Blowhard, Esq. writes:
The history of adobe building in New Mexico has its roots in a period (AD 700-1500) when the Anasazi peoples, who had previously been living in semi underground pit houses, began building single-story houses on the ground, using layers of dried mud or of stones laid in adobe mortar, without windows and with flat roofs. From these simple structures, their culture and architectural skill developed…
…A simple adobe pueblo consisted of a long-frame building to which the adobe compound was applied as mortar. Later, the Pueblo Indians would be introduced by the Spanish to a method of shaping the adobe into bricks. Producing adobe bricks is simple. Mud (or a mud mixture) is carefully poured into a wood mold, which is lifted off when the newly formed brick is dry enough. When ready, the bricks are turned on their edges to complete drying.
– Building Without Architects: A Global Guide to Everyday Architecture
Great series of postings. People don’t know enough about vernacular architecture, and they don’t often realize what fun and beauty there can be to experience in between the usual self-conscious highlights.
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FWIW, I loved this Vincent Scully book about the vernacular architecture of the American Southwest, with an emphasis on Native American building.
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