Earth Architecture
An earth structure is a building or other structure made largely from soil. Includes adobe or mud-brick buildings.
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Agadez | ||
| Ahwar of Southern Iraq | Sumerian sites | |
| Al Ain | mud brick constructions | |
| Al-Ahsa Oasis | Al-Qubbah Mosque and other buildings | |
| Al-Faw | "The religious and administrative sectors feature a monumental building named "souk", which might have functioned as a market. It has a square layout with projected corner towers and bastions, as well as thick mudbrick walls six to seven metres above the plain." (AB Ev) | |
| Arslantepe Mound | The Arslantepe mud-brick architecture, due to its antiquity, advanced technology, and state of preservation, is also an outstanding example of a traditional building system representative of a millenarian culture shared by all Near Eastern communities. (...) It has been widely exposed and preserved in perfect and integral state, with the original mud-brick walls, mud plaster and floors, internal features and paintings (...). (Executive summary, p. 4) | |
| Asante Traditional Buildings | ||
| Ashur | "The majority of the buildings of the city were built with sun-dried mud-bricks" (AB ev) | |
| Baekje Historic Areas | “Gongsanseong Fortress consists of both earthen wall sections and stone wall sections, although most parts are stone walls. The total length of the fortress amounts for 2,660m (stone walls: 1,925m; earthen walls: 735m).” - Nomination File | |
| Bahla Fort | Its ruined walls and towers | |
| Bassari Country | "huts built in the ritual villages have earthen walls; in contrast, huts outside of the villages are made out of bamboo" (AB ev) | |
| Brú na Bóinne | Newgrange : henge | |
| Chan Chan | ||
| Cliff of Bandiagara | ||
| Coffee Cultural Landscape | "The undulating high-mountain landscape was slowly adorned with towns built in tapia - or cob - and bahareque - plaited cane and mud walls -, with mud roof tiles." (Nomination file, p. 73) | |
| Coro and its Port | Coro's traditional buildings are built of earth - adobe, or earth reinforced in a technique known as "bahareque". | |
| Djenné | ||
| Fujian Tulou | ||
| Gyeongju | Wolseong Fortress "The fortress was built in 101 AD. The east, west, and north walls were built on stone/earth foundation covered with clay. -Kyongju by Kim, Yong-nam (published by Woojin Press, Seoul, Korea) 2008 | |
| Hahoe and Yangdong | Most of lower class houses in Yangdong are mud wall house | |
| Hopewell | "these earthworks consist of embankment walls enclosing huge spaces, with carefully positioned and often monumental gateways" (AB ev) | |
| Jomon Prehistoric Sites | "artificial earthen mounds" (Official description) – "The 17 component parts of the nominated serial property include settlements, burial areas, and ritual and ceremonial sites that include stone circles and earthworks." (AB Ev) – For example, Component Part 013 (Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles) (Nomination file, p. 85) | |
| Koutammakou | ||
| Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou | ||
| Lamu Old Town | "The section consisting of MUD-BRICK BUILDINGS covers an area of some 21ha" (AB ev) | |
| Mesa Verde | ||
| Moidams | "Each moidam (or maidam) is an earthen mound (Ga-Moidam) covered in vegetation, topped by a small shrine (Dole or Chou Cha Li) within a low octagonal wall (Garh)." (Ab Ev) | |
| Mozu-Furuichi Kofun | "the largest of the kofun within the nominated series are close to 500 metres in length, and are significant accomplishments of earthen architecture and engineering" (AB ev) | |
| Orkhon Valley | Karakorum, Mud walls | |
| Paquimé | provide exceptional evidence of the development of adobe architecture in North America, and in particular of the blending of this with the more advanced techniques of Mesoamerica (OUV) | |
| Poverty Point | "The site consists of an integrated complex of earthen monuments" (OUV) | |
| Quebrada de Humahuaca | ||
| Royal Palaces of Abomey | ||
| Samarra | "The main building materials are fired brick, mud-brick and adobe" (AB ev) | |
| Santiniketan | "The Uttarayan area was established to the north of the Ashrama from 1919 with the construction of two mud brick buildings (one of which, Konark, still stands), followed by five additional houses for Rabindranath Tagore. These show various experiments with the thermal performance of mud buildings" (AB ev) | |
| Shibam | ||
| Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor | Jiahoe, Gaochang | |
| Sudanese style mosques | ||
| Taos Pueblo | ||
| The Royal Court of Tiébélé | "an earthen architectural complex" (AB ev) | |
| Timbuktu | ||
| Tomb of Askia | ||
| Turaif Quarter | "It bears witness to a building method that is well adapted to its environment, to the use of adobe in major palatial complexes, .." (OUV crit iv) | |
| Yazd | Yazd is also one of the largest cities built almost entirely out of adobe. (wiki) | |
| Çatalhöyük | mud brick houses (AB ev) |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Earth Architecture?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source