Showing posts with label Nader Khalili. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nader Khalili. Show all posts
Friday, July 27, 2012
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Futuristic Eco-Homes ~ Nader Khalili
Keetsa.com
May 25, 2007
Futuristic Eco-Homes
Khalili’s California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (CalEarth) designs eco-friendly dome homes which look like they come from the future. They are so energy efficient and self-contained, it has been predicted that these models will be used to design the homes that may one day be built on the moon!
Founder Nader Khalili is regularly invited to NASA to give speeches and presentations about breakthroughs with his work.
“To me it’s obvious to use earth as a building block,” Khalili said in a recent interview. “I don’t consider that I have invented anything at all.”
“We dig up the ground. The earth is placed into sacks. We pile them up and then fix them in place,” Khalili explains.
“All our designs rely on the arch, whether it’s the large domed houses or the smaller dwellings. The traditional shape of a square house with vertical walls is almost designed to fall over one day. With an arch nothing collapses.”
All I can say is that they certainly look cool!
via turkish press
images via earth home garden art_and_architecture, california_institute, dwellings, earth_art, Eco Friendly, Eco Friendly, eco_friendly, energy_efficient, Green Architecture, Green Architecture, Green Business, Green Business, Green Design, Green Design, nader_khalili art_and_architecture, california_institute, dwellings, earth_art, Eco Friendly, Eco Friendly, eco_friendly, energy_efficient, Green Architecture, Green Architecture, Green Business, Green Business, Green Design, Green Design, nader_khalili
Filed by erin at May 25th, 2007 on 4:00 pm under Eco Friendly, Green Architecture, Green Business, Green Design
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turkishpress.com
California eco-homes offer glimpse of lunar future
05-25-2007, 13h13
HESPERIA, United States (AFP)
They are eco-friendly, cost next to nothing to build, and in Nader Khalili's dreams, they might one day be housing the first settlers on the Moon.
On a sun-baked fringe of arid California desert that in places resembles a lunar landscape, Khalili, an Iranian-born architect who came to the United States in 1971, proudly surveys his cluster of ceramic, domed homes.
For just over two decades students have been coming to Khalili's California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (CalEarth) to learn how to build a kiln-fired home from little more than soil stuffed into sacks.
Khalili's work has been recognized by the United Nations and he is regularly invited to give presentations to NASA about the possibilities of his designs being used for lunar colonies.
But while Khalili contemplates houses of the future, he says his designs were inspired by the past.
"To me it's obvious to use earth as a building block," Khalili said. "I don't consider that I have invented anything at all.
"All the Mediterranean civilizations used earth or natural materials in their architecture."
At the CalEarth Institute, students discover how to build homes which are literally dirt cheap (around 3,200 dollars for the design) and some of which are powerful enough to withstand an earthquake.
The designs incorporate only elemental materials -- earth, water and fire -- and rely on basic architectural forms, such as arches and domes. Construction is remarkably simple.
"We dig up the ground. The earth is placed into sacks. We pile them up and then fix them in place," Khalili explains.
"All our designs rely on the arch, whether it's the large domed houses or the smaller dwellings. The traditional shape of a square house with vertical walls is almost designed to fall over one day. With an arch nothing collapses."
Once secured, the interior of the dome dwelling is kiln fired, sealing the interior with a thick crust of terra-cotta.
The total cost of one of the larger, more elaborate homes -- which can be built and completed by three people within the space of a week -- is around 90,000 dollars.
Known as the "superadobe," a reference to the first terra cotta homes built by Spanish settlers of California, Khalili's designs are naturally air-conditioned by strategically placed openings in the walls.
Currently there are three of the houses in Hesperia, surrounded by three smaller domes. None are inhabited although two are fully equipped.
Khalili's designs have attracted the interest of NASA scientists studying the feasibility of building lunar colonies.
The transportation of thousands of tonnes of heavy materials to the Moon from Earth is unfeasible, Khalili said, making buildings constructed from lunar soil or earth an attractive alternative.
"There is an acknowledgement that my design is ideal," Khalili said.
In the short term, Khalili hopes to see the superadobes spread across earthquake-prone California, where local authorities recently approved their design.
The techniques taught at CalEarth have also interested the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Development Programme, who have in the past sent fact finding missions to Hesperia.
Mini-domes based on Khalili's designs were built to house people made homeless by the devastating earthquakes in Iran in 2003 and Pakistan in 2005.
"Imagine a world where every refugee has a roof over their head -- that hardly costs anything," Khalili said.
May 25, 2007
Futuristic Eco-Homes
Khalili’s California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (CalEarth) designs eco-friendly dome homes which look like they come from the future. They are so energy efficient and self-contained, it has been predicted that these models will be used to design the homes that may one day be built on the moon!
Founder Nader Khalili is regularly invited to NASA to give speeches and presentations about breakthroughs with his work.
“To me it’s obvious to use earth as a building block,” Khalili said in a recent interview. “I don’t consider that I have invented anything at all.”
“We dig up the ground. The earth is placed into sacks. We pile them up and then fix them in place,” Khalili explains.
“All our designs rely on the arch, whether it’s the large domed houses or the smaller dwellings. The traditional shape of a square house with vertical walls is almost designed to fall over one day. With an arch nothing collapses.”
