local kilns. Stacked brick or jars or shelving can hold
struct a burner: different size pots.
1. Cut two pieces of steel pipe of 30 and
38 centimeters inside diameter (12
and 15 inches). Smaller burners can
be made by keeping an approximate
dimension ratio.
2. Drill 2 holes for 2.5-centimeter di- INSIDE
ameter (1-inch) pipes in the bigger
pipe. (At top and bottom.)
3. Set the smaller pipe inside the larger
one and weld with a strip all around to
make an air-tight chamber of about 3
centimeters (1 inch).
4. Weld black pipes with standard de-
tachable elbows as shown.
5. Connect four legs, with front legs taller,
to point burner up.
6. Provide a control valve and a check
valve 3 meters (10 feet) away from the
burne[
7. Make a circular burner head with
twelve holes 1.0 to 1.5 millimeter in di-
amete[

162 CERAMIC HOUSES

4.13 Thermocouple, to measure kiln tem-
perature.

During fIring, the temperature inside the room can be measured in differ- MEASURING TEMPERATURE
ent ways. The experienced kiln operator can tell the temperature of the
fire by its color: red colors, ranging from light to dark, are around 5000 e
to 8000 e (900°F to 1,500°F); orange to yellow to white fires are from 8000 e
to 1,OOOoe (1,500°F to 1,800°F) and above.
We can also use a thermocouple to tell how hot the fire is. It can be
left in the observation hole of a wall of the room for the entire baking
time, with an outside indicator to show the temperature rise. Or it could
be inserted in different parts of the room and read through observation
holes.
It is also possible to use the sophisticated scopes and scanners. But
since the firing of a building is not as critical as the firing of a ceramic
kiln, simpler methods, such as the use of cones or tile samples are
sufficient. 4.14 Cones, used to measure kiln tem-
eones are finger-size, ready-made clay pieces that melt at a predeter- perature.
mined temperature. Several cones with various melting points can be
placed in the room, and watched during the firing through observation
holes. As the cones melt, the degree of temperature inside the room can
be determined.
The village kiln operators sometimes leave some bricks or tiles in the
kiln, within reach. During the firing, they are taken out with a long steel
clip and tested for strength. How we choose to measure the tempera-
ture will depend on local conditions and availability of materials. Ali Aga,
our kiln operator, would go up over the wall, look at the flue shafts, then
tell us: ''When the flues are all white, the room is baked:'

When the fire reaches 1,OOOoe (1,830°F) - cone 06 -let the fire continue
FINAL STAGES OF FIRING
for about two hours or so before turning it off. This temperature is gener-
ally accepted to be hot enough to change adobe to brick. But in reality-

GELTAFTAN: FIRING EARTH STRUCTURES 163

depending on the adobe mixture, the thickness of the block, and other
factors - it changes. Thus the desired temperature must be determined
during sample testing. At this stage the mortar between the adobes in-
side the room is glowing. It looks like gold nuggets and shining lights;
the adobe blocks are glowing as well, but in a different shade. The sight
is breathtaking, and every little detail can be seen. The high tempera-
ture makes the room appear much smaller than it really is and the far
end wall will look much closer.
At the last minute, shut off the valves. Then stand and watch:

I see one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my

life: the dying of a high-flred space. Since the torches are
off, there is no fuel and there is no flame, but the room
itself is emitting fIre. The walls seem to be shooting flre-
balls at each other. A fIred room doesn't die all at once; it
plays a lot before its death. The whole room after a while
starts glowing in deep red color, then adobe blocks of the
walls and the ceiling become amber color, while the mortar
lines between them change to pure gold nugget. I feel that
there is a lot of flre inside those masses even though I don't
see the flame.

Then comes the cooling period. The only openings should be flues
on the roof, through which the air and heat exchange occurs. Through
these shafts, and through the roof and wall surfaces, the room cools off
very slowly. Let it sit for forty-eight hours or more before opening it up.
Early opening creates cracks.
After the fIring is flnished, the burner can be removed and used some-
where else and its portholes (the openings in the wall) can be closed with
adobe and mud. When the room is cooled and opened, the simplest and
yet the most profound sight can be seen and touched: The entire adobe
and clay room has changed to solid brick. What used to be adobe blocks
and mortar, clay-earth rammed construction, or piled-mud wall- struc-
tures that could have been washed away by water-now has become
water resistant. The dried-out mud, which we could once have broken
with our flngers, now requires us to use a hammer and chisel.

164 CERAMIC HOUSES

•

• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 18
INTERIOR DESIGN:
SCULPTING AND GLAZING

Earth, enchanted by fue, creates dreams in forms, colors, and texture as

vast as the cosmos.
Clay-earth is an ideal medium for sculpting and creating spaces and
molding the imagination. The interior spaces of a fued adobe structure
can be designed, sculpted, fIred, and glazed to dream shapes. To build
a room with adobe and clay, and then to fIre it and leave it alone, is itself
a rewarding experience. But to sculpt and glaze the interiors - including
textures, paintings, graphics, shelves, fIreplace, and even coat hangers
and furniture - is to integrate art into architecture. The artists are as much
a part of this architecture as the architects are part of their arts. A potter
becomes an architect, a sculptor becomes an interior designer, a painter
becomes a ceramist, and an architect becomes a sculptor.
While under construction, adobe and clay structures can be sculpted
to attain an aesthetic spirit and then be frozen in place by fIre. The addi-
tion of small amounts of oxides or different types of clay and sand to the
blocks can create fIne fInishes when fIred. Adobe and clay walls made
thicker than is structurally necessary may be carved and textured. Locally
available gypsum or cement plaster or even whitewash can be applied
to create contrasts and light-reflecting surfaces.
Ordinary clay-earth, gypsum, and straw, used in a method called sim-
kah-gel in Persian, can result in some of the most beautiful and lasting
interior fInishes. First, a band of gypsum (white plaster) is applied around
doors, windows, and other designed edges called screeds. Then we ap-
ply the buff color. This plaster is a mixture of clay-earth, straw dust (very
fIne, screened straw), and water, which must sit until yellowish water
("juice") appears in the container. Then the mixture is well kneaded to
a paste. After this plaster is applied and before it is dried, take some of
the juice from the container and cover the screed white plaster bands
with it. Then, before it is completely dried out, take a putty knife or simi-

165
lar tool and scrape the half-dried juice from the top of the white screeds.
The white plaster color will come through the buff layer to create a
homogeneous, decorative surface that looks inlaid. Here again, the main
material is the earth, and the white plaster is used as the decorative
element.
The interiors of earth architecture buildings constructed with arches,
vaults, and domes will look beautiful if the sun is allowed to play on the
surfaces. All other treatments are an opportunity for the artists to inter-
act with the earth and the sun.

Now the time has come to create a new scale in the ceramic
CERAMIC GLAZING
world, to walk out from the womb of a pot to the space of a
room.
Now the time has come to step back into history, and
touch our fathers who have touched the glaze, to recapture
their secrets of heavenly textures and colors, but grow
larger than their size, to create, not only the little forms and
shapes in containers, but the spaces that contain us.
Now the time has come to create a ceramic glaze, a
china, a stoneware, not in the scale of our hands but in the
scale of our lives.

The words pottery, bricks, and ceramics have always meant something
we can lift and carry in our hands. These words, representing the prod-
ucts of the clay-earth, have limited our imaginations not in forms, tex-
tures, or colors, but in scale. And even though humans have fired and
baked giant-size kilns, they only meant to fire its mini-size contents. But
now, if we can free ourselves from that limitation of scale and believe that
we can take fire to clay just as we can take clay to fire, new horizons will
open to us. We have inherited a great wealth of forms, colors, and tex-
tures developed by architects, potters, and sculptors throughout
history-and new ones arise everyday. If we could learn to use all this
wealth in a new direction and new scale, then an era of beauty at the
service of the human soul will emerge.
Of course, the change of scale may also present technical and socio-
economic limitations; but these limitations can be overcome by imagi-
nation and craftsmanship. The cost of fuel for fire, or the expense of
ceramic glazes may not seem to be within our means; but if we analyze
the situation carefully, we may fmd that they are appropriate.
For example, if we consider buying fired brick instead of firing the
structure in place, we will fmd that the cost of fuel to manufacture and
transport is many times higher. Or if we consider making large quanti-
4.15 The natural colors and textures of
the fired surfaces, accentuating th e struc- ties of glaze with broken bottles, instead of buying it in grams or ounces,
tu ral geometries, can be left as finishings. then covering large surfaces will become economical. Even learning how

166 CERAMIC HOUSES

4.16 Forms and spaces can be con-
structed on human scale, and exposed or
plastered surfaces can create contrasts
and textures in tune with human senses.
Javadabad Elementary School , Varamin ,
Iran.

to use kitchen salt for beautiful salt glazing can make economic issues
secondary to structural and aesthetic concerns. With frred structures we
may fmd that there is no need for additional fmishes. The surfaces them-
selves have beauty, especially in their imperfections. Exposed blocks with
their joints designed for expansion and contraction, or hairline cracks,

INTERIOR DESIGN : SCULPTING AND GLAZING 167

may be considered as part of the design. Think of Michelangelo's paint-
ings, with their beautiful-time created-hairline-cracked surfaces.
Many potters are as familiar with glaze as they are with clay. But for
the majority of people, glaze is still mystery. They have no idea what a
glaze is. I had no idea myself when I tried my hand at glazing for the
frrst time :

It is almost impossible for me to separate in my mind the

picture, the texture, the color, and the sensation of a
ceramic glaze from that of a seashell. I have always imag-
ined my glazed houses to have the color and textures, the
soft and curved edges around the openings and projec-
tions, that seashells have. I can imagine a human walking,
sitting, and living in the glazed spaces like one of those sea
animals crawling into its shell.
But now that I am faced with the actual operation of
glazing, I am at a loss. What is ceramic glazing?

Since then, I have learned a lot about ceramic glazing-not enough

to master it, but to know that there is no limit to its possibilities. The
intuitive knowledge of the simple desert potters-even those who
couldn't read or write their own names, but knew the frre by its color
and its feel-the calculative secrets of the educated ceramists, and the
fme touch of the masters have all made me thirstier for this magic potion
4.17 Forms and surfaces can be simple;
the sunlight does the rest. Javadabad called glaze. The great ceramists of China and Japan, the fme potters of
Elementary School. the Iranian deserts, the Africans, the Arabs, the American, the
Europeans-all can teach us new lessons. Books in libraries, or secret for-
mulas written in old folded papers in all the languages of the world-
these too are our pathways to the treasure of glaze and hre.

WHAT IS GLAZE? Glaze is a phenomenon created by the intimacy of earth and frre. Before
humans discovered how to glaze, nature was creating it with volcanoes
and forest hres, and it continues to do so.
Glaze is a glass-like material that is used for its durability and beauty.
Generally speaking, wherever -intense heat is introduced next to the
earth, glazed surfaces can be seen - from an atomic bomb explosion
ground to a bonfrre at a campground. But the mystery of glaze is like the
mystery of the clay itself-the more we know, the more we see its un-
limited possibilities.
Glazing materials used in pottery are powdered mineral oxides - oxide
means the intermixture of the elements with oxygen. The most impor-
tant of all these oxides is silica, which covers more than half of our planet.
When silica is frred to the melting point and then cooled, it makes glass.
But it takes a very high temperature to melt silica. So, to lower the melt-

168 CERAMIC HOUSES

4. 18 Shelves and niches carved into
traditional spaces - following the lines of
the structu ral forces - can inspire sculp-
tured interiors. Javadabad village, Vara-
min, Iran.
ing point of the silica, we mix it with other minerals (oxides) such as
sodium, calcium, or potassium. Much lower-temperature oxides, like
lead, are used as flux . Flux (e_g., lead) is the agent that reduces the need
for high fuing temperatures.
To make a glaze, we mix the ingredients with water until it can be
brushed or sprayed on a clay-earth surface. When a glazed surface is
baked in a fue, the different oxides begin to interact and melt into each
other. In fusion they lose their own individual identity and become a
uniform character.
The art of making different types of glazes, and the secret formulas
to the oxides and the ways of fuing them are as vast as the imagination.
Before we get involved with glazing a building, we should spend some
time learning about glaze fmishes from potters and ceramists and ob-
serving their work. To work as a team with a potter and a ceramist who
knows the fue and the glaze is invaluable.

INTERIOR DE S IGN : S CULPTING AND GLAZING 169

4.19 A homemade glaze made with
milled Coca-Cola bottles, oxides, and
water is sprayed over walls, ceiling , and
floor using an insecticide sprayer.

How to Glaze a Building

To glaze a building if it involves glazing of large surfaces economically,
we must use the more abundant and less expensive glaze agents. It is
generally more feasible to use a low-fIred glaze, since it takes less heat

va CERAMIC HOUSES
and in many cases it is less expensive. The point to remember is that high-
temperature glazes are more durable than low-temperature ones. But
since we are not dealing with an intensive use factor-as in a cup or a
plate-a high-fIred glaze may not be needed. In areas of use such as a
bathroom or a counter top, however, we may want to use a more dura-
ble glaze than we would use on a common vault surface. Unfortunately
since the state of the art of large-scale-building glazing is still in its in-
fancy, a set of charts and recommendations as to the use of what glaze
to what purpose has yet to be developed.
Glazing an entire room, like covering a room with conventional ce-
ramic tile, is not desirable. The room would not be able to 'breathe," nor
would it be acoustically suitable for a living environment. Thus it is a
good idea to sculpt and glaze a few areas and leave the rest as exposed,
burned adobe; or just glaze some of the walls, or individual rows of
adobe brick surfaces only.
Glaze can be applied by spraying the large areas, and brushing it on
the smaller sections. In rural areas, where there was no electricity for the
use of mechanical tools, we used the farmers' standard insecticide
sprayers. The sprayer is pressurized by a bicycle pump and can work won-
ders. Since a glaze solution is water-based, and can be diluted to a thin
liquid, such simple tools are the most appropriate technology.
Ali Aga made a homemade glaze by grinding broken Coke bottles and
adding a couple of oxides. He then applied it, within twenty-four hours
of mixing, with an insecticide sprayer over the room surfaces. The decora-
tive parts were covered with glaze applied by a brush.
Some care must be taken as far as safety is concerned. Lead oxide,
which is used all over the world as part of the glazing mix, has tremen-
dous advantages over other fluxes. But since lead is poisonous, handling
it in raw form must be done with great care. Spraying the lead and breath-
ing it is very dangerous and must be either completely avoided or done
with adequate protection. There is no hazard once lead glaze is properly
fIred. An improperly fIred lead-glaze dinner plate may cause contami-
nation of food and raw fruits, but a glazed wall surface is much safer.
Bringing the fIre to the product for glazing instead of taking the prod-
uct to the fIre requires a new way of thinking, which may alter the pro-
cess itself. And sometimes what is a problem in conventional ceramic
glazing may become an advantage when used for a building.
Salt glazing is an interesting example. Salt is one of the simplest, least
expensive, and most beautiful glazes ever created. The potter simply
throws some table salt into the fIre. The salt becomes the glaze and cov-
ers the clay-earth surfaces to make a permanent fInish. The possibilities
of creating ideal textures and fIne fInishes are limitless. But it is not used
commonly in ceramics because of some inherent disadvantages. For one
thing, the salt glazes the kiln before it glazes the pottery. Another dis-
advantage is that it produces poisonous chlorine gas; thus the kilns must
either be outdoors, or vented to take the fumes outside. But in glazing
a room or a building, the fIrst problem changes to an advantage - we want

INTERIOR DESIGN: SCULPTING AND GLAZING 171

4.20 Interiors can be sculpted (including
shelves and coat hangers) and graphics
integrated into the glazings. The first firing
can be done while the room is also being to glaze the kiln, which is our room. In addition, the building itself is
utilized as a kiln filled with bricks, tiles, pot-
an outside kiln, and thus chlorine gas is already outside. And since we
tery, and clay objects. A second firing can
be done later for glazing only. Single firing only fIre a room once, we are not polluting the atmosphere as a kiln does
is also possible. with hundreds of fIring.
The fIred surfaces must be free from impurities (such as lime) before
they are glazed. As in pottery, such impurities will crack the glazed sur-
faces. In some of our experiments we sprayed the fIred surfaces with
water and allowed the soaked lime to pop through before covering the
surfaces with glaze. The modest experimental glazing works I have been
involved with are too few and too elementary to be exhibited; but my
experience of glazed spaces has brought me inspirations that have be-
come a part of my everyday life's dream. And I make a plea to the cer-
amists of the world to create and to experience a glazed space.

