SuperAdobe: An option for

sustainable, community-driven
shelters

Beau Baconguis beau.baconguis@gmail.com

The Context
• Globally:
• 68.5 million refugees and displaced persons (UNHCR)
• Hundreds of millions in substandard or slum housing

• Philippines:
• Housing backlog of 5.7M (Manila Bulletin, Feb. 8, 2018)
• NHA data 5 yrs after Typhoon Yolanda (Rappler, Nov. 7,
2017):
• 200,000 needed
• 78,291 completed (38%)
• 26,256 occupied (13%)
 Nader Khalili (1936-2008)
• Architect, Humanitarian, Author,
Teacher
• Innovator of Geltaftan Ceramic Houses
and SuperAdobe
• Founder of Geltaftan Foundation and
Cal-Earth (California Institute of Earth
Art and Architecture)
• 1984: NASA symposium on Lunas Bases
and Space Activities of the 21st Century
• 1987: Certificate of Recognition, Intl
Year of Shelter for the Homeless
• 1991-1992: establishes Cal-Earth
• 2005: Aga Khan Award for Architecture
(Sandbag shelter prototypes)
Photo credit: Cal-Earth
SuperAdobe: Earth, Water, Wind, Fire

Photo credit: Cal-Earth

Benefits of Building with Earth
• Easy access of materials
• Reuse or recycling of discards
• Design can be done to allow passive
cooling
• Age is not a factor
• Climate resilient
• Typhoon resistant
• Earthquake resistant
• Fireproof
• Unskilled labor with guidance
• Gender neutral
• Bayanihan
 Understanding your Soil
• Organic matter/humus – leaves, roots, branches, soil
biota
• Clay – smallest particle, flat and sticky, expands and
contracts
• Silt – looks similar to clay, round, slippery, does not
compress well, good drainage, food filler
• Sand – gritty, has sharp edges, interlocking, high
compressive strength
• Gravel – good compressive strength, good amendment
to high clay soil
Soil Tests:

1.Jar Test
2.Hand Test
3.Erosion Test
4.PSI
The Arch

“In
nature,
there are
no
straight
lines.”

- Antoni
Gaudi
THE COMPASS

• Center
Compass
• Height
Compass
Emergency Shelters
Baninajar Refugee Camp, Khuzestan, Iran
UNDP Awarded Project 1994
Haiti One: Prototype for Port-Au-Prince
2010 Earthquake
Northern Pakistan
2005 Earthquake
Emergency Village

Photo credit: Cal-Earth

Nepal Pegasus Children’s Project
Photo credit: Cal-Earth
Photo credit: Ipat Luna/
Howie Severino
Cylinder Houses
Climate-Resiliency Field School, Tarlac
 Roundhouses
Climate-Resiliency Field School, Tarlac
Vaults
Photo credit: Cal-Earth
SuperAdobe and Permaculture

• Permaculture Ethics: Care for humans, Care for the

Earth, Fair share
• Permaculture is a design framework that is holistic
and considers ecological systems.
• Utilizes resources onsite.
Take-aways
• Globally, there is a resurgence in building methods that use
earth as its main materials. SuperAdobe, developed initially
in and for arid regions, has been adapted to work as well in
non-arid regions. Definitely, there is still plenty of space for
R&D especially for tropical climates.
• For emergency relief, this is a building method that
communities can use especially for building temporary
shelters.
• Building with earth and other natural building methods fits
well within a permaculture design framework.
 THANK YOU!

Beau Baconguis beau.baconguis@gmail.com