The Art of Earth Architecture
Past, Present, Future
Description
For almost ten thousand years, unbaked earth has been used to build remarkable structures, from simple dwellings to palaces, temples, and fortresses both grand and durable. Jean Dethier spent fifty years researching this landmark global survey, which spans five continents and 250 sites. The Art of Earth Architecture demonstrates the wide-ranging applications and sustainability of this building material, while presenting a manifesto for its ecological significance. Featuring raw-earth masterpieces, monumental structures, and little known works, the book includes the temples and palaces of Mesopotamia, the Great Wall of China, large-scale urban developments in Tenochtitlan in Mexico, the medinas of Morocco, and housing in Marrakech and Bogota.This definitive reference features many UNESCO World Heritage sites and contains essays on the historical, technical, and cultural aspects of raw-earth construction from twenty experts in the field, as well as hundreds of photographs, illustrations, and architectural drawings.
Editorial Reviews
Jean-Louis Cohen, historian of architecture, professor at New York University and at the College de France in Paris
With its stunning images, this book convincingly demonstrates that the renaissance of raw earth architecture is no longer merely a pipe dream but has become a tangible ecological reality. An intense passion comes across in this vision that spans centuries from Antiquity to the present time: it reveals an astonishing multitude of homes, architectural archetypes and cities, all built with the very earth that anchors them.
Designboom
The Art of Earth Architecture demonstrates the wide-ranging applications and sustainability of this building material, while presenting a manifesto for its ecological significance. Featuring raw-earth masterpieces and monumental structures, as well as other lesser known works, the 512 page-book includes the temples and palaces of Mesopotamia, the Great Wall of China, large-scale urban developments in Tenochtitlan, the medinas of Morocco, and housing in Marrakesh and Bogota.
The Wall Street Journal
Unbaked earth has been used to create architectural structures for nearly 10,000 years, from simple dwellings to palaces and temples. Jean Dethier, a former curator at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, has sepnt decades researching and safeguarding these structures In The Art of Earth Architecture, [Jean Dethier] explores the use of raw earth as a building material, surveying 250 sites across five continents.