• Earthbag House

     

    -Natural house

    made from earth

    for us-

    "Treat the earth well:

    it was not given to you by your parents,

    it was loaned to you by your children.

    We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,

    we borrow it from our Children."

     

    Lakota

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • What is Earthbag building

  • Worldwide Projects

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    AVANI India

    ​The project for the Gandhi Worldwide education institute in South India,

     

    the ideas was to build some houses for rescue child labours, involving them in the construction process.

    On top of that a permaculture design of the land with swales, ponds,gardens & trees.

    we build 1 eco dome + one 3 m diameter dome with the help of the children during 6 months,

    an unforgettable experience.

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    Tango Japan

    ​Building a dome in a national park

    as a playground for kids while organising a workshop ,

    the students building a dome in 2 weeks,

    a pleasure to create for children.

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    Bali Buda Natural Birth Clinic Indonesia

    2 Domes connect with an open space and a canopy roof on top,

    the construction was made to create a space to give birth in a gentle way,

    a big inspiration.

     

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    Green School Bali Indonesia

    Creation of a classroom with 

    super adobe curbed walls
    & bamboo rafters on top as platform.
    The downstairs space use as a classroom
    & the upstairs as an open platform for a teacher space with a full solar panel roof.
     
    Another building was a 4.5 m dome
    for the energy Hub,
    showing in real time the use of sustainable energy of Green School.
     
    The idea of this project include Green School students in every steps of the building process ( from design, superadobe walls, bamboo construction, plaster to roof finishes...)
     
    That' s the beauty of Earthbag building,
    we can make it happen together simply & working as a community.
     
    An amazing & rich experience o collaborate with Green School teachers & students.
     
     
     

     

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    Auroville India

    The challenge was to build

    a 4 m dome as a massage space with a minimum budget & crew,

    a lot of sweat and DIY solution.

    A totally free cement project

    (except the floor ) ,using only lime for finishing.

     

    Building for Auroville community fill us with joy.

     

     
     

     

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    Mana Earthly Paradise Bali Indonesia

    Creation of a totally sustainable Eco Resort for a Japanese Ethical Company.

     

    Playing with some curves walls

    & differents designs to create 7 Villas with naturals thatched roofs & sustainable systems for solar energy, water harvesting ,ecological sewage & permaculture gardens.

     

    By using straight curves walls ,

    we push amy size limitations

    & give as much space as we need,

    mixing Bamboo & superadobe ,

    a beautiful place for a natural & reconnecting to Earth Paradise.

     

     

     

     
     

     

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    Blue Karma Indonesia

    Creation of a 5 m dome as a sound healing space ,

    the aim is to give an optimal space for the music to be totally deep & surround with high ceilings& perfect symetry.

     

    An amazing sound trip of his own.

     

     

     

     

     

     
     

     

    Kokufu Tokushima Japan

    Creation of a 3 m dome as a food storage and playground for kids.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     

     

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    Kamiyama beer Japan

    Outdoor seating space with a tunnel for kids to play

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     

     

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    Mauricio House Bali

    Earthbag and bamboo fusion

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Inspiration

     

    This is about earthen architecture

     

    and a new way of building,

     

    simple, fast and beautiful

     

    : earth bag ,

     

    using mostly the soil beneath our feet, sandbags

     

    and barbed wire...

     

     

    The inspiration is our mother Earth ,

     

    as everything in the universe is composed from the 5 elements (earth, water ,air ,fire and space),

     

    we need to use these to create like some of the people who inspire us,

     

    All the earth builders and among them, Nader Khalili, Iranian architect ,

     

    he had a dream to create a way to build in harmony with nature,

     

    and develop the earth bag system at cal earth with some associates


     

     

     

    they never forgot the human need and bring solution for low cost and low impact housing, respecting human and nature.

  • Conception

     

    -DESIGN

     

     

    The strongest structures in nature are arches,domes,vaults,apses...

     

    by trading corners for curves we fortify the structural integrity of our architecture,

     

    and uses least amount of materials while providing the maximum amount of space.

