Nader Khalili "Adobe Houses Super Adobe" in California
Nader Khalili, Iranian by birth and Californian by adoption, not an architect of the pile. In the late seventies, at Cal-Earth, the organization he works for, he developed the 'super-adobe' ( 'superblock' in English), a construction technique based on sandbags and barbed wire, tested earthquake and tested by the authorities in California challenging.
In Hesperia (70 km east of Los Angeles), is the ultimate expression of his work, a city of sand showing his technique. Houses round, finished domes, large, of various sizes and shapes. One technique that has also applied in the construction of a village in the heart of Central Asia and in areas affected by the tsunami in Indonesia.
"Land is the most environmentally friendly material, durable and abundant, and there He is everywhere! Billions of people worldwide are homeless or are weak and their houses are crumbling, with my system that did not happen," explains excited to suvivienda.es Khalili.
In 1984, Khalili presented his project to the technicians from NASA under the title 'Lunar Bases and Space Activities in the twenty-first century', viable in a hypothetical extraterrestrial colonization. But got tired of waiting to call him to build 'apartments Moon' and takes years to implement their method, the houses are just a lunar use.
Nader Khalili was born in Iran. In 1970 he graduated in architecture in California since 1975 and has been dedicated to developing the third world. That year, my son told me that his friends were playing to see who ran faster and he never won so I turned, came to me and said he wanted to run on their own. Those words made me think a lot, if you all the time behind other can never achieve your potential and your abilities, "says Khalili excited.
Nader Khalili and was left to design skyscrapers, closed their offices in Tehran and Los Angeles, he bought a motorcycle and fled to the desert of Iran, where he found the inspiration for the houses they wanted to build. The homes of the future are rooted in a very ancient method based on the ancient buildings of the desert.
The 'super-adobe' can be used to build any housing. To date, its widespread application has been the refugee camps in areas affected by earthquakes. "The cost of a tent, which is the most usual for these situations, is more than a home-built shelter with the method 'super adobe'," says Khalili proud, which calculates the cost at about $ 200, less than 150 euros.
Khalili says that "a small house can be built in just one or two days if it involves three people, and not knowing how to do it."
But his technique is not only applicable to emergency camps. "We have built houses of four bedrooms, two bathrooms and two garages," he says. "All Spain is very dry and desert, many places are losing forest very quickly. These homes are useful for preserving nature, clean air, etc. Because their construction does not use anything from wood," he adds.
The process for building a house is simple: land is placed in bags that are available in tubular circle-the-less sophisticated model, raising the walls to get a sort of dome. The wire used to connect the different layers of bags.
The size of homes can vary from one room to other, more sophisticated, with several rooms and even a plant. "In this case are not recommended for areas that suffer from strong earthquakes," he said. The houses are equipped with all basic services, running water, electricity, etc.. Furthermore, they remain isolated due to their course materials that allow the housing has provided a uniform temperature, "says Khalili.
Khalili is an advisor to the UN for sustainable architecture. His method resist earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis and has been endorsed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that it used in 1995 to establish a camp for displaced persons from Iran to Iraq.
A Khalili likes to quote the philosopher and poet Rumi, who said: 'The earth turns to gold in the hands of the wise,' the Iranian cree are demonstrating that it is possible that humans become golden land '
In 1986 Khalili founded the nonprofit California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth) on research and development of sustainable architecture and from which teaches and discloses the method of construction for free. "If anyone in Spain would like to learn the method you receive at Cal-Earth, for about two weeks teach you everything you need to be able to lift home with the system of 'super-adobe', for which, in turn, this person could bring the method in Spain. "
Cal-Earth hopes to move a delegation to Europe, "many people have been interested in the method in this continent, the more people know you better and can continue expanding," he concludes.
Inspiration
Khalili has found the basis of his understanding of architecture in the teachings of the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi. "The poet said:" The earth turns to gold in the hands of wise men ", we are demonstrating that it is possible for humans to become the gold ground, the four elements of nature land, air, fire and water enough This is the philosophy of my organization and all I do, "says Khalili excited.
NASA's interest in the project is secondary to Khalili, the main application of my method is here on Earth for the displaced, "though on occasion has joked that the Martian and lunar solve the housing problem in the world. In January 2000, Khalili received authorization from the City of Hesperia, California to build his prototype 'lunar city'. Since then, NASA has renewed its interest in the system Khalili.