SuperAdobe
CalEarth
Solution Overview & Benefits
SuperAdobe is a form of earth bag architecture developed by architect and CalEarth founder Nader Khalili.
Using long sandbags ("SuperAdobe Bags"), barbed wire, on-site earth and a few tools, it is a revolutionary building system that integrates traditional earth architecture with contemporary global safety requirements, and passes severe earthquake code tests.
How It Works
Long or short sandbags are filled with moistened earth and arranged in layers or long coils. Strands of barbed wire are placed between each layer of sandbag to act as both mortar and reinforcement. Stabilizers such as cement, lime, or asphalt emulsion may be added. Similar to how a potter stacks coils of clay to make a vessel, builders stack coils of earth for make a structure.
The SuperAdobe building system can be used for structural arches, domes and vaults, or conventional rectilinear shapes. The same method can build silos, landscaping elements, or infrastructure like dams, cisterns, roads, bridges, and for stabilizing shorelines and watercourses.
Basic Materials Needed:
- Synthetic, low UV (ultra-violet) resistant degradable sand bags
- Four-point, two strand, galvanized barbed wire
- Shovels
- Tampers
- Soil & Water
History & Development
Cal-Earth, the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture, is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to providing solutions to the human need for shelter through research, development, and education in earth architecture. We envision a world in which every person is empowered to build a safe and sustainable home with their own hands, using the earth under their feet.
Cal-Earth develops and educates the public in self-help, environmentally sustainable building designs. Houses anyone can build with their own two hands, using locally available earth, sandbags and barbed wire, that meet modern-day standards for safety, beauty, energy efficiency, and comfort.
Availability
- Publicly available: yes
- Countries where available: Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Iran, India, Mexico, Chile, Siberia, Tibet, South Africa, United States
- Online workshops available
Specifications
Additional Information
Cal-Earth’s designs have been studied by NASA, endorsed and used by the United Nations, featured in countless world media outlets, and awarded the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Superadobe building system (U.S. Patent #5,934,027) integrates traditional earth architecture with contemporary global safety requirements, and has passed severe earthquake code tests in California.
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