172 CERAMIC HOUSES

19
LANDSCAPING AND
REHABILITATION

Adobe and clay buildings are naturally harmonious with their surround- LANDSCAPING
ings. There are millions of houses and villages in the world raised from
the earth itself that fIt the beauty of forms, colors, and textures of their
sites. Sometimes even an entire village goes undetected from the land
it is built on. But the use of plants and shrubs near or inside of an unfIred
adobe and clay building may damage the structure, because the earth
disintegrates in water. But in a fIred structure, which is resistant to wa-
ter, landscaping can become part of the structure. Planters can be sculpted
and fIred along with the building, and plants and shrubs can grow right
out of a building. Thus landscaping can become integrated with the
human-built environments.
The outside and inside gardens - including the fountain pool, steps,
benches, and permanent furniture, pots, and planters - may be designed,
sculpted, fIred, and glazed on the spot. After a planter or bench or foun-
tain is sculpted, a temporary kiln can be built over it, or a movable kiln
can cover the piece to be fIred and glazed. A temporary kiln may be as
simple as a fIre-blanket covering the sculpted piece. The possibilities of
creating landscaping in small or large scale-from a fIred-on-the-spot ce-
ramic sidewalk and sculpted bench or planter to a swimming pool dug
and fIred and glazed in place - are limitless.
In most cases practical, simple, existing kiln techniques can be used.
We can learn from the native ceramists of India who are fIring in place
huge sculpted forms, such as full-scale elephants or horses, by piling
earth and blocks around them to work as a kiln. We can learn from the
volcanos, which create the most beautiful landscape just by introducing
molten earth. Once we move our fIre with us as a friend, to the land-
scape, entirely new design possibilities emerge. And fInally, nature her-

173
self teaches us the ultimate in balance and beauty by using the element
of fire to create landscapes, as she uses the earth, air, and water in her
spirit of unity.

REHABILITATING OLD Millions of adobe buildings in the world are in danger of destruction-
ADOBE AND CLAY not by an earthquake, or flood, but by wet weather. Many of these build-
BUILDINGS ings could be saved by fire. Millions of buildings in this world made of
adobe or piled mud are infested with disease, mice, and vermin. They
could be made hygienic by the purifying character of fire. An entire
earthen village could be cleansed of disease and vermin by fire and glaze.
Fire is holy in spirit. We can learn to use it to create a better living envi-
ronment, including fireproof buildings.
Not all adobe and clay buildings are suitable for rehabilitation by fire.
The material must have enough clay-earth in it to fuse in the fire and work
as the cementing agent. Rocks and lime and organic materials in typical
adobes are not suitable for high fire, since they break and disintegrate.
However, buildings made with earthen material can be fired to become
hygienic, since the low fire needed for this purpose will not damage the
building. The temperature will wipe out bacteria, rats, and vermin that
cannot be chased out of their hole by any poison sprayers.
Old adobe buildings that cannot take high fire because they have too
many impurities, or burnable elements such as wood, can be protected
by a layer of clay-earth adobe blocks or thick clay plaster. This new shell
can be fired and glazed. In industrialized countries a layer of fire-blanket,
such as those used to line the insides of kilns, can protect the combusti-
ble sections. Existing buildings and communities should be studied and
analyzed to determine the economic rewards and their suitability for
firing.
When an old building is found suitable for firing, the procedure is the
same as for a new construction. We take a room, for example, and change
its space to a kiln-like space. This could be done by digging a few flues
in the walls for firing; or temporary flues could be introduced in the room
to be removed after the firing is finished. The old plaster is removed to
expose the adobe structure directly to the fire. The doors and windows
are removed, and the openings are temporarily closed with adobe and
thin plaster. The existing plaster over the roof or the outside of the wall
can be removed, or grooves can be cut in them to allow the vapor to
escape. The waterproofing clay plaster can be applied over the roof dur-
ing the last part of the firing, as in new construction. The firing starts
with a very slow and gradually rising temperature so that the heat
penetration into the old building walls, floors, and roofs (if the roof is
also adobe) will not create sudden expansion and contraction. The firing
should take approximately twenty-four hours or more, depending on the
desirable amount of fire penetration.
No matter how old an adobe and clay building is, it always has mois-

174 CERAMIC HOUSES

------------------------------------------
ture inside it that should be fIrst (and slowly) removed. This moisture
is at least 14 percent to 18 percent, even in a thousand-year-old building,
and can only be removed by high temperatures - 200D e to sooDe (400DF
to 900 F). Since the weather only gets as high as a fraction of these tem-
D

peratures, even in Death Valley or the Sahara, the water is always avail-
able in the earthen material buildings. And as the old adobe and clay
buildings heat up and the vapor tries to escape, then the adobe blocks,
mortar, or rammed earth becomes soft again. And the vapor must be re-
moved from inside the room as fast as possible through the flues or the
vent opening on the roof. As fIre removes the moisture, it also starts a
crust over the surface closest to the fIre, and the baking and solidifying
gradually move deeper into the structure. The rest of the process is similar
to that of fIring new construction. (The book Racing Alone covers, in its
second half, the process of rehabilitating old earthen buildings.)

LANDSCAPING AND REHABILITATION 175

---------------------
Earth, air, fire, and

•
water are obedient creatures,
they are dead to you and me,
but alive at God's presence.
-Rumi

( ....
Beginning
(f'y.
• C·H·A·P·T·E·R 20 MODEL MAKING
, .,
if,,;

The best way to put the knowledge gained from this book into practice
is to start practicing. Find some clay and a piece of plywood and start
building small models. The following pages will show step by step how
to build at home or in school, before starting work on a site. As I have
shared the information in this book with thousands of people in lectures
and workshops, I have learned that:

• People from all walks of life-men, women, and children-are ex-

tremely interested in learning how to build with earth.
• Making small-scale models with clay is one of the best and fastest
ways people will learn about earth architecture and how to build walls,
arches, vaults, and domes. The traditional long training of students and
apprentices produces good masons and teachers, but it will never be
enough to make a dent in the world's housing shortage. For earth architec-
ture to flourish, people must be educated-they must experience what
is possible, and touch the clay with their own hands.
• Once a person has constructed a model- within hours - he or she is
encouraged to learn and understand more. The knowledge thus gained
will trigger quests in building with earth.
• It is possible to learn the basics of thousands of years of earth archi-
tecture within a day if it is taught in the simplest terms, and if all our
senses are involved in the learning process.

We will begin practicing by constructing a room and covering it with

a simple dome or a vault. We will use a small scale: 5 centimeters = 1
meter (% inches = 1 foot). Thus our 20 x 20 x 5-centimeter (8 x 8 x
2-inch) adobes become 1 centimeter or 1fz inch square.

179
5.1 This picture shows two grids in
addition to the tools and materials listed
below. One is made with wires and a
frame, and the other is cut from a plastic
light diffuser. We can make small-scale
adobes by rolling a slab and pressing it
over the grid. The tool we choose to carry
out the model building is, however, only
the comb, standing next to the grid. The
comb is the better tool.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS The tools and materials we will use are very simple.

• A rolling pin used by potters or bakers

• Two bags of ready-made red clay for pottery or modelmaking, or a
batch of clay mixed to 'a doughy consistency
• A piece of nylon or wire thread to cut the clay
• A long, sharp knife to cut the clay
• Two pieces of plywood 50 x 50 x 1 centimeters (1f4 inch thick and 18
x 18 inches square). One piece will be used to prepare the material on,
and the other is used for the model base.
• A piece of straightedge board 2 x 6 x 40 centimeters (1 x 3 x 18
inches)
• Two narrow pieces of wood 0.4 x 2 x 30 centimeters (3/16 x 1 x 12
inches)
• A comb made with a piece of board and thin 5-centimeter- (2-inch-)
long nails. Clip the tops of the nails and drive them into the edge of a
5 x 15 x 1-centimeter- (2 x 6 x %-inch- ) thick piece of wood. The nails
must be 1.5 centimeters (1f2 inch) apart.
• A cup of water and a roll of paper towels or some old newspaper

HOW TO MAKE ADOBE Adobe Blocks

BLOCKS, FLOOR SLABS, Make a lot of little adobe blocks and save them before starting to build.
WALLS, ARCHES, DOMES, To make blocks, take the following steps:
AND VAULTS
1. Cut and roll thin slabs 0.4 millimeters (%6 inch) thick. The simplest
way is to lay the two narrow pieces of wood on both sides of the clay block
and pull the nylon thread over them to cut a thin slab. This eliminates
the need to use a rolling pin.

180 CERAMIC HOUSES

5.2 5.3

2. Cut grooves with the comb into the thin slab. Push the comb all the
way through so that the comb's teeth touch the plywood. Hold the comb
at an angle for ease of work, and use the wood straightedge to make
smooth lines. After practicing a while, freehand groove making will be
easy.
3. Turn the board around and make grooves perpendicular to the previ-
ous ones to form the square blocks. This time, just press the comb part
way into the slab to make strips of adobe blocks instead of individual
blocks. The use of strips makes the work go faster.
Cut the block strips and save them under a plastic cover so that they
stay moist. Also make some half-size blocks in the same way, by cutting
the grooves half the distance of the full-size blocks.
Disregard other tools shown in the picture. They are alternative tools
for block making.

5.4

MODEL MAKING 181

Floor Slabs and Walls

1. To make a floor slab for a square room, roll a slab 1 centimeter (3fs inch)
thick, and cut a square from it measuring 20 x 20 centimeters (8 x 8
inches). Line the second piece of plywood with a piece of newspaper
or paper towel, to keep the slab from sticking to the board. Place the slab
on the lined board.
2. To practice making walls, mix some clay with water in a cup to make
slip - a watery clay. This will be used for mortar. Use a fmger to rub mor-
tar all around the edges of the slab. Lay a two-adobe-wide wall over the
mortar. Leave out four blocks for the door opening. As the walls rise,
leave out four or more blocks for the window openings.
3. Begin to lay the second course of blocks over the mortar by placing
5.5 one full adobe in the center and two half-adobes on the edges. Stagger
the second layer's joints over the mst course. With these two alternating
courses, build up the wall all the way to the top, leaving openings for
door and windows, as explained in Step 2. Use mortar throughout the
work.
4. Build up the wall to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) high, and end the
mst course with two full-adobe courses. (Note that in these models solid
clay walls are used instead of layers of adobe courses. After wall construc-
tion is learned, the model maker can use solid clay slab walls to save time
and thus build more models.)

5.6

182 CERAMIC HOUSES

Arches
To make an arch, a form must be made frrst.

1. Cut a half-circle clay form as thick as the wall.

2. Locate the form over the edge of the window or door opening.
3. Put a piece of paper over the form for ease of removal.
4. Build the arch two blocks wide with mortar from both ends at once
to join at the top. Tightly &t the last blocks to complete the arch.
5. Remove the form after the arch is completed and use it to build the
other arch.

Domes
To make a squinch dome over the square room, four squinches must be
built at four corners (for building a pendentive dome, see the chapter
on domes in Part 3). To construct a squinch, follow these steps.

1. Use mortar on the top corner of two adjoining walls. Lay an adobe
diagonally over the corner. Pitch two adobes on top of the frrst one, over
mortar. Pitch three adobes over the existing pitched corner and continue
to lay courses. Each course must slope a little toward the front, by using
more mortar in the back of the courses. (See the life-size details in the
squinch dome section in Part 3.) 5.7

5.8

MODEL MAKING 183

5.9 5.10

2. When four squinches are constructed, we can go one of two ways:

One: Continue building layers over the four squinches until they meet
each other at the base. Then continue with more layers and the same
pitch in a herringbone pattern-adobes overlapping at the corners-to
bring the dome to a square opening at the top. Fill the opening with more
adobes until the dome is completed.
In life size this room is about 3 meters (10 feet) square. It has a door
and window opening, and the interior dome structure will have a her-
ringbone pattern. (It is similar to the squinch dome shown in the dome
chapter.)
Two: When corner squinches are built, we can fill the gap between
them with a single-adobe wall to the same elevation, so that a circular
5.11
..
----------~------------,
base is created for the dome. Then we build concentric circles until the
dome is closed (see the chapter on domes).

The same steps explained above could be taken to build an octagonal

dome. The only difference is that in this case we will have eight corners,
which give us eight squinches instead of four. Thus to build a dome over
a room with four, six, eight, or more walls, it is just a matter of construct-
ing one squinch over each corner.
All door- and window-opening arches could be constructed at wall
level, or projecting above the walls. The variations must be practiced with
more models before beginning construction.