     

    Domes rely on 2 opposing natural forces to hold them together

     

    : gravity & tension,

     

    let's take a simple example,

     

    a fresh raw egg, if you try to break it in your hands it will resist your effort,

     

    like an egg , the dome has a double curvature wall, it curves in both the horizontal and vertical plane in the same time.

     

    Our choice to build to give maximum safety with minimum impact is the dome with all the different variations in design.

     

    It's beautiful,strong and unique.

     

    they offers 3 principles

     

    - resisting the pull of gravity by compression

     

    - resisting the heat of the sun by creating a sun and shade zone and thus air currents


    - fighting the earthquake by sharing the forces equally, and of fighting the wind by softening its harsh blow in the curves surface...

     

    (from racing alone,Nader Khalili)

     

     

  • dome with apses around like ecodome

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  • or double ecodome ,

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  • until the creation of cluster of domes to create infinite possibility ...

     

    the dome is just amazing

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  •  

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ADVANTAGES

     

     

     

     

     

    The earth bag system has proven to withstand the ravages of fire, flooding, hurricanes, termites ..

    and two natural earthquake measuring over 6 and 7 on the Richter scale.

     

     

     

    In 1991 at cal earth,under static load testing conditions simulating seismic,

    wind and snow loads, the tests exceed uniform building code of California

    by 200%...

     

    some other advantage are :

     

    -the thermal performance, earth bag walls function as an absorbent mass, it's able to store warmth and reradiate it back, it gives a 12 h delay in

     

    energy transfer from exterior to interior, this means that at the hottest time of the day the inside is at its coolest, while at the coolest time of the day

     

    the interior is at its warmest. In winter it keeps the heat inside longer... acoustic and radio wave isolation...

     

    Earth bag method offers more benefit than any natural construction,

     

    it has more structural integrity than adobe ( a sun-dried, unburned brick of clay and straw), more plasticity than rammed earth,


    more speed in construction than cob ( a mixture of clay and straw used as a building materials ).

     

    Although earth bag is new compared to these ancient building methods,

     

    it offers superior economy and durability, earth bag construction offers broad possibility for ultra low cost and low impact housing, especially in region

     

    where timber, grasses, cement and fuel are scarce.

  • Vision

     

    -COMMUNITY BUILDING ALL OVER THE WORLD

     

     

    According to the Japanese government's white paper on disaster management 2009,

     

    "106 million people become victims and 95000 lives are lost every year around the globe, with losses worth more than 36.8 billions $..."

     

    if we want to help and bring solutions,

     

    the only way is to teach people how to use the earth under their own feet ,

     

    such simple technology based on eco-friendly and indigenous ways exists today.

     

    Build as a community,with friends,neighbours as we use to do not so long ago, show people and teach them this simple way of building to be self

     

    sufficient is our goal.

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    -ECO-FRIENDLY CONSTRUCTION

     

     

    Respect the nature and take care of it,

     

    realise that all we need to build is around us and

     

    easily available.

     

    More than all, earthen architecture endures ,

     

    if we can build one ecological friendly house in our

     

    lifetime that is habitable for centuries we will have

     

    contributed towards a sustainable society.

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    Solution

     

    -EARTHBAG

     

     

    Sandbags and barbed wire technology,

     

    the super-adobe technique .

     

    It was developed by Nader Khalili, an

     

    iranian architect and humanitarian who

     

    never forgot the human need and creates

     

    Cal-Earth - The California Institute ...

     

    imagine it as bags filled with the earth that

     

    is on site, and arranged in layers or long

     

    coils, strands of barbed wire between

     

    them act as a both mortar and

     

    reinforcement

  • Materials

     

     

     

    Bags, Barbed wire, Shovels, Pipes, Tamper, Scissors, Wheelbarrows, some chains for the Compass ...

     

    is the minimum ,

     

    you can add a cement or lime mixer to be more efficient.