All I can say is that they certainly look cool!
via turkish press
images via earth home garden art_and_architecture, california_institute, dwellings, earth_art, Eco Friendly, Eco Friendly, eco_friendly, energy_efficient, Green Architecture, Green Architecture, Green Business, Green Business, Green Design, Green Design, nader_khalili art_and_architecture, california_institute, dwellings, earth_art, Eco Friendly, Eco Friendly, eco_friendly, energy_efficient, Green Architecture, Green Architecture, Green Business, Green Business, Green Design, Green Design, nader_khalili
Filed by erin at May 25th, 2007 on 4:00 pm under Eco Friendly, Green Architecture, Green Business, Green Design
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turkishpress.com
California eco-homes offer glimpse of lunar future
05-25-2007, 13h13
HESPERIA, United States (AFP)
They are eco-friendly, cost next to nothing to build, and in Nader Khalili's dreams, they might one day be housing the first settlers on the Moon.
On a sun-baked fringe of arid California desert that in places resembles a lunar landscape, Khalili, an Iranian-born architect who came to the United States in 1971, proudly surveys his cluster of ceramic, domed homes.
For just over two decades students have been coming to Khalili's California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (CalEarth) to learn how to build a kiln-fired home from little more than soil stuffed into sacks.
Khalili's work has been recognized by the United Nations and he is regularly invited to give presentations to NASA about the possibilities of his designs being used for lunar colonies.
But while Khalili contemplates houses of the future, he says his designs were inspired by the past.
"To me it's obvious to use earth as a building block," Khalili said. "I don't consider that I have invented anything at all.
"All the Mediterranean civilizations used earth or natural materials in their architecture."
At the CalEarth Institute, students discover how to build homes which are literally dirt cheap (around 3,200 dollars for the design) and some of which are powerful enough to withstand an earthquake.
The designs incorporate only elemental materials -- earth, water and fire -- and rely on basic architectural forms, such as arches and domes. Construction is remarkably simple.
"We dig up the ground. The earth is placed into sacks. We pile them up and then fix them in place," Khalili explains.
"All our designs rely on the arch, whether it's the large domed houses or the smaller dwellings. The traditional shape of a square house with vertical walls is almost designed to fall over one day. With an arch nothing collapses."
Once secured, the interior of the dome dwelling is kiln fired, sealing the interior with a thick crust of terra-cotta.
The total cost of one of the larger, more elaborate homes -- which can be built and completed by three people within the space of a week -- is around 90,000 dollars.
Known as the "superadobe," a reference to the first terra cotta homes built by Spanish settlers of California, Khalili's designs are naturally air-conditioned by strategically placed openings in the walls.
Currently there are three of the houses in Hesperia, surrounded by three smaller domes. None are inhabited although two are fully equipped.
Khalili's designs have attracted the interest of NASA scientists studying the feasibility of building lunar colonies.
The transportation of thousands of tonnes of heavy materials to the Moon from Earth is unfeasible, Khalili said, making buildings constructed from lunar soil or earth an attractive alternative.
"There is an acknowledgement that my design is ideal," Khalili said.
In the short term, Khalili hopes to see the superadobes spread across earthquake-prone California, where local authorities recently approved their design.
The techniques taught at CalEarth have also interested the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Development Programme, who have in the past sent fact finding missions to Hesperia.
Mini-domes based on Khalili's designs were built to house people made homeless by the devastating earthquakes in Iran in 2003 and Pakistan in 2005.
"Imagine a world where every refugee has a roof over their head -- that hardly costs anything," Khalili said.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Nader Khalili ~ Ceramic and dirt bag houses
NADER KHALILI, Architect and Author
Cal-Earth - (The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture)
Founded and directed by the internationally renowned architect and author Nader Khalili in 1986, it's scope spans technical innovations published by NASA ...
www.calearth.org/
Nader Khalili is an architect, author, teacher, and innovator of Geltaftan firing of ceramic houses and Superadobe Superblock technology.
www.calearth.org/khalili.htm
Amazon.com: Ceramic Houses and Earth Architecture: How to build, step by step, an adobe and ceramic architecture that is .... In particular, the details of firing a house into its ceramic status is not only ...
Earth Construction House Building Books & Videos: The Rammed Earth House is an eye-opening example of how the most dramatic ... Nader Khalili's ideas on ceramic houses and earth architecture...
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SAD NEWS:
Nader Khalili, Noted Earth Architect, Dies at 72
Architectural Record, By Tony Illia, April 21, 2008
Nader Khalili
Nader Khalili, an Earth Architect and teacher known for his innovative work with adobe, died on March 5 of congestive heart failure. He was 72 years old. Among his best-known inventions is the “super adobe” Earthbag construction system. He developed it during the early 1980s in response to a call for designs for human settlements on the Moon and Mars by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The system consists of oblong plastic bags that are filled with dirt and then laid in circular courses, like the blocks of an igloo, and held in place by barbed wire. When covered in stucco, the bags create form a permanent shelter.
Khalili championed Earthbag houses—which cost as little as $500—as an affordable solution for poverty stricken areas in Africa, India, and South America. He received special recognition from the United Nations for his “Housing for the Homeless” proposal in 1987 and his prototypes were recognized with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004. Khalili also invented the Geltaftan Earth-and-Fire system. Most adobe houses are unable to withstand earthquakes and strong winds, so Kahlili imagined a fired-adobe structure—dubbed the “ceramic house”—that could resist these elements.
Earthbag shelter
Photos courtesy Cal-Earth Institute
Nader Khalili (top) designed the Earthbag shelter (middle), which was recognized with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004. When these sandbags are covered with wire mesh and stucco, they become low-cost permanent housing (above).
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