184 CERAMIC HOUSES

5.12

Vaults
5.13

1. Construct a rectangular room of 20 x 30 centimeters (8 x 12 inches),

following the same steps as for the square room.
2. To construct a vault, an end wall (espar) must rust be built, and then
a leaning arch must be formed . A leaning arch is an arch built at an
angle - instead of vertically - that leans on the espar or the previously built
leaning arches. Thus it is necessary to build an espar rust.
3. To construct an espar: Build a two-adobe-wide arch for the door and
window. Lay adobes in their flat face over the arch to create a curved wall,
which is the espar. (Note that the adobes in the models are strips instead
of individual blocks to make the model making go more quickly.) The
espar must be constructed to the desired height and curvature of the vault. 5.14
(The espar must be two blocks wide to ensure strength. Figure 5.13 shows
a one-block-wide espar, which, in reality, would not be practical.) It must
also be wider than the room width, extending to the middle of the side
walls where legs of the leaning arches end.
4. To construct a leaning arch: Lay one adobe, with mortar, against the
espar on the inner edge of one of the side walls. This will be the rust course.
Lay the second course by starting with a half-adobe, and pitch with a
full adobe against the espar. Lay the following courses so that a sloping
leg of an arch is created from the base to the top of the espar. Build two
half-arches this way from both sides. The seventh course must complete
an arch that is one adobe thick at the top and seven adobes thick at the
base. (Also see the illustration in the vault chapter in Part 3.)

MODEL MAKING 185

5.15 5.16

5. Once the frrst leaning arch is formed against the espar, continue to lay
adobes, with mortar, following the same curve as the frrst arch. Stagger
the joints by alternating rows that start with a full- or half-size adobe at
the base. In real life, the leaning arches are constructed from both sides
and with the last block-the keystone adobe-at the top when the arch
is completed. Use dry-packing (pieces of dry blocks used as wedges) be-
tween the adobe joints. For models the mortar may be enough. Thus,
by succeeding courses of leaning arches, a vault is completed.
6. To create a skylight: Construct the vault from both ends of the room.
Build a second espar on the opposite wall and start with a leaning arch.
Construct rows of leaning arches from both ends until their bases meet
where the skylight will be formed. Lay horizontal layers to fill the gap
between the two vault sections. Leave a skylight opening at the top. Note:
To accentuate the leaning arch geometry, a light colored clay is used in
the models to construct some of the arches.
Pictures show a student's interpretation of a combination of a vault
and a dome. Vaults could be constructed at one end with an espar and
at the other end with dome squinches. In reality, once an arch, a dome,
and a vault are constructed and their principles understood, unlimited
combinations could be created.

5.17 5.18

186 CERAMIC HOUSES

~. -

5.19 Pictures show a combination of

a vault and dome, a student's interpreta-
tion . Vaults could be constructed at one
end with an espar and at the other end
with dome squinches. In reality once an
arch , a dome and a vault is constructed
and their principles understood unl imited
combinations could be created. Pictures
show some of the models made by the
students (of all ages).

MODEL MAKING 187

5.20 Ojai Vault, an experimental vault con-

structed at the Ojai Foundation site, Cali-
fornia , after a workshop. The material was
dug from the site and the vault was built
with small-size (8x8x2-inch) adobe blocks.
The work was carried out under the direc-
tion of Mr. James Danisch , potter and cer-
amics professor. The 7x7x8-foot vault was
the first adobe structure fired in the United
States.

188 CERAMIC HOUSES

5.21 "Dome on the Range," a 16-foot-diameter, 13-foot-high from 3,4-inch pipe pieces welded together.
parabolic dome built as an experimental structure in Bush- The exterior of the structure was covered with fiber insula-
land, Texas, by students after a workshop. The four arch open- tors (a fire blanket) to retain the heat and cause the structure
ings on four sides of the dome are 5 feet wide at the base and to bake on the outside also from the reflected heat. In this
7 feet high - and also form a skylight. The dome was con- case a high-tech material was utilized for a low-tech process,
structed with adobe blocks measuring 6x6x2 and 6x3x2 although mud-straw plaster over unbaked adobe blocks laid
inches. The mortar is a mixture of clay and soda ash ; it flat could have been used instead.
caused the blocks to fuse together in the firing process. The Project sponsors: Hunter Ingalls and Mary Emeny. Par-
structure was fired through and , even though the blocks ticipants: Ellwood Pickering , Steve Haines, Alessandra
shrank approximately 8 percent, no cracks developed in the Runyon, Marci Asner (students at Southern California Institute
dome. The firing process took 17 hours and the temperature of Architecture) ; Mark Skinner, Bob Mekjian (students at Cali-
within the structure reached around 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. fornia Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo) ; Hillary
The eight homemade burners used for firing were designed Guava of Texas; and Henry Oat, a potter and earth-builder
and manufactured based on the Mexican villagers' brick kiln from Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Photo by Marci Asner.)
burners using diesel fuel and steam ; they were constructed

MODEL MAKING 189

_..... _ . _ - - - - - - - - _ . _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _.

21
VISIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Building with earth and fue, air and water, with all or just one element
VISIONS FOR THE FUTURE
in the spirit of unity, has created so many visions and dreams for me that
it will take a separate volume to present them in a way that will do the
Elements justice. Ultimately, the timeless materials and timeless princi-
ples of earth architecture must be comprehended and taken into the soul
if they are to move in time to the forefront of the arts and sciences of the
future. I will briefly outline some of those visions here, and I will end
this book with a vision that moves earth architecture toward a new dimen-
sion: beyond our planet Earth.

• Earthen buildings can be used as kilns during their construction to

produce both building materials and art pieces, which can in turn fInance
the cost of building. Thus low-cost housing can become no-cost housing.
• Many of the existing millions of earth structures in the world, espe-
cially those from China to Africa, built with suitable clay-earth, can be
fIred and glazed to become more durable, hygienic, and beautiful.
• Earth dams can be fIred and glazed to become permanent.
• Sewage lines and underground water systems can be excavated and
fIred in place to create urban utility networks.
• Road and highways can be fIred in place to form permanent surfaces.
• Buildings can be carved into the hills and fIred, instead of being con-
structed over the ground. And ground can be carved and fIred to become
the buildings.
• Landscapes carved, fIred, and glazed in place can be integrated into
the contours of the site and architecture. Thus fIre can become an im-
portant element of design in the landscape architecture of the future, as
the element of water is today.

191
• Ceramic sidewalks can be created in place to become part of a
sculpted city landscape.
• Manmade hills can be formed over city trash and piled in building
layouts. The trash can be burned on the spot to strengthen the interior
spaces, while the spaces themselves are being formed by the fIre .
• Underground oil, gas, and chemical tanks can be dug, fIred and
glazed to create permanent storage facilities.
• Millions of bio-gas tanks needed for energy resources in the Third
World that are now being built of concrete can be replaced by glazed and
fIred pits.
• Troughs, irrigation channels, water reservoirs, and rain retention sys-
tems can be excavated and their voids used as kilns to produce building
materials. Firing and glazing will cause their surfaces to become per-
manent.
• Eroding coastal cliffs, mudslide hills, and unstable banks can be stabi-
lized by the element of fIre, in their natural settings, to form hard, brick-
like surfaces and to fuse lava-layer rocks to slow the erosion process.
5.22 Eroded shoreline of the Pacific
Ocean in Santa Monica, Cal ifornia.

192 CERAMIC HOUSES

• Ice-reserve storage systems can be dug and fIred underground to be
used in the Sardgah system, for both cold-house storage and natural cool-
ing of buildings, thus bringing both fIre and ice to the service of humanity.
• Sand dunes, which sometimes threaten to bury whole desert com-
munities, can be stabilized by fIring in place to form a glass layer at the top.
• Volcanos pouring out millions of cubic meters of magma-lava
materials can be utilized to generate materials for buildings and other
spaces. Building complexes and integrated spaces can be planned and
sand-earth casts prepared in anticipation ahead of an eruption to cap-
ture the molten earth flow. Sand-earth dug out from beneath cooled lava
crusts can form organic, monolithic, and three-dimensional commu-
nities.
• Fusion energy can be one of the answers to the world's housing
shortage.
• Earth and fIre can become the therapeutic medium in the continuing
cycle of human healing and rehabilitation.
• Musical instruments formed from earth-clay can utilize fIre and so-
lar rays to create musical sounds, just as they are generated today by wind.
• The elements of fIre, water, air, and earth can be used to create in-
spired expressions of the arts, alone, or in the spirit of unity of the
elements.

As I was fInishing the last pages of this book, I was invited with other
BEYOND OUR PLANET
scholars and scientists to present a paper about building on the moon EARTH
to the NASA symposium on "Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the
Twenty-First Century" held at the National Academy of Sciences in Wash-
ington, D.C. There I presented fIrst the techniques of building with earth
and fIre on our planet, then the possibilities of constructing with the lunar
soil, and the fIre-the heat-of the sun, on the moon. The scientists' re-
sponse was so overwhelming to me that what began as a vision has since
changed to a search for design and construction possibilities.
At that presentation, the concepts of this book were briefly outlined
to the audience: how we can build structures on our planet with earth
or rock alone, and in harmony with gravity, by forming arches, vaults,
and domes; how we can fIre and fuse the structures built with earth to
become like lava tubes (caves created by volcanic magma-lava, where the
molten earth is its own form work); and how we should relearn the ac-
cumulated human knowledge of the timeless principles of earth architec-
ture and ceramics and take them to the moon, Mars, and beyond. On
the moon, which has one-sixth the gravity of Earth, our chances of build-
ing better and bigger are six times as high. And since the fIre of the sun-
solar heat-is abundant there, we can mold mounds of lunar soil to the
desired building forms and melt these mounds with solar heat to create
magma structures. The soil can then be dug out from under the hard
crust, and packed on top for protection against high temperatures, radi-

VISIONS FOR THE FUTURE 19!3

5.23 Beyond our planet.

ation, and meteorite impact. In the low gravity of the moon, or in the
zero gravity of space, we can build a giant potter's wheel and create
ceramic structures. The space shuttle's covering of ceramic tiles points
to the possibilities of the material . On the moon, we can also use focused
sunlight to form fused adobe blocks to build our structure of arches,
vaults, and domes. And fmally, for the stabilization of the loose lunar
dust, focused sunlight can be used instead of the chemical mixtures often
proposed.
The full text of the paper is printed in the Appendix. While it may have
a more complex tone than the simple language used in this book, the
materials presented are but simple principles that can create unlimited
possibilities in the future with the use and synthesis of the universal
elements.

194 CERAMIC HOUSES

Earth, air, fire, and
water are obedient creatures,

•
they are dead to you and me,
but alive at God's presence.
-Rumi

Appendix
•

•
SHELL MEMBRANE THEORY
----------------------~---------~-------

APPLIED TO MASONRY DOMES

This paper was presented by professor Zareh B. Gregorian at the First Iranian
Congress of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Shiraz Univer-
sity, and later published in Art and Architecture, Iran. (Original paper in-
cluded photographs of the structures described in the text.)

Shell membrane theory applied to masonry domes was known to build-

ers. Construction was based on personal experience and the builder's
knowledge, which was usually passed on from father to son and from
master to apprentice.
During recent years, special attention has been given to the architec-
tural form of domes and arches in Iran. The behavior of such forms, used
to cover large spans, is of interest due to the fact that at the time of their
construction, no other solution could be found. The lack of materials
resisting tension and the consequent bending was overcome with the
invention of steel, a revolutionary material which provided vast possi-
bilities in the field of construction, leaving the masonry domes and arches
forgotten.
Concrete is yet another solution to the creation of domes, due to its
compressive strength and form acceptability. There is a very close similar-
ity between the behavior of masonry domes and the behavior of con-
crete shell domes which are designed to follow the membrane theory.
This may be seen from the stresses produced in masonry domes, which
result in excessive and easily seen cracks from the form of construction
at the base of the domes and from the fact that masonry domes with dou-
ble curvatures cannot resist bending and can only withstand compres-
sive stresses.
For comparison, it is necessary to refer to the membrane theory in
shells. A very simple case of the membrane theory can be applied to
spherical domes as follows:

197
Assuming a spherical dome with a radius of "r" and investigating the
meridional force T and hoop force H, we can reach the following con-
clusions:
W
T = - - - - H = - T+rw COS~l
2m Sin2~

HOOP

MERIDIAN

Or if we assume the weight of the dome acting on the top of plane

1-1 to be

which will yield T and H respectively:

T = 2m 2 (1 - COS~l) w = rw
2m 2 Sin 2 ~1 (1 + COS~l)

-~ 1
+ ~ COS<Pl = Wr (COS<Pl - l-C-=---)
1 + COS<Pl + OS<Pl

In order to investigate the variations of T and H at different points

of the dome, it is enough to vary from zero to 90 degrees. The following
will be the result:

Wr
2

.__--------_ 1' ____________~F=~~-

T ~H
Wr -Wr

198 CERAMIC HOUSES

It is easily seen that T is always positive, that is, compressive as could
have been predicted from the beginning. T increases from a minimum
of Wr at the top to a maximum of Wr at the base. The force H is com-
pre~sive from the top of the dome to a plane 1'-1' which has a central
angle of 51 °50'. From plane 1'-1' to the base of the dome, the hoop force
becomes tensile, increasing from zero to a maximum of -wr at the base.
Thus, the following may be concluded:

A. Along the meridians there is always compression which increases

with the angle cf>1
B. The force H acting on horizontal circles produces compression above
the plane 1'-1' and tension below plane 1'-1'. This tension increases from
zero at plane l' -1' to a maximum at plane 0' -0', causing cracks as shown
on the diagram.

NEUTRAL CIRCLE

Investigation of the cross section of masonry domes shows that the

thickness "t" increases from the top to the base in order to overcome the
increasing compressive stress T and tensile stress H. Cracks seen on this
type of dome result primarily from forces H and occur below the neu-
tral circle along the meridians. This can easily be seen on the following
l' l'
existing buildings:

1. Dome of the Sultanieh Mosque, Zanjan

2. Armenian Yank Church, Djulfa-Isfahan
3. Mausoleum of Khwaja Rabi, Mashad

In order to resist the tensile force H, provisions have been made to

increase the thickness of the dome where these forces exist or to reduce
the tensile stresses by increasing the area through the use of heavy hex-
agonal or octagonal bondbeams around the periphery of the dome.

SHELL MEMBRANE THEORY APPLIED TO MASONRY DOMES 199

TENSION RING

</>, < 90°

(Note: S is positive when <1>1 <90 0, which indicates tensile force.) The
tensile force becomes zero when <1>1 = 900 •

rw Sin 90° Cos 90° rwx1xo

S=------- o
(1 + 0)

In several cases when the H stresses are calculated, small tensile

stresses result which, though not acceptable theoretically, can be resisted
in masonry domes by means of mechanical anchorage and bond between
bricks, adhesion of mortar to bricks, or wooden bond beams. A special
type of brick laying can be noticed in the lower parts of some domes.
The resistance to tension brought about thereby should be investigated
by means of small models put under loading.
Another significant point to be considered is the end circle of spheri-
cally incomplete domes. In such cases a tension ring must be provided
around the periphery of the dome. The tension produced in such a ring
TENSION RING as calculated by the membrane theory is equal to:
. rw Sin~l COS~l
S = Tr Sm~l COS~l = (1 C )
+ OS~l

For a complete, half spherical dome, theoretically no ring is required

at the base when the dome is loaded uniformly under a load of "W" per
unit of area.
Considering a spherical form larger than half a sphere, which will oc-
cur when 900 < <1>1 < 1800, we will get a negative value for S. This indi-
cates compression in the ring. The following general conclusions may
be derived.
C. When the base of a spherical dome occurs at an angle of <1>1 < 90 0,
a tension ring is required around the periphery of the dome.
D. When the dome is a complete half sphere, no tension ring is required.
COMPRESSION RING
E. When the base of a spherical dome occurs at an angle of <1>1 >900,
a compression ring is required around the periphery of the dome.