     

    What you need is:

    -Earth

     


    the best mix to put in the bags will be

     

    80% sandy soil and 20%clay,

     

    thus the big advantage is we can use

     

    mostly any kind of earth ,

     

    we don't need some specific ratio like

     

    the other kind of earth architecture.

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    -Bags

     

    any woven bags ,

     

    from burlap to hemp...

     

    most of time they' re polypropylene like

     

    rice bags cheap and available

     

    worldwide...

     

    the advantage of using long bags in

     

    roll gives more flexibility and efficiency

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    -Compass

     

    super adobe dome is not a

     

    hemisphere,

     

    but it has a taller "lancet" or "ogival"

     

    shape because of the structure and

     

    method of building,

     

    for this we just have to follow 2

     

    compass,one height compass and one

     

    centre compass

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    -Barbed wire

     

    4 points barbed wire uses as a velcro

     

    mortar between every row of bags,

     

    it clinches the bags together and

     

    provides exceptional tensile strength.

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    -Tamping


    just after the bags are lay we tamp or


    ram it,


    that means we compact the earth


    inside the bag to make a uniform


    ring,


    this gives the earth mixture its


    strength.

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    -Ventilation

     

    we will use some pipes as a natural

     

    ventilation system to aspire the air out,

     

    the pipes are use as windows as well,

     

    we can put as much as we want 

  • Plaster

     

    To finish we will apply some plaster ,

     

    to protect the bags from the sun ( a polypropylene bag has 300 to 500 uv hours lifespan ) and for the waterproofing of the structure .

     

    Depending on the climate we will find the best mix suitable including some stabiliser (lime,cement,bitumen...)if necessary ,

     

    if we go for a natural one some easy maintenance is required once a year.

  • Time & Cost 

     

    Materials are inexpensive, abundant and accessible ,

    earth-bag building save time and money,

    cheaper than conventional houses and

    it s the fastest way to build in tune with nature

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    or like here in Iran for the UNHCR

     

    in a refugee camp in 1996, more than 15 domes

     

    built in 21 days by the refugees themselves with the

     

    help of one instructor,

     

    for a 15 foot dome from 621$ to 1000$ for an

     

    upgrade one (electricity,water,windows...)

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    to thousands for a full structure like an ecodome

     

    (15 foot diameter with a living space of 55 sq m)

     

    the cost was 9000$ in 2003

     

    built in in Usa with a full finishing

     

    (kitchen,bathroom,toilet....)

     

     Another example in Japan in Hokkaido in 2010 ,

     

    a 4 m diameter dome with

     

    electricity,water,window,door...

     

    for a cost of 1400 us dollars.

  • It' s difficult to really give an average price as it varies to the conditions ,

     

    countries, community work, all this different aspects give different prices.

     

    just be sure it's one of the cheapest way to build in harmony.

  • US

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    Xavier

     

    Originally from France ,

     

    travelling since the last 15 years over our beautiful

     

    planet, sharing the life of our brothers and sisters ,

     

    he wants to give back  all the love he receives,

     

    asking himself some questions he is looking for

     

    solutions and get interest in earth architecture,

     

    studying in Auroville in India for some time,

     

    he decides to go to Cal Earth as a long term

     

    apprentice and realizes earth bag is one solution to

     

    provide affordable,sustainable housing,

     

    now acting to built these beautiful and respectful

     

    house all over our planet,

     

    just because to get a home must be a right and not

     

    an option.

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    Soyoko

     

    Xavier's partner,

     

    originally from Japan,

     

    supporting about earth bag activity,

     

    for 13 years she was dancer in Tokyo and felt she is

     

    missing something toexpress by dance,

     

    she realises she need to remember the connection

     

    with nature, and left  the city life and spend time in

     

    nature, travelling in India,Indonesia...

     

    Now she is learning about natural agriculture and

     

    sustainable way of living (permaculture design...)

     

    with some experiences in Japan and India...

     

    She hopes their activities and life style itself will

     

    contribute to people happiness .

  • Contact

    tsatsahouse@protonmail.com