No. 47, May 2000
Desert Architecture for a New Millenium
by Paul G. McHenry
"The surprise today is that the material of choice for all of these structures was some form of adobe. Today in the United States, government agencies more typically create roadblocks to the use of earth for building, and are reluctant to provide funding for such an supposedly 'poor' material. Yet, ironically, adobe is at the same time considered too 'expensive.'...We can do the region, the country, and even the world a service by sharing our knowledge of adobe and its ability to be a long-lasting, versatile, and comfortable building material for all segments of society."
The building of homes with adobe is a centuries-old tradition in the state of New Mexico, long preceding the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores. The indigenous peoples of New Mexico had used earth for their dwellings for centuries, and the later Spanish arrivals were quick to adapt the indigenous earth-building techniques to their own purposes. Looking back at New Mexico's building history, adobe was the obvious choice in rural areas and in smaller communities where people did not have the more substantial budgets of the larger cities. Partly because of this very availability, adobe is considered by many to be a poverty material that will wash away with the first rain. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is often forgotten that when the United States was dealing with the economic depression of the 1930's, the federal government sponsored adobe home-building project in several locations across the country. One outstanding example was at Bosque Farms, a small farming community a few miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The community was established to help relocate farm families devastated by the droughts that created the "Great Dust Bowl" of northern New Mexico, west Texas and Oklahoma.
A portion of a 28,000-acre tract of land, originally part of the holdings of Don Soloman Luna (Los Lunas, NM), was divided into 43 tracts of 40 to 80 acres each. On May 2, 1935, a public drawing was held, and the tracts were sold to the winners of the drawing for $140 per acre. The purchasers had 40 years to pay the government back for their land. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) then cleared the land and built homes for the new land-owners. These homes were first leased and later sold to the occupants. Few details are available on how the construction was actually accomplished, but it is likely that local people, and probably many of the future occupants themselves, were hired to construct the houses of Bosque Farms.
The homes were built of adobe, in a simple rectangular plan with several minor variations. Some seven houses each of six different plans were built. The houses all had shed-style pitched roofs, with parapets on three sides. Windows were multi-paned and double-hung. All but two or three of these homes are alive and well today, happily occupied by satisfied owners. In 1939, the WPA constructed an elementary school, also of adobe, near the center of the Bosque Farms development. This school is still in use.
Bosque Farms is not the only Depression-era project in New Mexico that used adobe. Many of the New Mexico State Fair buildings were built of adobe in the 1930's because it was cheap, provided employment, and was quite satisfactory as a building material. Some of these buildings, as well, are still in use today.
The government acceptance of earth building techniques during the Great Depression years of the 1930's was also seen in Gardendale, Alabama, where a homestead program was instituted. The project consisted of 68 single-story homes on a total of 512 acres These homestead sites were not specifically for farmers, but were available to white collar workers as well. Plans for the houses originally called for wood frame construction, in some cases with brick veneer. A forward-thinking government architect/engineer managed to sell the idea that seven of these houses should be built of rammed earth, a construction method similar to adobe, but suitable in wet climates, and widely used on the eastern seaboard of the United States around the time of the American Civil War. The government was not sure of the lasting quality of these rammed earth homes and required that they be located at the back of the project, so as to not be too visible if they collapsed. It is not known to the author at the time of writing this article how many of the seven rammed earth homes still survive, but one enthusiastic owner owned two of the houses in 1992.
The surprise today is that the material of choice for all of these structures was some form of adobe. Today in the United States, government agencies more typically create roadblocks to the use of earth for building, and are reluctant to provide funding for such an supposedly "poor" material. Yet, ironically, adobe is at the same time considered too "expensive." As recently as 1980, the governmental agencies in Washington refused permission for New Mexico's Pueblos to build government housing of adobe because it cost too much. The standards which the agencies had set up for the construction made the detailing so complicated that it was much more expensive than conventional building. In all fairness, the standards were complicated partly because today's building regulators on many levels have adopted more stringent building regulations, even though their decisions are not consistent with New Mexico's centuries-old experience or its current building codes for adobe. Consequently, in many other parts of the United States, building with adobe is either forbidden or is subject to so many restrictions that it truly is too expensive for most people.
Our government has lofty goals for energy conservation and sustainable, ecologically sound growth. These goals can be at least partially met by the use of earth for building homes. People often don't realize that an enormous quantity of energy that is required to manufacture many "conventional" building materials. For example, it requires the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline to manufacture eight common red bricks or five concrete blocks. This same gallon will make fifty or more big adobes, letting the sun do most of the work, even when made by machine. If these are made in a simpler handmade fashion, the energy required is almost zero, except for the sweat of the adobe maker.
The use of adobe in the United States has declined and almost been lost since the beginning of World War II. Prior to that time, nearly everyone was familiar with the economy of adobe. If times were hard and money short, homes, schools, churches, and public buildings could be built at very low cost. Certainly there were more elegant materials available at greater cost, and if the budget allowed, they were used. Today, the use of adobe is undergoing a resurgence in the Southwestern United States, and yet even here, earth building has a split image: poverty and wealth, with adobe seen either as a material of last resort, or as a "chic" material to be used in expensive, custom-designed homes. We can do the region, the country, and even the world a service by sharing our knowledge of adobe and its ability to be a long-lasting, versatile, and comfortable building material for all segments of society.
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Architect Paul G. (Buzz) McHenry has more than 30 years of professional experience working with adobe and has published several well-known books on adobe construction. You can reach him for comment at:
5928 Guadalupe Trail Northwest
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Web site: http://www.unm.edu/~mchenry
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The Earth Building Foundation, Inc. (formerly Earth Architecture Center International)
Under the guidance of Managing Director Paul G. McHenry, EBF's mission is to help people learn how to utilize earth building for better, safer, shelter.
Adobe And Rammed Earth Buildings (online excerpt)
The University of Arizona Press has made a short excerpt available from Paul McHenry's book, Adobe and Rammed Earth Buildings. The excerpt provides a general overview of the history and development of earth construction.
Modern adobe in New Mexico
This online publication, from the web site of the State of New Mexico's Energy Conservation and Management Division, provides extensive information on adobe. Topics covered include the types of earthen bricks and walls, energy used in adobe buildings, and various production techniques. The New Mexico adobe building code comprises one of the appendices.
Architecture of the White Sands National Monument Visitor Center
The White Sands NM Visitor Center was built by the WPA between 1936 and 1938. This short online document provides some interesting details on the adobe construction of the building.
WPA Projects in southern New Mexico
Not specifically about adobe construction, but of interest to those who would like to know more about the WPA's construction activities in New Mexico.
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