200 CERAMIC HOUSES

---------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------
This last form is the one most commonly used in masonry domes.
The compression ring is obtained by a slight thickening of the dome at
the base from the inside, providing a smooth, uniform surface on the
exterior. Few domes have been made following the principle mentioned
in item C, that is, with a central angle of cf>1 < 90°. In such cases, a strong
masonry ring is provided at the periphery of the dome to absorb the ten-
sion S, as can be seen in the dome of the Sheikh SafI in Ardabil which
uses heavy hexagonal rings.
Domes which are half a sphere and employ no ring at the base are
the most common type. Examples may be found in the Shrine of Mahan
in Kerman, Masjid Sheikh Lotfollah in Isfahan and the Shrine of Sheikh
Jabril in Ardabil.
Domes which are greater than half a sphere are also very frequent.
A slight increase of the angle cf>1 from 90° provides the assurance of an
existing compressive ring at the base. This is suitable for masonry con-
struction and examples may be found in the dome of the Emarnzadeh
Ghassem in Tajrish and the dome of the tomb of Shah Chiragh in Shiraz.
There is also a basic comparison to be made between the shell action
of conoidal domes and those of masonry. Analyzing the conoidal dome,
we find:
T = _y,-w __
2Cosa
H = wytyaSina

It may be observed that:

F. No tension problem exists as long as the angle a < 90°. Thus, the
form is very suitable for masonry work. Examples of this type are the
dome of the Shrine of Ghabus Ibn Voshmgir, the dome of the Shrine of
Alaeddin in Varamin and a tomb in Borujerd.
G. In some cases, domes are constructed with a combination of conoi-
dal and spherical parts. In these cases, it may be assumed that the conoi-
dal portions have no tension problems and the spherical sections are
handled as described previously.

Final Conclusions
According to the membrane theory, no bending occurs in shells.
Masonry domes also cannot accommodate bending because of the non-
tensile character of masonry work. Because of this, and due to the fact
that the symmetry of a dome eliminates shear forces, the only existing
forces are the meridional T and hoop H forces which have been dis-
cussed. This analysis is further strengthened by investigation of the vi-
sual and constructional characteristics of masonry domes, which relate
to the basic principles of the membrane theory.

SHELL MEMBRANE THEORY APPLIED TO MASONRY DOMES 201

It is, therefore, appropriate that when we make use of the shell the-
ory with modern materials such as concrete, acknowledging that what
we do is a continuation of what our ancestors have done. By adapting
what we have inherited to a more modern and scientihc basis, we fol-
low the traditional patterns in order to create new architectural forms.

Bibliography
1. Design of Circular Domes, Portland Cement Association
2. Thin Shell Structures, David Billington
3. Persian Architecture, Arthur Upham Pope
4. Persian Art, Andre Godard
5. Restoration Institute of National University of Iran

202 CERAMIC HOUSES

MAGMA, CERAMIC, AND
0'; FUSED ADOBE STRUCTURES
GENERATED IN SITU*

The accumulated human knowledge of "universal elements" can be in-

tegrated with space-age technology to serve human needs on Earth; its
timeless materials and timeless principles can also help achieve human-
ity's quest beyond this planet. Two such areas of knowledge are in earth
architecture and in ceramics, which could be the basis for a break-
through - in scales, forms, and functions - in low gravity fIelds and
anhydrous-vacuum conditions. With the added missing link of the ele-
ment of fIre (heat), traditional earthen forms can be generated on other
celestial bodies, such as the Moon and Mars, in the form of magma struc-
ture, ceramic structure, and fused adobe structure. Ceramic modules can
also be generated in situ in space by utilizing lunar or meteoritic resources.

The traditional techniques of building without centering, i.e., leaning- TIMELESS MATERIALS-
arches, corbelling, and dry-packing can have greater applications in lower TIMELESS PRINCIPLES
gravity fIelds, as well as higher material strength, than in the restricted
conditions of these techniques' terrestial origins. At the same time, the
"high-tech" heat-obtaining skills of solar heat, plasma, microwave, and
melting penetrators can provide ceramic-earth shelters and appropriate
technology for both developed and underdeveloped nations. Through
understanding and utilizing the principles of "Yekta-i-Arkan'~unity of
elements - integration of tradition and technology in harmony with the
laws of nature is possible at many levels of microcosm and macrocosm.

*This paper was delivered at the symposium, "Lunar Bases and Space Activi-
ties of the 21st Century:' organized by the NASA Johnson Space Center, in Oc-
tober, 1984 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

203
MAGMA STRUCTURE Lunar base structures can be generated and cast, based on the natural
space formations created by magma-lava flow such as tubes and voids.
By utilizing existing lunar contours or by forming mounds of lunar soil
to desired interior spaces, structures can be cast in situ with the gener-
ated magma. Either way, the upper layers of the mounds and the apex,
consisting of unprocessed lunar resources, can generate magma flow
with focused sunlight (Criswell, 1976).
Ceramic-glass (Grodzka, 1976) and/or other lunar fluxes may be added
to the main composite for lowering the melting temperature. Basalt melt-
ing point, 900° to 1200°C, can be lowered to glass composites' melting
point with added lunar flux. As the molten composite flows with the low
gravity crawl, the lava crust can be formed in spiral, circular, or multi-
patterned rib troughs on the mound. A controlled flowing magma can
cast single- or double-curvature monolithic shell structures. The under-
lying loose soil mound can then be excavated and packed over the mon-
olithic shell for radiation/thermal/impact shielding (Carrier, 1976). Since
high depth of necessary soil coverage over the structure is detrimental
to both architectural flexibility and harmonious interaction of inner and
outer space environments, the variable magma viscosity can be utilized
to reduce the estimated 2-m thickness (Land, 1984) of the packed soil pro-
tections depending on material composites and attained temperature de-
gree/time parameters.
The viscosity of the generated magma and the packed regolith can
counterbalance internal atmospheric pressure, and the semi-glazed in-
terior can provide an airtight membrane. The pliability of the magma
medium can present new dimensions in the creation of sculptured in-
teriors for the ultimate functional utilization of the generated spaces. It
also offers an aesthetic dimension, since the molded forms conform to
human generic non-angular tendencies. The organic material of magma
and the possibilities for ceramic glazing of the interior will open a new
era in integration of the arts to scales unattainable for humans under the
limits of terrestrial conditions.
Magma materials, basaltic in particular, have produced agricultural
soils and with suitable atmospheric conditions have proved to produce
vegetation. Plant successions have taken place in magma-lava metamor-
phosis in terrestrial lava tubes and voids. Many examples of flora can be
seen in old lava beds of the volcanic regions of the world. Similar condi-
tions will be present in lunar magma structures when the temperature-
moisture ambient exists for a life-supporting environment. Thus, com-
mon spaces of lunar bases could be designated as mini-agricultural zones
that could both generate suitable atmosphere to sustain human life and
provide supplemental nutrition resources.
Natural lava structures, such as Craters of the Moon National Monu-
ment, can provide case studies in the design development stages. Re-
search is needed to determine material composites, magma crust
formation patterns, and span limitations.

204 CERAMIC HOUSES

Conventional structures can be built with magma in lunar base complexes PREFABRICATED
by prefabricating structural members. Beams, columns, panels, and con- MAGMA MEMBERS
nections can be prefabricated with generated magma composed of un-
processed lunar resources fused with solar heat. Magma-lava solidified
structural members can be reinforced with fIbers or reinforcing mesh pro-
duced from lunar resources. The precast panels and members can be
post-tensioned by tendons, or fused with spot mortar composed of simi-
lar magma materials. Precast magma and ceramic members can be
shaped to fIt desired forms and functions. Lunar soil troughs and fused
regolith layer form work can be utilized for casting systems.

The use of shielding ceramic tiles on the space shuttle points to the poten- CERAMIC STRUCTURE
tial of ceramic materials for lunar and space applications. Ceramic struc-
tures of limited spans can be cast in situ on lunar sites; they can also be
generated in space. On lunar sites, a centrifugally gyrating platform - a
giant potter's wheel-featuring adjustable rims with high flanges can be
utilized for the dynamic casting of ceramic and stoneware structures. A
mass of lunar resources can be "thrown" in the stationary center zone
of the platform and melted by focused sunlight to flow to the periphery
rotating zone and cast desired shapes. Known lunar resources can also
be spun on the same platform to create tensile fIber; by integrating the
two operations, monolithic ceramic structures with tensile fIber reinforc-
ing layers can be generated. Double-shell ceramic structures sandwiched
with space and/or packed with insulating materials can provide radia-
tion, thermal, and impact shielding. Such units can be used singularly
for lunar camps or combined around a common hub and/or spine to form
a lunar base complex.
The centrifugal platform system with its adjustable rim flanges can
be utilized for lunar base infrastructure parts: pipes, ducts, and tunnel
rings. Prefabricated sections for utility sheds can also be formed in single-
or double-shell modules.
In space, a centrifugally gyrating platform moving in three dimensions
can create more variations of ceramic structured modules than is possi-
ble in terrestial or gravity fIelds. Attached to a space station, the gyrat-
ing platform can generate ceramic modules in situ. The resources for
ceramic structures can either be of lunar or martian origin or, in space,
from captured meteoroids.

Lunar base structures can be constructed in situ utilizing lunar adobe

FUSED ADOBE STRUCTURE
bricks produced from unprocessed lunar soil or the by-products of in-
dustrial mining operations. Lunar adobe blocks can be formed by the
fusion of lunar resources with solar heat. It is anticipated that vacuum
conditions and the essentially zero-moisture content of lunar soils should

MAGMA, CERAMIC, AND FUSED ADOBE STRUCTURES 205

signifIcantly reduce thermal diffusity (Rowley, 1984). Lunar adobe blocks
can be used to build structures without form work, employing the earth-
architecture techniques of dry-packing, corbelling, and leaning-arches
(Khalili, 1986). The low gravity fIeld and vacuum conditions, which al-
low for a smaller angle of repose and enhance lunar soil cohesion (Blacic,
1984), will give greater opportunity, in the case of the leaning-arch tech-
nique, for larger spans and shallower vaults and domes. The same ad-
vantages will cause the soil-packed covering to follow desirable contours
for more flexible interaction of interior and exterior space and solar orien-
tation. Fused spot-mortar or lunar dust sprayed at fusion point temper-
ature can be used to bond the blocks in medium and large span structures.
Arches, domes, vaults, and apses can be constructed to fIt the contours
of the moonscape; these curved surfaces can create sun and shade zones
that are functionally desirable.
For functional or aesthetic reasons, total or partial interior ceramic glaz-
ing of lunar adobe structures can be done with lunar resources contain-
ing glass (Heiken, 1976) and other fluxes by solar heat fusion or plasma
technology. The difficulty of mechanical separation of lunar dust can be
solved by the bulk use of the soil at its powder stage, involving pre-heating
the dust and igniting it on the structure at the point of fusion.
The techniques of earth-architecture and the human skills that have
evolved to deal with natural materials and to meet the historic challenges
of harsh environments and terrestrial gravity can put future men and
women in direct touch with the lunar world. Discovering suitable dimen-
sions of blocks, techniques of construction, and appropriate material
composites while developing their own sense of unity with the lunar en-
tity can be the start of human independence from Mother Earth, creat-
ing shelters in the heavens. The organic growth oflunar architecture, with
its own materials and equilibrium of elements, can be used to initiate an
indigenous and ecologically balanced human environment without
damaging the heavenly body.
On Earth, one of the main tasks of architects, engineers, and builders
has historically been nothing but winning the fIght against gravity; now
and in the future, the chance for victory on the Moon will be six times
as great as it has been here on Earth.

Locating a lunar lava tube may well be one of the fIrst stages of setting
INITIAL IN SITU
CONSTRUCTION up a lunar base site. Lava tubes can provide the most expedient and eco-
nomical way of starting an indigenous lunar architecture. Terrestiallava
tubes are the best design model for exploring the development of ap-
propriate life-supporting environments in lunar lava tubes. Either at the
initial stage or in the following phases of lunar base construction, locat-
ing and utilizing lava tubes can be of great value.
An immediate construction system for the lunar base, after the initial
camp setup, can utilize unprocessed lunar resources in a non-

206 CERAMIC HOUSES

-----------------------
mechanized construction system. This system uses existing rocks of
different sizes and dry-pack techniques. The low gravity £Ield and higher
rock fracture strength give added advantages for larger spans of corbel-
ling and leaning-arch earth-structure systems. Meteroid and/or in-
digenous rock structures covered with lunar soil for radiation and thermal
shielding can provide immediate, non-life-supporting shelters. Struc-
tures built with the same techniques can be £Itted with an airtight fabric
mesh for human habitation (Blacic,1984).

The lunar soil, with a particle size of about 70 microns, which adheres
PAVING AND LUNAR
to everything and churns up with vehicular traffIc, needs to be stabilized DUST STABILIZATION
(Carrier and Mitchell, 1976). Fusion of the top layers of lunar soil with
focused sunlight can form a magma-lava crust to arrest unstable lunar
dust. Spacecraft landing pads, vehicular traffic roads, and pedestrian
walkways can be paved with solar heat by on-spot fusion of the top layers,
penetrating to desirable depth. Unprocessed lunar soil can be fused by
solar energy via a manual or automatic control "paving" vehicle. Inappro-
priate regolith areas can be topped with a layer of appropriate lunar soil
before its fusion. For low temperature fusion, lunar fluxes can be sprayed
on top of the soil prior to introducing solar heat. Paving surfaces of heavier
traffic areas can be constructed from composites fused to ceramic and
stoneware consistency with desired colors and textures.
As a general rule, it is the use of the universal principles of the terres-
trial element of £Ire (heat)-the solar rays-that must be thought of at the
forefront of mediums and materials for planetary base design and con-
struction. Adhering to the philosophy of the use of local resources, hu-
man skills, and solar energy, we can achieve our quests on the Moon,
Mars, and beyond.
We must learn from the accumulated human knowledge of earth-
architecture, which has sheltered humans in the harshest conditions.
Each person going to the Moon, regardless of his or her work, must be
aware of these fundamental principles and techniques to participate in
creating an indigenous architecture to form their communities, not only
because of economic bene£It but also because of spiritual reward. As an
old Persian saying goes, "Every man and woman is born a doctor and
a builder-to heal and shelter himself."

