Learn to build an earthen oven in our Los Angeles class!
09
Sep 11
Joshua Tree Class, November 5th & 6th!
Join us at our first Joshua Tree workshop for an intensive two day class on adobe construction. For full details, click here!
03
Sep 11
adobeisnotsoftware in Albuquerque
Catch us in Albuquerque for EarthUSA 2011 on September 30, October 1st and 2nd. We’ll talking about the challenges and opportunities facing adobe construction in California. This conference brings folks from all over the world, and will have workshops and tours put on by some of the most knowledgeable individuals in the field.
22
Feb 11
EarthUSA Conference Announced
Dates for the biannual earthen construction conference organized by faculty from Northern New Mexico College’s Adobe Construction program have been announced. This event brings together academics and practitioners from around the world – it is the only conference of its kind in the United States. Details follow:
EarthUSA 2011 will be Sep 30, Oct 1 and 2. Location will be at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
This is the Sixth International Earthbuillding Conference sponsored by the Adobe Association of the Southwest and Northern New Mexico College. The National Hispanic Cultural Center and Adobe in Action will also be sponsors. The Adobe Association of the Southwest is expected to turn itself into Adobe USA.
EarthUSA 2011 indicates a wider field of interest than previous conferences and will include adobe, rammed earth, compressed earth block: CEB, and monolithic adobe: cob. Any material or method that uses clay to bind it together is considered.
Calendar:
May 3: Abstracts due
Jun 3: Acceptance notifications
Aug 5: Full Papers due
Sep 9: Proceedings go to press
Sep 30, Oct 1: Conference and Trade Fair
Oct 2: Tour
Oct 3 -7: Classes, Workshops
Oct 1 – 9: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Categories/Themes:
1. Contemporary earthen architecture, construction and engineering
2. Historical buildings, farms, villages and cities including cultural connotations
3. Conservation, Preservation, Replication, Remodeling, Modernizing, Re-purposing
4. The role of earthen materials in heating, cooling, sustainable, ecological, renewable and green design
5. Codes, norms, building methods, material science, seismic considerations
6. Earthbuilding education and technology transfer
7. Marketing strategies for earthen materials in the modern world
Conference Languages:
Spanish and English
Simultaneous translation of presentations from the podium is not anticipated without surprise funding sources.
Papers will be printed in the Conference Proceedings in the language received. Papers received with translations will be printed in both languages
PowerPoint presentations are encouraged to be labeled in both languages
Costs:
The Conference Registration will cost $185 USD with reduction for students. Authors and presenters also pay the registration fee. EarthUSA 2011 is a small conference with few financial resources.
A one-day tour will be available Sunday for local earthbuilding sites the cost to be determined.
Four and five-day courses and workshops October 3 through 7 are being planned and will include basic adobe construction; rammed earth construction; and arch, vault and dome construction.
Additional details will be released over the coming weeks at the EarthUSA website.
15
Aug 10
Vertical Clay Announces Summer Workshop Schedule
Berkeley based contractor/educators Vertical Clay has two remaining summer workshop that include adobe construction for those of you who are located in NorCal:
August 28-29 – How to Build an Adobe Nubian Vault
October 9-16 – Natural Building Intensive
See their site for more details – all workshops will be held in the Bay Area.
10
Aug 10
NNMC Announces Fall Adobe Classes
Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) has announced its fall term class schedule.
The fall schedule includes three online classes of particular interest to the Adobe community – Adobe Design & Construction Worldwide, Floor Design & Construction, and Interior Finish Practices. Taught by Kurt Gardella using NNMC’s Blackboard platform, the online courses are an excellent way for folks far from the epicenter of adobe culture in New Mexico to gain training from some of the most experienced individuals in the field.
Although the coursework is designed to fulfill requirements of the College’s Certificate Program in Adobe Construction, enrollment is open to individuals from outside of the program.
08
Aug 10
LA’s Johnson House Threatened with Demolition
The Los Angeles Planning Department failed in its July 20th meeting to pursue Historic Cultural Monument status for the remarkable Johnson House (known also as the Casa de Adobe) at 201 S. Rockingham in Los Angeles. David Leyrer, who recently purchased the building, apparently wishes to demolish it for land value – this decision leaves few barriers to that intention. The Cultural Heritage Commission staff report had recommended further study, while Councilmember Bill Rosendahl opposed protection.
Completed in 1920, the structure is one of the few remaining two story adobes in greater Los Angeles. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Style by John Byers (who went on to design the iconic Bradbury Building), the Johnson House is generally credited with launching the architect’s career. The Johnson House joins the Michael White Adobe in San Marino among the roster of historic adobe structures currently threatened with demolition. Preservation action is being spearheaded by the Santa Monica Conservancy and the Los Angeles Conservancy.
Editorializing in today’s Los Angeles Times, DJ Waldie criticized the Planning Department’s lack of action:
I imagine that Casa Adobe reaches through time to touch us, not because I want you to believe that everything old is worth saving but because what we manage to save from the bonfire of discarded memories may make us more whole. If this house is pushed back into the mud from which the Johnsons brought it, we will lack another part of what we were and what Los Angeles hoped to be.
27
Jun 10
Montañez Adobe Restoration Wins AIA San Diego Award
The AIA San Diego recognized La Jolla based IS Architecture and Mark Sauer Construction’s restoration of the Mission Viejo’s historic Montañez Adobe earthen floor with one of three Divine Detail awards at the organization’s annual Awards Gala on June 19th. The Divine Detail Award recognizes “specific, ingenious and graceful design details that are worthy of recognition all by themselves.”
Photo: The Neurosciences Institute, Tod Williams Billie Tsien, Architects