Hyperadobe Home
Draft: facts and copy not yet confirmed by Richard.
My first pot was twelve feet tall.
My first pot was twelve feet tall, fifteen feet wide and weighed about 275,000 pounds. It was a home, built off-grid in Tombstone, Arizona, with walls sixteen inches thick.
We sifted the clay by hand, mixed it with sand and a small amount of cement in a cement mixer, then packed it into Hyperadobe bags. The scale was architectural, but the work was physical and immediate: preparing material, building up a form and figuring out what it could support.
I was the whole crew list on this one: architect, designer, general contractor and the person organizing everyone’s labor. It brought together building, teaching and the work of making a place where people could learn by doing.
- Role
- Architect, designer, general contractor and crew lead
- Location
- Tombstone, Arizona
- Year
- 2023
- Size
- 12 ft tall, 15 ft wide; walls 16 in. thick
- Weight
- About 275,000 lb
- Material
- Hand-sifted clay mixed with sand and a small amount of cement, packed into Hyperadobe bags
How it was built
EP-HYPER-04Hyperadobe Home: construction 1Sifting clay, mixing, filling and laying the bags EP-HYPER-05Hyperadobe Home: construction 2Walls rising, people working
Building a place to learn
Through Terraform Together, the nonprofit I founded, I hosted and taught more than 400 students in natural building and hands-on trades. The homestead became a place to work with earth, stone and other materials at a scale few people get to try.
The home was part of that larger effort. Building it meant organizing people, materials and the many decisions that carry a project from an idea into a place you can stand inside.
EP-HYPER-07Hyperadobe Home: Terraform TogetherStudents or volunteers working with you on site
Inside the walls
EP-HYPER-02Hyperadobe Home: interiorInterior in its latest state EP-HYPER-03Hyperadobe Home: wall detailClose view of a wall surface or opening EP-HYPER-06Hyperadobe Home: latest stageRoof, plaster or whatever stage it is at now
Process films
EP-HYPER-V2Hyperadobe Home: process film 1Longer process video EP-HYPER-V3Hyperadobe Home: process film 2Second longer process video