The Geltaftan Group, consisting of Manouchehr Sedehi, Mahamoud

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hejazi, Ezzatollah Salmanzadeh, Ali Gourang, Ostad Asghar, and A. A.
Khorramshahi, supported my work in earth-and-hre developments. Eyal
Perchik, Alessandro Runyon, Tsosie Tsinhnahjinnie, Steven Haines,
Ellwood Pickering II, Barclay Totten, Marci Asner, students at the South-
ern California Institute of Architecture, have helped advance my research
work.

MAGMA, CERAMIC, AND FUSED ADOBE STRUCTURES 207

Blacic J. D. (1984) Structural properties of lunar rock materials under an-
REFERENCES
hydrous, hard vacuum conditions (abstract). In Papers Presented to the Sym-
posium on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, p. 76.
NASA/Johnson Space Center, Houston.
Carrier W. D. III and Mitchell J. K. (1976) Geotechnical engineering on
the Moon (abstract). In Lunar Science VII, Special Session Abstracts, pp.
92-95. Lunar Science Institute, Houston.
Criswell D. R. (editor) (1976) Lunar Science VII, Special Session Abstracts (on
Lunar Utilization), pp. iii-vi. Lunar Science Institute, Houston.
Grodzka P. (1976) Processing lunar soil for structural materials (abstract).
In Lunar Science VII, Special Session Abstracts, pp. 114-115. Lunar Science
Institute, Houston.
Heiken G. (1976) The regolith as a source of materials (abstract). In Lu-
nar Science VII, Special Session Abstracts, pp. 48-52. Lunar Science Insti-
tute, Houston.
Khalili N. (1986) Ceramic Houses. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986.
LandP. (1984) Lunar base design (abstract). In Papers Presented to the Sym-
posium on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, p. 102. NASA/
Johnson Space Center, Houston.
Rowley J. C. (1984) In-situ rock melting applied to lunar base construc-
tion and for exploration drilling and coring on the moon (abstract). In
Papers Presented to the Symposium on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the
21st Century, p. 77. NASA/Johnson Space Center, Houston.

208 CERAMIC HOUSES

------------------ - - - - -
BUILDING CODES
,
(f~
..

Section 2405. Unburned Clay Masonry NEW MEXICO ADOBE

CODE, 1982
( a) General. Masonry of unburned clay units shall not be used in
any building more than two (2) stories in height. The height of every wall
of unburned clay units without lateral support shall not be more than
ten (10) times the thickness of such walls. Exteriorwalls, which are later-
ally supported with those supports located no more than 24 feet apart,
are allowed a minimum thickness of 10 inches for single story and a mini-
mum thickness of 14 inches for the bottom story of a two story with the
upper story allowed a minimum thickness of 10 inches. Interior bearing
walls are allowed a minimum thickness of 8 inches. Upward progress
of walls shall be in accordance with acceptable practices.
(b) Soil. The best way to determine the fitness of a soil is to make
a sample brick and allow it to cure in the open, protected from moisture.
It should dry without serious warping or cracking. A suitable adobe mix-
ture of sand and clay shall contain not more than 2% of water soluble salts.
( c) Classes of Earthen Construction
(1) Stabilized Adobes. The term "stabilized" is defmed to mean
water resistant adobes made of soils to which certain admix-
tures are added in the manufacturing process in order to limit
the adobe's water absorption. Exterior walls constructed of
stabilized mortar and adobe require no additional protection.
Stucco is not required. The test required is for a dried four-
inch (4") cube cut from a sample unit shall absorb not more
than two and one-half percent moisture by weight when
placed upon a constantly water-saturated porous surface for
seven (7) days. An adobe unit which meets this specification
shall be considered "stabilized."

209
(2) Untreated Adobes. Untreated adobes are adobes which do not
meet the water absorption specifications. Use of untreated
adobes is prohibited within 4 inches above the finished floor
grade. Stabilized adobes and mortar may be used for the first
4 inches above finished floor grade. All untreated adobe shall
have an approved protection of the exterior walls.
(3) Hydraulically Pressed Units. Sample units must be prepared
from the specific soil source to be used and may be tested
in accordance with approved test procedures.
( 4) Terrones. The term terrone shall refer to cut sod bricks. Their
use is permitted if units are dry and the wall design is in con-
formance with Sec. 2405 (a).
(5) Burned Adobe. The term "burned adobe" shall refer to mud
adobe bricks which have been cured by low temperature kiln
firing. This type of brick is not generally dense enough to
be "frost proof" and may deteriorate rapidly with seasonal
freeze-thaw cycles. Its use for exterior locations is discouraged
in climate zones with daily freeze-thaw cycles.
(6) Rammed Earth.

1) Soils: See Section 2405 (b).

2) Moisture Content: Moisture content of rammed earth
walls shall be suitable for proper compaction.
3) Forms: Suitable forms shall be used.

4) Lifts and Compaction: Uncompacted damp soil shall be

compacted in lifts not to exceed 6" until suitable compres-
sive strength is achieved.
5) Tests: Testing of rammed earth construction shall be in
accordance with approved standards.
6) Curing: The building officials may allow continuous con-
struction of rammed earth prior to the full curing process,
provided proper compaction methods are followed.
( d) Sampling. Each of the tests prescribed in this section shall be ap-
plied to sample units selected at random at a ratio of 5 units 125,000 bricks
to be used or at the discretion of the building official.
( e) Moisture Content. The moisture content of untreated units shall
be not more than four percent by weight.
(f) Absorption. A dried four-inch (4") cube cut from a sample unit
shall absorb not more than two and one-half percent moisture by weight
when placed upon a constantly water saturated porous surface for seven
(7) days. An adobe unit which meets this specification shall be consid-
ered "stabilized:'

210 CERAMIC HOUSES

(g) Shrinkage Cracks. No units shall contain more than three shrink-
age cracks, and no shrinkage crack shall exceed two inches (2") in length
or one-eighth inch (Ifs") width.
(h) Compressive Strength. The units shall have an average compres-
sion strength of 300 pounds per square inch when tested in accordance
with ASTM C-6Z One sample out of &ve may have a compressive strength
of not less than 250 pounds per square inch.
(i) Modulus of Rupture. The unit shall average 50 pounds per square
inch in modulus of rupture when tested according to the following pro-
cedures:
(1) A standard 4 x 10 x 14 cured unit shall be laid over (cylin-
drical) supports two inches (2") from each end, and extend-
ing across the full width of the unit.
(2) A cylinder two inches (2") in diameter shall be laid midway
between and parallel to the supports.
(3) Load shall be applied to the cylinder at the rate of 500 pounds
per minute until rupture occurs.
( 4) The modulus of rupture is equal to ~~~
W = Load of rupture
L = Distance between supports
B = Width of brick
d = Thickness of brick
Footnote: Tests for pressed units is presently being developed.

(j) Mortar. The use of earth mortar is allowed if earth mortar mate-
rial is of the same type as the adobe bricks. Conventional lime Is and I ce-
ment mortars of Types M, S, N are also allowed.
Mortar ''bedding'' joints shall be full SLUSH type, with partially open
"head" joints allowable if surface is to be plastered. All joints shall be
bonded (overlapped) a minimum of 4".
(k) Use. No adobe shall be laid in the wall dependent on weather
conditions until fully cured.
(1) Foundations. Adobes shall not be used for foundation or base-
ment walls. All adobe walls, except as noted under Group M Buildings,
shall have a continuous footing at least eight inches (8") thick and not
less than two inches (2") wider on each side that support the founda-
tion walls above. All foundation walls which support adobe units shall
extend to an elevation not less than six inches (6") above the &nish grade.
Foundation walls shall be at least as thick as the exterior wall as spec-
i&ed in Section 2405 (1). Where perimeter insulation is used a variance
is allowed for the stem wall width to be two inches (2") smaller than the
width of the adobe wall it supports. Alternative foundation systems shall
be approved by the building official.

BUILDING CODES 211

All bearing walls shall be topped with a continuous belt course of tie
beam (except patio walls less than 6 feet high above stem). See lid' isola-
tion piers.
(m) Tie Beams.
(1) Concrete. Shall be a minimum of six inches (6") thick by width
of top wall. A bond beam centered to cover 213 of the width
of the top of the wall by 6" thick shall be allowed for walls
wider than 10". All concrete tie beams shall be reinforced with
a minimum of two No.4 reinforcing rods at each floor and
ceiling plate line. All bond beam construction shall be in ac-
cordance with accepted engineering practices.
(2) Wooden Tie Beam. Shall be a minimum of 6" wall thickness
except as provided for walls thicker than 10" above. Wood tie
beams may be solid in the six inch (6") dimension or may be
built up by applying layers of lumber. No layer shall be less
than 1 inch (t').
(n) Wood Lintels. Shall be minimum in size six inches (6") by wall
width. All ends shall have wall bearing of at least twelve inches (12").
All lintels, wood or concrete, in excess of nine feet (9') shall have specifIc
approval of the building official. The building official shall approve all
wooden tie beams for walls thicker than ten inches (10").
( 0) Anchorage. Roof and floor structures will be suitably anchored
to tie beams. Wood joists, vigas or beams shall be spiked to the wood
tie beam with large nails or large screws.
Fireplaces shall be secured to the wall mass by suitable ladder rein-
forcement such as "durowall" or equivalent.
Partitions of wood shall be constructed as speci£1ed in Chapter 25,
wood and metal partitions may be secured to nailing blocks laid up in
the adobe wall or by other approved methods.
(p) Plastering. All untreated adobe shall have all exterior walls plas-
tered on the outside with Portland cement plaster, minimum thickness
%" in accordance with Chapter 47. Protective coatings other than plaster
are allowed, provided such coating is equivalent to Portland cement plas-
ter in protecting the untreated adobes against deterioration and/ or loss
of strength due to water. Metal wire mesh minimum 20 gauge by one
inch (1") opening shall be securely attached to the exterior adobe wall
surface by nails or staples with minimum penetration of one and one-
half inches (11f2"). Such mesh fasteners shall have a maximum spacing
of sixteen inches (16") from each other. All exposed wood surfaces in
adobe walls shall be treated with an approved wood preservative before
the applicaiton of wire mesh. Alternative plastering systems shall be ap-
proved by the building official.
EXCEPTION: 1) Exterior patio, yard walls, etc. need not have Portland
cement coating.

212 CERAMIC HOUSES

(q) Floor Area. Allowable floor area shall not exceed that specifted
under Occupancy. Adobe construction shall be allowed the same area
as given in Type V-N construction.
(r) Wall Insulation. All methods of wall insulation shall comply with
the manufacturer's recommendations.
(s) Stop Work. The building inspector shall have the authority to is-
sue a stop work order if the provisions of this Section are not complied
with.

Section 2405. Unburned Clay Masonry UNIFORM BUILDING CODE,

1982
(a) General. Masonry of stabilized unburned clay units shall not be
used in any building more than one story in height. The unsupported
height of every wall of unburned clay units shall not be more than ten
times the thickness of such walls. Bearing walls shall in no case be less
than 16 inches. All footing walls which support masonry of unburned
clay units shall extend to an elevation not less than 6 inches above the
adjacent ground at all points.
(b) Units. At the time of laying, all units shall be clean and damp
at the surface and shall have been stabilized with emulsifted asphalt in
accordance with U.B.C. Standard No. 24-14.
( c) Laying. All joints shall be solidly fIlled with Type M or S mortar.
Bond shall be provided as specifted for masonry of hollow units in Sec-
tion 2410.
( d) Stresses. All masonry of unburned clay units shall be so con-
structed that the unit stresses do not exceed those set forth in Table No.
24-B. Bolt values shall not exceed those set forth in Table No. 24-C.

BUILDING CODES 213

GLOSSARY

adobe A sun dried construction block made of earth-clay and sand; the
essential building block of many earth structures.
adz A cutting tool with a curved blade that can be used to break adobes
to size.
appropriate material Building material, usually the local earth or other
natural material, that is well suited to local climatic conditions and build-
ing techniques.
appropriate technology Technology that is suited to the level of skills,
resources, and construction techniques of a particular area, as opposed
to the importation of advanced technology that requires specialized tools
and skills.
arch A curved structure, kept in balance by the pull of gravity, which
supports its own weight.
buttress A wall built at an angle for shoring and bracing; a counteract-
ing force that strengthens and supports, as in a row of arches.
catenary A paraboloid curve; a catenary arch is in complete compres-
sion, strengthened by gravity.
cone 06 1,000°C (1,830°F); the average temperature for fIring earth struc-
tures; the temperature at which a particular clay cone, cone 06, melts.
(A cone is a small pyramid-shaped piece of material that indicates by
bending or melting that a certain temperature has been reached.)
corbelling A building technique that involves stepping upward and out-
ward from a vertical surface; corbelled domes, built of concentric rings
of masonry blocks, are tall and conical.

215
dome A curved roof built over a square or circular room.
double dome A dome comprised of an inner shell and an outer shell
with a layer of air sandwiched in between.
downdraft A type of kiln in which a fIre is started below and the hot
gases are exhausted through flues at the bottom.
dry-packing Dry pieces of broken bricks or rocks used to fIll the empty
space between adjoining adobes (£Ired structures must use only pieces
of hard adobes or £Ired bricks).
earth architecture Structures made of earth, mud, or clay and based
on a philosophy of harmony with nature.
earth-clay A mixture of earth and clay dug from the ground and used
to make adobe blocks and mud-pile structures.
espar The curved end wall of a vault.
fIre, firing The process of turning soft, wet clay into hard ceramic by
baking it in a kiln.
flue An opening in a £Ired structure through which hot gases are ex-
hausted during £Iring.
flux A material used in ceramics to create better fusion and lower the
melting temperature of the mix. Colmanite (gerstley borate), soda, and
powdered glass are common fluxes used in adobe structures.
form work (centering) A temporary structure of wood or metal that
gives support to arches, domes, and vaults during construction.
geltaftan &red-structure (a compound of two Persian words: "gel"
meaning clay and "taftan" meaning &ring, baking, or weaving); the tech-
nique of fIring earth structures to increase their durability (a geltaftan block
may have a mixture similar to a &red brick, tile, or a volcanic rock).
glaze A clear or colored ceramic coating which, when &red, hardens
to a waterproof and often glossy surface; a simple glaze can be made of
powdered glass and oxides.
gravity-flow A fIring system based on the flow of oil via gravity into a
burner.
Hamedan burner A simple gravity-based kerosene oil burner used to
£Ire earth structures.
kaval A short £Ired-clay pipe section used for lining the qanats.
kiln A room, small or large, where bricks, pottery, or other ceramic
products are baked; in &red structures, the building itself becomes a kiln.
mortar An adobe mixture free from rocks and organic material, used
between layers of adobe blocks to stick them together.
mud-pile (chineh) The least expensive and most quickly built earth

216 CERAMIC HOUSES

- - - - - - - - - - ---_.----------------------------_. __._---
walls; mud-pile walls are made by piling mud in a straight or tapered
shape without form work, and allowing it to dry.
mud-straw A combination of mud and straw used to plaster adobe
buildings; it improves stability, insulation, and waterprooftng.
pendentive A triangular support that springs from the comer of a room
to hold up the dome (commonly used in conjunction with arched walls).
qanat The main water irrigation system in Iran; a system of under-
ground canals sometimes made up of short ftred-clay pipe sections called
kavals.
rammed earth A construction technique in which damp earth is
rammed into a form to make a solid structure; it is especially good in
damp climates.
skylight A window in the roof of a building designed to bring natural
light inside the structure.
spring line The point on the wall from which an arch begins (springs).
squinch A diagonally built, cupped-hand-shaped interior or comer
support that holds up a dome.
updraft A type of kiln in which a ftre is started below and the hot gases
are exhausted upward through a hole or chimney.
vault A single-curvature form that creates a ceiling in the form of a deep
arch; it is built over long or rectangular rooms.
wind catcher A structure that brings cool outside air into a building;
the most effective wind catchers work in conjunction with basements,
pools, and fountains to create evaporative cooling systems.

