Adobe Mud: Building With Earth

By Catherine Wanek
Published on May 1, 2009
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At Adobe Alliance workshops, students learn a variety of earth-building techniques.
At Adobe Alliance workshops, students learn a variety of earth-building techniques.
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An adobe building workshop in Texas. Adobe is well suited to desert climates. The vaulted roof of this structure is inspired by North African architectural techniques that make it possible to build without wood. 
An adobe building workshop in Texas. Adobe is well suited to desert climates. The vaulted roof of this structure is inspired by North African architectural techniques that make it possible to build without wood. 
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Building with earth doesn't doesn't get any more fundamental than adobe mud. It's a great material — not only is it natural, it’s locally available and often dirt cheap! 
Building with earth doesn't doesn't get any more fundamental than adobe mud. It's a great material — not only is it natural, it’s locally available and often dirt cheap! 
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From right to left: Adobe mason Efren Rodriguez, Simone Swan and Steven de la Rosa, the instructor for a vault building workshop.
From right to left: Adobe mason Efren Rodriguez, Simone Swan and Steven de la Rosa, the instructor for a vault building workshop.
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Adobe bricks are laid in a mud mortar.
Adobe bricks are laid in a mud mortar.
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Project manager Maria Jesus Jimenez at an Adobe Alliance workshop.
Project manager Maria Jesus Jimenez at an Adobe Alliance workshop.
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Simone Swan is a passionate advocate of adobe architecture.
Simone Swan is a passionate advocate of adobe architecture.
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Simon Swan’s home is located on the fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert in Presidio, Texas.
Simon Swan’s home is located on the fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert in Presidio, Texas.
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Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy, right, is the inspiration behind the adobe building techniques taught by Simone Swan and the Adobe Alliance.
Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy, right, is the inspiration behind the adobe building techniques taught by Simone Swan and the Adobe Alliance.
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These rooms feel spacious because of the vaulted ceilings, even though they measure only 10 feet across. 
These rooms feel spacious because of the vaulted ceilings, even though they measure only 10 feet across. 
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Simone Swan’s home and teaching center in Presidio, Texas, was built using natural building techniques suited to a desert environment.
Simone Swan’s home and teaching center in Presidio, Texas, was built using natural building techniques suited to a desert environment.
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Group photo of Adobe Alliance workshop participants.
Group photo of Adobe Alliance workshop participants.

The allure of elegant earthen architecture can be life-changing. At least that was the case for urbane New Yorker Simone Swan, who in the 1970s became fascinated with the ideas and designs of renowned Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy. Then the 40-something executive head of the Houston-based Menil Foundation, Swan moved to Cairo to study with Fathy. She became his most passionate advocate, and transplanted his adobe mud building techniques to the Southwestern United States.

Fathy’s quest was to provide comfortable and affordable housing for ordinary Egyptians. In pursuing that goal, he revived the traditional practice of building domes and vaults from sun-dried earth blocks, or adobes. By emulating ancient construction techniques and literally using the earth beneath his feet, Fathy designed beautiful, climate-appropriate buildings in the treeless Egyptian landscape. The harmonious proportions and intricate detailing transformed earth-block structures into simple yet sublime architecture.

The secrets of building with earth — most especially of Near Eastern and North African domed, arched, and vaulted architecture — had nearly been lost to history, but Fathy managed to locate builders who had not lost the skill of constructing Nubian catenary vaults that do not require wooden form work to support the construction. Fathy’s designs integrated natural cooling strategies, and he applied his art to homes, schools, and community buildings, including mosques and marketplaces. His designs were used throughout entire towns, such as Baris and New Gourna in Egypt.

After Fathy’s death in 1989, Simone Swan created a unique home and teaching center in Presidio, Texas, to demonstrate and showcase his building techniques. Adapting architectural ideas developed along the Nile River, Swan began creating a desert compound where adobe was also traditional?—?in the Big Bend country where the Rio Grande River separates the United States and Mexico.

The adobe tradition in the Southwest requires beams, or vigas, to support a flat roof. But the big trees along the Rio Grande have long since been harvested, so any timber used in construction has to be imported. Swan used her new building to demonstrate the benefits of Nubian vaults, which do not depend on a wooden structure. The adobe brick material is laid in a mud mortar, from the foundation to the top of the arch. The material performs the functions of wall, ceiling, structure, and body of the home.

Summertime in the Chihuahuan Desert sees temperatures consistently rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit?—?thus cooling strategies are key to comfort. Ventilation near the top of the tall vault form allows hot air to escape, displaced by cooler air drawn in from the north side of the building. Fathy understood that building orientation and ornament could reduce heat gain by creating shade at the hottest times of the day. He was a master of form and function, designing architecturally beautiful openings to capture cooling breezes, and directing the air currents through the interior to flush out the warm air. The properties of the adobe building itself?—?the thermal mass and permeability of earth?—?moderate the wide temperature swings of the desert.

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