1 millimeter = 0.0393 inch 1 liter 1.056 liquid quarts

=
METRIC AND U.S.
1 centimeter = 0.393 inch centigrade (Celsius) = °C SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS
AND MEASURES
1 meter = 39.3 inches or 3.28 feet Fahrenheit = °F
1 kilometer = 0.621 mile = 3,280 feet
1 square centimeter = 0.154 square inch
1 square meter = 1,549 square inches
1 cubic centimeter = 0.061 cubic inch
1 cubic meter = 35.31 cubic feet
1 gram = 0.035 ounce
1 kilogram = 2.204 pounds
1 metric ton = 2,204 pounds

GLOSSARY 217
CHRONOLOGY
.. '
(J'~

Geltaftan Related Works on Earth and in Space.

1979-1980 Khalili and his team rehabilitate twelve houses using the Geltaftan Earth-
and-Fire system. Nine of the houses are fired and finished by the villagers of
Ghaleh Mofid, Iran. One house is fired using native ceramic glaze, and
several Ceramic Architecture prototype rooms are fired as well.

1980-1981 The team constructs and fires a ten-classroom school in Javadabad village,
near Varamin, in Iran. Ninety-five percent of the budget is spent on local
labor and material.

1981 Research and development on a prototype of the Sardgah system-utilizing

natural ice for a cooling system-carried out in Rey, Iran.

1980-1981 Two films produced: "Earth, Water, Air, and Fire" and "Sardgah," both
directed by P. Tayidi, and broadcast on Iran National Television.

1981-1983 Earth-and-Fire "Works and Words" photo show exhibited at the Tehran
Contemporary Arts Museum and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris,
France.

1982 Khalili begins teaching earth and ceramic architecture and Third World
Development at Southern California Institute of Architecture.

1983 Khalili's first book, Racing Alone, published by Harper & Row, San Francisco.
Exhibit of the "Works and Words" show in U.s. opens at the Institute of
American Indian Arts Museum/Santa Fe, New Mexico.

1983 Prototype Geltaftan System structures built in India and Mexico by two of
the workshop participants.

219
1984 California Council of the American Institute of Architects gives Khalili's
work award for Excellence in Technology.

1984 Khalili presents his paper, "Magma, Ceramic, and Fused Adobe Structures
Generated In Situ" at NASA's first symposium on Lunar Bases and Space
Activities of the 21st Century, held at the National Academy of Sciences in
Washington, D.C.

1985 As a result of the NASA presentation Khalili is invited to Los Alamos

National Laboratory in New Mexico, presents to the City Council, meets the
scientists, and lectures at the Physics Auditorium to both a mixed public and
inhouse audience.

1985 Khalili's paper "Magma, Ceramic, and Fused Adobe Structures Generated
In-Situ" published in a NASA-sponsored volume, Lunar Bases and Space
Activities of the 21st Century, edited by W.W. Mendell, Lunar and Planetary
Institute, Houston.

1985 "Timeless Materials, Timeless Principles" paper published by International

Symposium on Earth Architecture, Beijing, China.

1986 Khalili's second book, Ceramic Houses: How to Build Your Own, published by
Harper & Row, San Francisco.

1986 National Endowment for the Arts Design Arts Program grant awarded for
Research and Development of Ceramic Houses System.

1987 A second paper, "Regolith and Local Resources to Generate Lunar Structures
and Shielding" is presented at the second NASA Symposium on Lunar Bases
and Space Activities of the 21st Century, in Houston.

1987 Khalili receives Certificate of Special Recognition from U.N. International

Year of Shelter for the Homeless, and u.s. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, for the program, "Housing for the Homeless: Research
and Education."

1987 Katharine W. Tremaine Foundation grant awarded for Earth Architecture

Program.

1987 A model city-village is designed by Khalili and his students for Future City-
Villages International, Inc. for an 850 acre site in New Cuyama, California,
based on the philosophy of the four universal elements.

1988 Khalili featured as a visiting lecturer at the first International Space Univer-
sity summer session at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1988 Khalili and students begin work with experimental solar glazing using
Fresnel lens in joint research with Space Studies Institute of Princeton, New
Jersey.

1989 "Lunar Structures Generated and Shielded with On-site Materials" paper
published in Aerospace Engineering Journal of the American Society of Civil
Engineers.

1990 "Fire: The Tool For Building Space Colonies" abstract accepted to "Vision-
21" Symposium sponsored by NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland,
Ohio.

220 CERAMIC HOUSES

---_._---------------
1990 Khalili presents "Lunar, Martian & Asteroid Structures Built In-situ" at "Space 90"
conference, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The paper is published in American
Society of Civil Engineers ASCE-edited volume, Engineering, Construction, and
Operation in Space, Journal of aerospace Engineering.

"Lunar Structures Generated and Shielded with On-site Materials" is awarded by

the ASCE as "Outstanding Paper of 1990"

1991-1992 Cal-Earth Institute (and it's research philosophy) is established in the Mojave desert
town of Hesperia, California. Development of the Superadobe structural system
(tubular sandbags and barbed wire), and Superblock, Spaceblock, Stormblock.

1993 Liveload tests are successfully passed for the Hesperia Building and Safety Depart-
ment on two prototype domes of unstabilized Super adobe and unreinforced brick
masonry at Cal-Earth.

1994 Khalili's third and fourth book." Sidewalks on the Moon the journey of a mystic
architect through tradition, technology, and transformation, and Rumi. Fountain of Fire
75 poems translated from the original Persian, are published by Burning Gate Press.

1995 A UNDP /UNIDO /UNHCR sponsored program constructs 14 Superadobe refugee

homes of Khalili's design, in Khuzestan province, Iran, after training at Cal-Earth.

Lake Stabilization of Hesperia Lake's eroding shoreline using the Superblock coil.

Dynamic and liveload testing is performed on prototype domes and vaults at Cal-
Earth, constructed with unstabilized Superadobe, unreinforced brick masonry, and
stabilized earth (vaults). Hesperia Building and Safety Department acts in consulta-
tion with ICBO (International Conference of Building OffiCials), and the tests are
monitored by an ICBO approved testing laboratory. All structures passes.

1996-1999 Based on the success of all tests, permits are issued and construction begins on the
Hesperia Museum and Nature Center, Superadobe Model Housing" and UN
emergency village structures. Superadobe technology is patented in US and dedi-
cated to the poor of the world.

2000-2003 Khalili's fifth book Rumi, Dancing the Flame is published by Cal-Earth Press.

UNDP Director & team of Emergency Response Division participate in workshop

and sleep in Emergency shelter units at Cal-Earth village.

Khalili visits Iran as consultant both to the U.N. (UNDP /UNHCR) and the ministry
of Housing and Urban Development of Iran.

Research, education, design and construction continues in sustainable earth archi-

tecture, ceramics, NASA and U.N. related projects focusing on safe and natural
shelter for humans. New permits are gained in California's counties.

Khalili's "Works and Words" have been exhibited at museums and universities,
presented in major national and international media in the US and throughout the
world. His work as and architect/ teacher / author continues.

~~---~--~~----~~---~~-~~~-~~~-~-

CHRONOLOGY 221
---_._----_.__._... __.. _ - - -
INDEX

Abiquiu, New Mexico, 133, 135, 142 Blockmaking, 82-85; season for, 37 Cracks: in adobe blocks, 74, 84-85; from
Adobe, 71-75; as arch form, 107, 109; of Blocks. See Adobe fIring, 37; New Mexico adobe code, 211
Boshrouyeh, Iran, 8; clay in, 73; Borujerdi residence, 49, 50, 144 Craters of the Moon National Monument, 204
common mixture, 73-75; defIned, 15; Boshrouyeh, Iran, 7-9, 10-14 Crisswell, D. R., 204
flooring, 139, forms, 81-82; founda- Buen Zahra, Iran, 56, 95 Crossdraft kilns, 153
tions of, 89-90; for interior fInishes, Building codes, 209-213 Ctesiphone Palace, 59
141-142; large spans of, 16; lunar Burned adobe, 210 Cupola over dome, 113
blocks, 205-206; for model, 180-181; Burners. See Oil burners Curatin walls, 95
season for making blocks, 37; size of Bushland, Texas, 189 Curved roofs. See Roofs
blocks, 71-72; for walls, 93-95. See also Buttresses, 62, 96-98
Treated adobe Dar-AI-Islam mosque, 133, 135, 142
Adz, 36 Carrier, W. D., III, 204, 207 Dasht-e-Kavir desert, Iran, 10
Aga, Ali, 24, 26, 28, 34, 39, 40, 41, 154, Catenary curve, 59, 122 Depressed three-centered arch, 112
163, 171 Cement. See Portland cement Diesel oil, 159
Aga, Nasser, 24 Cement plaster, 134 Disease, fIring and, 28
Air conditioners, 46 Ceramic-glass fluxes, 204 Domes, 15, 56; building of, 113-122; but-
Air vent over dome, 113 Ceramic glazing. See Glazing tress walls, 97; concrete for, 197; cor-
Anchorage under building code, 212 Ceramix tiles, 39; on Jami Mosque, 136; belled, 113; diagram of, 64; double
Angle of repose, 58 roofIng, 137; space-age applications domes, 56, 119, 122; geodesic domes,
Animal dung as fuel, 157 for, 205 106; in history, 105; in model, 183-184;
Appropriate materiat 47, 48 Chahar Taq, 127 over mud-pile walls, 103; parabolic
Appropriate technology, 13 Chineh. See Mud-pile walls dome, 189; rules for designing, 63; for
Apse, 63; diagram of, 64 Circular forms, 58 school, 34-35; shell membrane theory,
Arches, 15, 107-112; and buttresses, 97; cate- Clay, 68-70; in adobe, 73; bricks, testing of, 197-202; over underground water
nary, 59, 122; construction of, 111-112; 80; extraction of, 79; fIeld tests for, 78, reservoir, 55; and walls, 93. See also
diagram of, 63; geometry of, 111-112; 80; for geltaftan adobe, 78-80; models, 24 Pendentive domes; Squinch domes
lintel arch, 16; in model, 183; of mud- Clay-sand mortar, 86 Doors, 143, in espars, 126-127
pile walls, 103; rows of, 62; small Clay-separating pits, 79 Double-adobe width arch, 107-109
arches, 62; and windows, 51, 60 Climate, 47-56 Double domes, 119, 122; shell dome, 56
Arches National Park, 107 Colmanite, 85, 86 Downdraft kilns, 92, 152
Ashgar, Ostad, 32-33, 34, 107 Common adobe. See Adobe Drying blocks, 84
Asphalt roofIng, 134 Common-use space, 60, 61 Dry-packing, 36; vault blocks, 128
Automobile accidents, 21 Compass, 113
Avicenna, 68 Concrete: domes, 197; for foundations, 88; Earth architecture, 15-22; and climate,
slab floors, 139 47-56; earthquakes and, 17-21; and
Bad-gel, 68 Cone 06, 80, 163 nature, 45-47; water and, 21-22. See
Bfid-gir, 54 Conical shape, 58, 163 also Geltaftan
Bam, Iran, 55 Continuous squinches, 118 Earth-clay mixture, 28, 31
Bamboo, 99 Cooling period, 164 Earthquakes, 17-21; and foundations, 87;
Barrel arch, 97 Corbelled domes, 113 safe houses, 56
Blacic, J. D., 207 Courtyards, 51-52 Eggshells, 57, 58

223
Eight-section arch, 1U Hamedan burners, 159-162 geltaftan waterproofIng, 136-137; for
Electricity, 143-145 Hamsayeh, 11 interior fInishes, 141; for water-
Energy crisis, 46 Heiken, G., 206 proofIng roofs, 132-133, 136-137
Erosion, 192-193 Hogans, 1
Espars, U2-U3, U6-U7; in model, 185-187 Honeycomb pattern, 60 Nansipu,7
Extraction of clay, 79 Hydraulically pressed units, 210 NASA, 194
Natural disasters, 21. See also Earthquakes
Fathy, Hassan, 15, 133 Ice-reserve system, U-13,46, 193 Nature: arches in, 107; and earth architec-
Fire: and clay models, 24; safety rules, 155 Ice-walls, 99, 101-104 ture, 45-47; and structure, 57-60
Fired-brick roofIng, 134; and geltaftan Impurities in clay, 79 Navajo reservation, 1-2
waterproofIng, 137 Indigenous earth architecture, 45 New Mexico adobe code, 209-213
Fire structure architecture. See Geltaftan Insecticide sprayers for glazing, 40, 171 No-kiln system, 25
Firing: of clay bricks, 80; effects of, 154-155; International Style, 67 Non-bearing walls, 95
fInal stages of, 163-164; instructions Interior fInishes, 141; design and, 165-172
for, 150-153; rammed earth walls, 96; Interior Mirror Palace, 141 Office building model, 61
safety rules for, 155-156; systems for, Irrigation: fIiring and glazing channels, Oil as fuel, 157
157-162; temperature during, 153. See 192; qanats, 13, 30, 46 Oil burners: Hamedan burners, 159-162;
also Flues Ivan, 48 placement of, 162; shut-off valve for,
Flooring, 139-141; in model, 182; New Ivan-i-karkheh, U7 156. See also Gravity-flow oil burners
Mexico adobe code, 213 Old buildings, fIring of, 174-175
Flues, 150, 153-154; in downdraft kilns, 152; Orange section pattern, 60
after flooring, 140; and foundations, Jami Mosque, 136 Organic soil, 89
91; in updraft-downdraft kilns, Javadabad School, Iran, 140 Orientation of buildings, 48-49
152-153 Jewelry, ceramic, 41 Outhouses, 143-144
Fluxes, 85-86; ceramic-glass, 204 Kashan, Iran, 60, 144, 145 Overhangs, 48
Flying buttresses, 62, 98 Kaval kilns, 30-31
Forms: arch forms, 107, 109-110. See also Kerosene oil burners. See Oil burners Parabolic arches, 59, U2
Wooden forms Khak-e-Ross, 31 Parabolic domes, 189
Form work, 16 Khalili, Nahid, 26 Partition walls, 95
Foundations, 87-92; New Mexico adobe Kahn, Louis, 107 Passive heating-cooling, 16
code, 211 Khayyam, Oma~ 105 Paving lunar soil, 207
Fountains and wind catcher, 54 Khosh-gel, 68 Pendentive domes, 113, 118-119; stages in
Four-section arch, lU Kilns, 24-25; crossdraft kilns, 153, defIned, building, UO; and vaults, U8
Frost, Robert, 11 150; downdraft kilns, 92, 152; earth- Perimeter flues, 152
Frost depth, 88 clay kilns, 31-32; kaval kilns, 30-31; Pise,96
Fuels for fIring, 152, 156-157 and salt glazing, 41, 167, 171-172; Plaster: for arch forms, 109; New Mexico
Fuller, Buckminster, 105 updraft-downdraft kilns, 152; updraft adobe code, 2U; for roofs, 37; wires,
Future, visions for, 191-194 kilns, 150-152. See also Firing; Flues 145. See also Gypsum plaster; Mud-
straw plaster
Gach-e-koshteh, 141 La Arch, 107 Plaza, Taos, New Mexico, 7
Geltaftan, 23-37; adobe mixture, 73, 77-80; Land, P., 204 Plumbing, 143-145
clay for, 78-80; electrical systems and, Landscape Arch, 107 Pond and wind catcher, 54
145; flooring, 139-141; foundations, Landscaping, 173-174 Porches, 48
90-92; interior fInishes, 142-143; Lava tubes, 206 Porticos, 48
mortar mixture for, 85-86; plumbing Lead-covered wires, 145 Portland cement: and adobe, 75; for
systems and, 145; waterproofIng, Lead oxide, 171 foundations, 88, 90; New Mexico
136-137. See also Firing. Lime: and glazing, 40, 172; reaction, 37; in adobe code, 2U
Geltaftan Group, 26 shefteh,89 Posht band-e-Shamshiri, 98
Geodesic domes, 106 Lintel arch, 16 Post-and-beam construction, 59
Gerstley borate, 85 Lintels,2U Prefabricated magma members, 205
Ghaleh MofId, 25 Lunar structures, 194, 203-208; dust Pueblos, 2
Ghodrat, Ostad, 26 stabilization, 207
Glazing, 39-41, 161-168; buildings, glazing Qanats, 13, 30, 46
of, 170-172; defInition of glaze, Magma structure, 204-205
168-169; homemade glazes, 170; and Materials, 47, 48, 68-70; for adobe, 80; for Radial pattern, 60
mortar, 85; salt glazing, 41, 167, model, 180 Rain, 22
171-172; sprayers for, 40, 171 Metal forms for arches, 109-110 Rammed earth, 88; New Mexico adobe
Glossary, 215-217 Metric-U.S. weights and measures, 218 code, 210; walls, 95-96
Gloves, 156 Michelangelo, 168 Rehabilitating buildings, 174-175
Grading roofs, 131 Mineral oxides, 168-169 Reinforcement of walls, 95
Gravity-flow oil burners, 28, 158-159; Minimum exposure, 50-51 Ripening adobe, 73
Hamedan burners, 159-162; for Mirror form, 151 Rocks: adobe made with, 77; foundations
school, 36 Mitchell, J. K., 207 made of, 89
Gregorian, Zareh B., 197 Model-making, 179-189 Roofs, 56; asphalt roofIng, 134; ceramic tile
Gringo blocks, 143 Moon structures. See Lunar structures fInish for, 137; exterior fInishes,
Grodzka, P., 204 Mortar, 25, 85-86; for fIred structures, 94 134-135, 137; fIred-brick roofIng, 134,
Gunnite fInishes, 134 Mud-pile walls, U-14, 95, 99-104; founda- 137; grading of, 131. See also Arches;
Gypsum plaster: for interior fInishes, 141; tions,87 Domes; Vaults; WaterproofIng roofs
and simkah-gel, 165 Mud-straw plaster, 32, 132-133; and Rumi, 5, 43, 149, 177

224 CERAMIC HOUSES

Safety glasses, 156 Stack tower, 151 for designing, 63; skylights in, 124;
Safety rules for fi.ring, 155-156 Straw: in adobe, 75; in mud-pile walls, 99. and sqUinch domes, 128; and walls,
Salt glazing, 41, 167, m-l72 See also Mud-straw plaster 93. See also Espars
Salt in roofIng plaster mixture, 133 Structural principles, 57-62 Vents, 52-55
Sand and adobe, 73 Sub-flooring, 140 Vermine, fIring and, 28
Sand dunes, 193 Sultan Mirahmad Mosque, 144 Vertical reinforcement of walls, 95
San Fernando Valley, California earth- Sword buttresses, 98 Views, 49
quake, 17, 19 Volcanoes, 193
San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, 84 Tabas, Iran earthqUake, 17, 18-19, 56 Volcano shape, 58
Santa Monica, California, 192 Taos, New Mexico, 7-9, 132
Sardgah, 102, 193 Tapered mud walls, 99 Walls, 93-104; adobe, 93-95; of
Sarvestan Palace, 127 Technology, 17; space-age technology, 194, Boshrouyeh, Iran, 11-13; buttresses,
School, earth-clay, 32-37 203-208 96-98; ceramic tile fInish for, 137; in
Screened earth, 85 Temperature: conversion table, 218; during model, 182; New Mexico adobe code,
Sculptured wind catcher, 53 fIring, 80, 163; and glazes, m 213; rammed earth, 95-96. See also
Segmented arch, 112 Terrones, 210 Mud-pile walls
Semicircular arch, 112 Testing: for clay, 73, 78; of materials, 37 Water, 21-22; domed reservoir, 55; for
Seven, groups of, 58 Thales, 149 forms soaking, 82; and foundations,
Sewage systems, 143-145 Thermocouples, 163 90. See also Irrigation
Shade: orientation to, 51; walls for, 11 Tie beams, 212 WaterproofIng roofs, 131-135; geltaftan
Shakhbozi, 112 Tigheh,95 waterproofIng, 136-137
Shejteh,89 Tiles. See Ceramic tiles Weather and blockmaking, 82
Shell membrane theory, 197-202 Tile samples, 163 Weights and measures table, 218
Shrinkage of clay, 78 Toilets, 143-144 Wind: and fIring, 156; orientation to, 48-49
Silica, 168-169 Tools for model, 180 Wind catchers, 10, 11, 45-46, 52-55; in
Silt-clay for adobe, 73 Treated adobe, 75; for foundations, 90; Egypt, 47
Simkah-gel, 165 New Mexico adobe code, 209 Windows, 143; arched windows, 51, 60;
Site, 67-68 Tsosie,2 and climate, 47; deepset windows, 48;
Skylights, 11; in domes, 113; in school, 36; Two-story wind catcher, 54 in espar, 123, 126; orientation of, 51;
in vaults, 124 size of, 47, 51
Snow, 22 Underground tunnel and wind catcher, 54 Winter, Michael, 1
Soap bubbles, 58 Undulating walls, 95 Wooden forms, 72, 81-82; for arches,
Soils and foundations, 89 Uniform building code, 213 109-110
South-oriented buildings, 48 Untreated adobe, 210
Space-age technology, 194, 203-208 Updraft-downdraft kilns, 152-153 Yakhchal, 12-13, 46, 193
Spider webs, 57 Updraft kilns, 150-152 Yazd, Iran, 60; courtyard in, 135; domed
Sprayers for glazes, 40, m underground water storage in, 55;
Spring lines, 97 Varamin, Iran, 140 flying buttress in, 98; Interior Mirror
Squinch domes, 113, 114-118; short Vaults, 15, 56; buttress walls, 97; construc- Palace, 141; Jami Mosque, 136;
squinches, 119; and vaults, 128. See tion of, 122-129; diagram of, 64; in roofscape, 134; Sultan Mirahmad
also Pendentive domes model, 185-187; over mud-pile walls, Mosque, 144
Stabilized adobe. See Treated adobe 103; and pendentive domes, 129; rules Yekta-i-Arkan, 203

._---------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
IN D E X 225
UPDATING

This appendix is in response to the many enthusiasts inquiring about the

latest information on our work at Cal-Earth Institute, who ask "when
will the New Book be published?". And we tell them that:

The present book, Ceramic Houses and Earth Architecture. is

unchanged since its first publication as it contains the timeless funda-
mental knowledge of a sustainable Earth Architecture and Ceramic
methods of construction. This book is still the textbook for students,
designers, and builders globally for Earth and Ceramic structures.

The Sandbag/ Superadobe/ Superblock construction system

has evolved in answer to the needs of millions around the world who SANDBAG / SUPERADOBE /
can't even find clay earth nor find time to make adobe blocks, who SUPERBLOCK
cannot afford the fuel for ceramic structures and are in need of even
simpler ways of construction. In the sandbag and barbed wire method
of building almost anyone in almost any place in the world can fill
standard sandbags (or long tubes called Superadobe/ Superblock) with
almost any earth and build a structure. And we say almost because no
one shall claim a single natural building solution in harmony with all
environments.

Since 1991 Cal-Earth Institute, as a testing ground for natural

building methods, has made quantum leaps over the challenges of
building codes and permits. During 1997-1998 Cal-Earth, HRPD and the
Hesperia City Building and Safety Department co-hosted the first "Sum-
mit for Sustainable Building Codes" in the City of Hesperia. The first two
standard housing model plans "Earth One" were approved by the City
in consultation with ICBO. A new partnership with UNITAR (United
Nations Institute for Training and Research) was established, the web
site at www.calearth.org became popular. NASA related R&D contin-
ued, and world media such as CNN, BBC, Reuters News Agency, and

APPENDIX 227
others broadcast Cal-Earth's achievements. At present several public
and private projects in the U.S. and abroad are either under construction
or in the planning stages.

In October 1998 Cal-Earth was on the cover of two publications

representing the span of its horizons, one being the proceedings of the
NASA sponsored Warkshop on using In Situ Resources for Construction Jor
Planetary Outposts published by the Lunar and Planetary Institute, the BUILDING STANDARDS
other ICBO's magazine Building Standards which is reprinted here. This (leBO)
article is a preview of what Sandbag Architecture is today and of the
book! manual which will be published to welcome the new sustainable
millenium, year 2,000.

Reprinted from the September-October 1998 issue of Building Standards, copyright 1998, with the permission of the International
Conference of Building Officials.

228 CERAMIC HOUSES

Earth Arch itectu re
and Ceramics
The SandbaglSuperadobe/Superblock
Construction System

by Nader Khalili
Cal-Earth Institute
Hesperia, Ca lifornia

and

Phi ll Vittore
Structural Engineering Consul tant
Arlington Heights, Illinois

Nader Khalili, an Iranian-born Approximately one third of the peop le of the world live in
California architect and author, is houses bui lt with earth, and tens of thousands of towns and vil -
the designer and innovator of the lages have been raised practical ly from the ground they are
Geltaftan Earth-and-Fire System standing on. Today, world consciousness about the use of nat-
known as "ceramic houses" as ural resources and the new perception of building codes as the
well as the Superadobe building stewa rd not on ly of individua ls' safety, but of the planet's equi -
technologies. He received his librium, are leading us into the new millennium of sustainable
education in Iran, Turkey and the living.
United States, and has been a In 1984, NASA's first symposium on lunar bases and space
licensed architect in California activities of the 21 st century enthusiastically received the presen-
since 1970. In 1975, he closed his tations dea ling with the utilization of onsite natural resources to
successful practice in the United construct future lunar and martian habitations. The integration of
States and Iran designing high-rise the ancient techno logies of bui lding with earth into planetary con-
buildings and journeyed by motorcycle for five years through struction techniques was presented with the following passage:
the Iranian deserts, where he worked closely with loca l
The accumulated human knowledge of the uni-
villagers to develop his earth architecture prototypes. His
versal elements can be integrated with space-age
impressions have been collected in his book Racing A lone.
techno logy to serve human needs on Earth; its time-
Mr. Khalili serves as a consultant to the United Nations and
less materials and timeless principles can also help
is a contributor to NASA on construction technologies for the
achieve humanity's quest beyond this planet. Two
moon and Mars. He is the founder and director of the Cal-Earth
such areas of knowledge are in earth architecture
Institute, Geltaftan Foundation-dedicated to research and
and ceramics, which could be the basis for a break-
development in earth and space architecture technologies for
through in scales, forms and functions ... .
the moon and Mars.
The SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock technology presented
here (ceramic structures are also part of generic earth architec-
The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily
ture systems) is the spinoff from severa l conSecutive presenta-
reflect the opinion or agreement of the International Conference of tions to the space and planetary scientific community since that
Building Officials. first symposium in 1984. These concepts have been the subject

APPEND IX 229
of an intense research and prototype construction program
sin ce 1991. The research and development, engineering, and
testing have been carried o ut at the Cal-Earth In stitute under
the scruti ny of the Hesperia Building and Safety Department,
in consultation with ICBO. Building permits for the stock plans
of "Earth One" housing models as well as th e Hesperia
Lake Museum and Nature Center have been issued, and the
SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock bui Iding technology is recog-
ni zed as a construction system.

A New Approach to Sandbags

Common sandbags and connecting barbed w ire, as well as
mile-long bags, are referred to here as Sandbag, Superadobe
and/or Superblock construction. For centu ri es, sandbags have
been used as elements in building temporary dikes and protec-
tive walls in combat zones, as well as in numerous lesser appl i-
cations. After the structure has served its temporary purpose, the
sandbags normally are removed, emptied and disca rded.
The SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock building system bui lds
on three fundamental aspects of historical sandbag modules,
resulting in a permanent system of construction:
1. The most serious drawback in the past concerning sand-
bags as a stru ctural element is that a stack of bags has no tensile
capabilities, which has kept structures very low in height. Also,
cu rved, arched or domed stru ctu res were impossible without
some friction and tensile resistance avai lable.
Superadobe uses four-point barbed wi re (or a similar element) Wall of Superadobe construction-earth-filled
between sandbag layers, al lowing one to develop the tensile and sandbags and barbed wire. Coils/courses can be
shear capabi Iities that have not been previously ach ievable. filled by hand or by pump at spep.ds of 10 to 15
The barbed wire element increases the fr iction factor between feet per minute, depending on bag width.
the bags and creates tensile resistance in a wa ll or structural ele-
ment. It is an important aspect of Superadobe to provide for the

transfer of shear stresses from

one sandbag to another by using
the barbed wire as an interface
between the bags, overcoming
problems of low shear capabi lity
in the earthen fi ll. The increased
capacity of the sandbags,
ach ieved by using barbed wire,
creates the capability of design-
ing higher walls and curved sur-
faces, such as bearing wal ls,
arches, domes and vaults.
2. Previously, sandbags were
not considered part of a perma-
nent stru ctu re due to the use of
loose fill material, usually sand,
which can be loaded easily and
discarded when the temporary
structure is no longer needed.
Superadobe fabric tube or
individual sandbags are packed
with different mixes of fluent,
particulate material. These
include earthen, cementitious,
organic, manufactured and
A model house similar to this one built of Superadobe was constructed and tested as a prototype recycled materials that form into
in Hesperia, California. a permanent block.

230 CERAMIC HOUSES

3. Historically, the potential deterioration of the bag and the
subsequent effect on the structure has precluded permanent
structures. Superadobe construction shie lds the sandbag wa lls
from the elements with protective overlay materials. Additional-
ly, the fi ll material becomes self-supporti ng once it has been
formed into a block by the tubing. When the fill material is suffi-
ciently resistant by itself, the shielding of durable exteriors is not
necessary.
The SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock system, w hi ch has
developed out of these fundamenta l changes during intensive
research in the last seven years, is used in conventiona l stru c-
tures for foundatio ns (poured within the tubing fo rm), for load-
bearing and partition wa ll s in conj un ction with conventional
roofing systems that bear on a bond beam, also generated by the
Superadobe tube itself. Emphasis in this article, however, is given
to curved structures, such as domes and vaults, si nce others are
addressing the conventional post-and-beam and recti linear bear-
ing wa ll structura l systems for earthen construction.
Trainee builders work with hand-filled Superadobe. long
sandbags are filled with earth from the site and tamped in
Non-post-and-beam Structural System
place on the wall. Between courses are set two strands of
Superadobe techniques enab le the constru ction of mono-
four-point barbed wire.
lithic structura l systems built entirely from earth in curved forms.
The sandbag, because of its flexibility, all ows the construction
of curved surfaces. When using single- and double-curvature
compression shells-arch, vau lt, dome, apse-the majority of ity. In many cases, this wi ll cause the entire structure to collapse,
conventional roofing systems can be eliminated. In the case of as was witnessed in earthquakes in Northridge, Ca li forn ia, and
wood construction, this can save up to 95 percent of timber, Kobe, Japan. Such a structure is on ly as strong as its weakest ele-
allowing not only fo r fo rest products to be more wisely utilized ment. In a dome, and to a lesser degree a vault, excessive loads
but also resulting in fire-safe buildings. By working with th e on their surface wi ll first cause a puncture failu re. This results in
princ iple of gravity, these features can be bui lt without specia l the excessive load being shed with on ly localized damage; the
formwork. remaining stresses in the vici nity of the fai lure are transmitted
The success of the tested prototypes for Ca li fornia's seismic around the fa il ed area, and other loads con tinu e to be held by
codes and the resulting permits derive from the fo ll owing princi- the stru cture without any problem.
ples: 2. Dead-load and li ve-load stresses are transferred to the sup-
, . Single- and double-curvature compression shell s transfer porting grou nd, spreading uniformly along the perimeter of a
their stresses along the surface of the structure and not from ele- dome or bearing wa ll. In a beam and column structu re, the loads
ment to element li ke column- and beam-type buildings. When a are concentrated and transferred to the ground via a footing
single element in a beam and co lumn construction is overloaded under each column . This situation creates the two basic structur-
to failure, the loss of that element wil l create a cascading effect al problems of differential settlement and frost heaving. These
on adjacent elements, causing failure of all elements in the vicin- ca n cause severe localized stresses within the upper structure,
resulting in cracki ng and other fa ilures. For this reason, most
fo undations are extended to below the frost line to minimize
such probl ems. In a monolithic bea rin g wa ll, dome or vau lt, dif-
fe rentia l settlement and frost heav ing do not pose severe prob-
lems . The base of a dome or bearing wal l distributes the load of
the structure over a much larger area, and local soft spots in the
supporting soi l w ill not create a local problem, as local depres-
sions may be easil y span ned . The effect of frost can be rendered
negligible with correct design when a dome is free to float on the
ground .
3. One of the most significant advantages of a domed or
vau lted bearing wal l structure is its performance in earthquakes.
It is difficult to design conventiona l structures to withstand earth-
quake stresses. Their basic shape creates a severe prob lem, as the
building weight is either uniformly spread from roof to founda -
tion or, even worse, weights are often larger in the upper floors.
With this propensity for overturning, the deeply planted footings
Double-curvature compression shell, or dome, of Superadobe and foundatio ns rip apart at the very base of the structure during
construction showing rebar guides for the dome shape an earthquake, causing failures rather than preventing them .
(removed later) and a simple plank scaffold. Gravity is the Modern earthq uake design that incorporates foundation isolation
generator of the form. does have shifting capabilities, but it is expensive.

APPENDIX 231
SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock: A Code Official Perspective
When architect Nader Khalili first proposed construct- was approached. Two domes, one of sandbags and one of
ing buildings made of earth-filled sandbags, stacked in unreinforced brick, were tested. Special inspection by a
domes, the building department was skeptical, to say the local engineering firm was approved and test results showed
least. In fact, if we hadn't been trained to be courteous, we "that there was no movement of any surface of either dome
would have laughed out loud. How could anyone believe structure as a result of the loading described in the test pro-
that you cou ld take native desert soil, stuff it into plastic cedure." The domes had passed their first test.
bags and pile them up 15 feet (4572 mm) or more high? After reviewing the test result, ICBO's Plan Review Ser-
Why, if they didn't fall down from their own weight, the vices staff felt that the use of the domes should be limited
first minor earthquake would cause a total collapse, killing to 15-foOI (4572 mm) domes of Group M, Division 1 or
everyone inside. How could a responsible building official Group B, Division 2 occupancies until ufficient monitor-
possibly condone such building code heresy? ing had been completed. Mr. Khalili was principally inter-
Well, Nader Khalili is a very persistent man. Over ested in Group R Occupancies, although he was al 0
time, he convinced us that he was going to prove our proposing the construction of a museum and nature cen-
skepticism wrong, that earth-filled sandbags (now ca lled ter, a building that would house a Group A Occupancy in
5uperadobe) cou ld be built to meet the rigorous standards a 50-foot (15 240 mm) diameter dome. Becau e of hi
of the 1991 Uniform Building CodeT/", (UBC). It all started desire to build larger structures and house occupancie
with Sections 105 and 107, allowing building officials to other than Group M, Division 1 and Group B, Division 2
consider the use of any material or method of construc- occupancies, Mr. Khalili notified the city that he would not
tion n • .• provided any a.lternate has been approved by the accept the size and occupancy limitations and would pro-
building official" and to require testing to recogniz'1d test pose new testing to approve the use of larger structure.
standards as determined by the building official. Altl10ugh After extensive negotiations, which lasted more than a
we had applied these sections numerous times, wb had
never used them to such an extent on a building ,0
eign to our codes. To say the least, it was a challenge.
for-
year and included a face-to-face meeting at ICBO head-
quarters, we agreed to a dynamic test procedure. The pro-
cedure involved applied and relaxed loads over a short
Here' s a brief description of what we did. Since we are period of time, with a series of tests with increasing loads
not licensed engineers, and we don't l.ave one on our until Seismic Zone 4 limits were exceeded. After several
staff, we contacted ICBO Plan Review Services to see if months of fine tuning and discussion of "passing grades,·
they would perform the plan review) f r our city. ICBO the tests and desired results were agreed to. Tests involved
welcomed the cha llenge, but indicated the same skepti- three buildings, including the brick dome, the sandbag
cism we shared, since Hesperia, California, is within Seis- dome and a sandbag vault structure with 5-foot-high
mic Zone 4 and local examples of this type of construc- (1524 111m) vertical walls and a barrel vault above. The
tion are nonexistent. tests were conducted and monitored by an ICBO-
After some initial discussions regarding standards, Mr. recognized testing laboratory in December 1995, and the
Khalili submitted plans in November 1992, with the required test limits were greatly exceeded. Testing contin-
understanding that a testing program would be designed as ued beyond agreed limits until testing apparatus began to
part of the plan review process. In January 1993, ICBO fail. No deflection or failure was noted, however, on any
returned the plans with nine general comments, including of the tested buildings.
a provision to provide a rational analysis pursuant to 1991 With these results, the plans went back to ICBO, and
UBC Section 2303(b). after final plan check comments were satisfied, ICBO rec-
At about this time, we were introduced to Mr. Khalili's ommended the plans for approval in February 1996. Our
structural engineer, Phill Vittore. Mr. Vittore, with his palt- skepticism had long since vanished, as we had seen this
ner Morrall Harrington, had designed numerous large thin- style of building meet and exceed the testing of rational
shell dome structu res in the Midwest and was properly analysis as required by our code. Mr. Khalili had succeed-
represented by a California licensed structural engineer. ed in gaining acceptance by the City of Hesperia for a
Mr. Vittore responded to ICBO's initial comments, and a building made of sandbags filled with earth. It is a testa-
negotiation began that resulted in the design of a static ment to Mr. Khalili's perseverance and to the flexibility of
load test program that was agreed to by this department the UBC.
after our discussions with ICBO staff.
The static load test was designed to add 200 percent of -Tom Harp
the UBC loading of 20 pounds per square foot (pst) (97 Building Officer/planning Director
kglm2) live and 20 psf (97 kglm2) wind load. The first test City of Hesperia, California
used an 80 psf (390 kglm2) loading of additional sandbags
over one third of the exterior surface and, after monitoring, -John Regner
over one half of the exterior surface. During the entire test Senior Plans Examiner
period, deflection was monitored to verify if ultimate loading City of Hesperia, California

232 CERAMIC HOUSES

A dome or bearing wall built on a floating foundation, the December 12-13, 1995. Simulated dynamic and static load
base isolated by a layer of gravel or sand, provides the ideal tests were performed on all structural prototypes relevant to the
earthquake-resistant structure. The continuous or ring foundation project to establish their safety for all UBC occupancy categories.
can slide across the moving ground, while the upper structure, Tests were performed on Superblock/Superadobe dome type
which diminishes exponentially in mass toward the apex, per- (double-curvature compression shell), vault type (single-curva-
forms as a unified monolithic piece, eliminating local failure ture compression shell) and masonry dome type. Testing moni-
higher up the building. tored by Southwest Inspection and Testing.
Structural tests performed during intensive prototype research December 27, 1995. Report by Southwest Inspection and
in Hesperia addressed both live-load and dead-load, static as Testing to ICBO and the Hesperia Building and Safety Depart-
well as dynamic loading forces. The structural engineering and ment concludes that all tests have exceeded ICBO and City of
testing procedures were conducted by Phill Vittore of P.J. Vittore, Hesperia requirements.
Ltd. The successful results were documented by an ICBO- March 7, 1996. Construction permit was issued by the Hes-
approved testing laboratory, Southwest Inspection and Testing. peria Building and Safety Department for the Hesperia Museum
What follows is the chronology of testing, which includes and Nature Center.
static and dynamic load tests of the prototype Sandbagl January 8, 1998. "Earth Architecture-Environmentally
Superadobe/Superblock and masonry structures. Friendly Housing Types: Superadobe Model House Plan Permits
for 3- and 4-bedroom Models" was issued by the Hesperia Build-
CODE TESTING CHRONOLOGY ing and Safety Department as stock plans for the Earth One house
Tested models: and variations on the plans and designs.
7. Two domes constructed with standard sandbags and Over this period, climatic stress to the prototype structures
barbed wire, filled with pure desert sand/earth excavated in situ. was monitored in the harsh high-desert climate zone, including
The sand/earth used in the first dome was dry while for the sec- flash floods, heavy driving rain, dry heat up to 115°F (46°C),
ond dome it was dampened with water before filling the bags. freezing and snow, and high winds.
2. A vaulted structure consisting of three adjoining vaults
constructed with pure desert sand/earth excavated in situ. The Universal Applications
walls were built with standard sandbags and barbed wire, as well Modern computer software now allows for structural design
as long tubular bags (Superadobe/Superblock) filled with damp- analysis on an individual basis. The computer will also permit
ened sand/earth. The roof material for the 4-inch (702 mm) slab the utilization of the SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock systems in
was the same sand/earth stabilized with 7 to 70 percent portland space and planetary construction based on performance pro-
cement. grams, such as finite element analysis. The construction of infra-
3. A 4-inch-thick (702 mm) perforated dome constructed with structures, structures and shielding elements, such as for thermal,
standard fired clay bricks and cement mortar with no reinforcing. radiation and/or impact shielding on the moon and Mars, would
otherwise imply costly transportation of building materials into
june 1992. Two earthquakes centered in Big Bear and outer space. The utilization of in-situ, minima~ly processed ma-
Landers, California, measuring 6.9 and 7.4 (respectively) on terials, is crucial to space exploration.
the Richter scale, affected the Hesperia site of the Cal-Earth Flood control; erosion control; stabilization of waters' edges,
Institute, with the completed brick masonry dome and the hillside slopes and embankments; and retaining walls, land-
SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock dome under construction. scapes, and infrastructures are applications in which the Sand-
October 1992. Plans and engineering for two completed pro- bagiSuperadobe/Superblock system has shown great potential.
totype domes in Superadobe and masonry were submitted to, Individuals are enabled once again to build their own homes
and reviewed by, the Hesperia Building and Safety Department without the use of heavy equipment, with materials native to the
in consultation with ICBO. country of use. All the skills required are simple and can be
September 24-27, 1993. Live-load tests to simulate seismic, acquired by anyone who wishes to learn them. The
snow and wind loads. Static eccentric loading of both domed SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock system can use existing con-
structures to 200 percent of code requirements. Monitored by tractors' machinery, such as concrete and gunnite pumps, to
independent engineers from the Inland Engineering Corporation. mechanize the packing of the fill material into the bag forms.
No deflections were observed. SandbagiSuperadobe/Superblock has been used internation-
February 18, 1994. Uniform Building Code™ (UBC) Group M, ally by the United Nations for emergency housing prototypes
Division 1 and Group B, Division 2 structures were allowed in and is currently in limited use on several continents and under
Hesperia as part of a prototype program. construction in several states in the United States. Further permits
October 27, 1994. Plans and calculations for the Hesperia are being sought with other building and safety jurisdictions in
Museum and Nature Center, to be constructed using earth and California and the Southwest. If integrated into the 2000 Interna-
ceramic architecture technology (Superblock/Superadobe and tional Building Code™, it will serve internationally for many
masonry/ceramics), were submitted to, and reviewed by, the building types, including that of emergency housing construc-
Hesperia Building and Safety Department in consultation with tion, and be used extensively within the United States for stan-
ICBO. dard housing. •

APPENDIX 233

Common questions