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BEDOUIN BLACK TENT

The Black Tent Written by Daniel Da Cruz In the cities of Saudi Arabia today, as in most cities of the Middle East, the skylines are changing. Up from the low clusters of dwellings and shops rise the strong shapes of modern concrete apartment buildings, office buildings, government buildingsdramatic symbols of change in a land where a more traditional shelter was the famous "black tent." Possibly because of Hollywood films, bad novels and inaccurate articles, the Western world long thought ofand may still, even in 1966the Arab world in terms of black tents, without either appreciating the virtues of the life symbolized by the black tent or realizing that in Saudi Arabia, and most places in the Middle East, the black tent is little more than a remnant of a past that has given way to the needs of the present. Years ago, in the sands of Arabia, there was no more welcome sight to the weary traveler than a black tent on the horizon. Whether it belonged to a friend, a stranger, or even an enemy, a traveler knew that he could claim from its Bedouin owner three days of hospitality. That was the way of the desert and its fame spread all over the world. The black tent became, for many, a symbol of Arab hospitality. But Bedouin tents were much more than symbols. They wereand still are even in an age when popularity of camping has brought forth dozens of new, efficient, portable shelters a marvelous adaptation of simple materials

to stringent requirements: they had to be easy and fast to erect, light, portable, wind and water resistant, airy, insulated against the sun's rays, easy to maintain and repair, and preferably handsome. The basic element of the Bedouin's tent was a long, narrow strip of heavy cloth woven from black (or brown) goat's hair or sheep's wool (not, as many believe, from camel's hair). The average shaikh used to have perhaps six extra-broad strips of cloth some 75 feet long sewn together to form a great rectangle, which became the roof of the tent, supported by four poles. A more modest, one- or two-pole tent might be made from three or four narrow strips of cloth 25 feet long. In either case the cloth was woven by the women of the family from yarn they spun themselves, if they were real desert dwellers, or bought from village weavers if they were not. Another long narrow strip, the ruaq, was pinned to three sides of the roof of the tent by a series of six-inch wooden pins, then draped to the surface of the ground, where the lower edge was buried in the sand or, if the ground was hard, pegged down. The open side, which always faced away from the wind, was further divided by a number of qata, vertical curtains of intricate design which separated the various sections of the tent. These generally consisted of a men's section, which doubled as a guest room, a kitchen and women's quarters, called the muharram (kin to the word "harem"). The tent floor was the desert itself, sometimes covered by locally woven rugs or, by those who could afford it, with bright carpets from Persia. Support for the heavy tent came from long hemp ropes, two affixed to each pole, and three at each side of the tent. The rope-ends were pegged to the ground if the earth was sufficiently hard; otherwise they were tied to large clumps of brushwood and buried two feet beneath the surface of the sand, bracing the tent as firmly as a ship's anchor. When a Bedouin family moved, the tent was dismantled, rolled up and put on male pack camels. Moves were usually dictated only by the need for water or forage for the flocks of sheep, goats and camels, so the site of the next camp was always in the vicinity of a well or ungrazed land. The pitching of the tent was one of Bedouin women's main functions in life, with the individual jobs strictly divided among members of the family. Raising the main tent poles was the work of men, for example, but driving the tent pegs was usually done by young girls. The whole operation, honed to perfection by centuries of practice, went according to a drill as rigid as a military maneuver, with the head of the family acting as top sergeant: "Spread out the tent, O my people," he would cry, and then, "Stretch out the ropes, O children," and so on through the whole litany until the last, "Spread out the carpet and thedazcashek (mattresses) and prepare the men's and women's portions of the tent." It was done with remarkable dispatch and when the furnishings were laid out the family was ready to receive guests. Though the furnishings were few, each article had its place. The master's rifle, for instance, was always hung on the tent pole of the guest chamber (which in Eastern Arabia was always on the east side of the tent), the fireplace was built in the exact center of the same "room," and the row of three coffee pots was ranged alongside the hearth, together with the coffee roaster, the wooden tray for cooling the hot coffee beans, the coffee grinder, the incense burner and the host's camel saddle, in case a guest needed a back rest. In hot weather the ruaq shielding the sides were rolled up to allow the free circulation of air without admitting sunlight. In cold weathertemperatures on winter nights in some parts of Saudi Arabia can drop below freezing the long qata were drawn across the open end of the tent, completely enclosing it, so that the fire kept the occupants cosily warm. The black tent, of course, is not extinct. Bedouins still roam many areas in Saudi Arabia, and the famous "houses of hair" are still their favorite shelters. But whereas it was once a necessity, today it is becoming an anachronisma striking contrast by which to mark the sure progress of Saudi Arabia into the world of the skyscrapers. The Black Tent,

The Black Tent is the tent of the Bible, the Jews and the Arabs, and a hundred other tribes scattered over Africa and Asia. An ancient s lifestyles of the peoples who use it. The birthplace of the structure is probably somewhere near Mesopotamia. Its origin is tied to the 8000bc), the animals that provide the materials for the tent cloth. However it was not until the domestication of the donkey (4000bcmake a break from settled agriculture, during this period people probably led a semi nomadic existence.

Tilling the soil for part of the time and moving with their herds on a seasonal basis, although the distance and terrain they could travel was limited by their beast of burden. With the domestication of the camel (3000bc-2500bc) a final break was made. The nomad could roam the desert, to find pasture for his flocks. The camel could carry greater loads than the donkey so the tent increased in size. the black tent and the camel moved out of its homeland and in to new territories until it reached the African Atlantic coast on one side and the eastern border of Tibet on the other. As it spread it was adapted to fit each environment that it entered. In mountains where there is some rainfall, the roof was steeply pitched to shed rain. In the desert it was flattened and lowered to shield its inhabitants from the sun and sandstorms.

In a hot country , it was made open to allow the air to blow through, in cold lands it was completely enclosed. No tent design has so thoroughly adapted to fit such a diverse range of environments. The black tent dwellers are weavers, they weave not only the roofs, walls and flooring of their homes, but many of the furnishings as well, often in rich colors and complex geometrical designs. The tent uses very little wood in its construction, it is a tensile structure. In the black tent, the weight of the tent cloth and the great tension created by stretching the cloth is concentrated in the few vertical poles. This means that the cover and frame are interdependent, neither can stand without the other, it is this

interdependence that makes it possible to use only a few poles. In contrast to other structures that have free-standing frames such as the tipi and yurt. Which makes the structure a significantly more lightweight and mobile piece of equipment.

There are two basic types of black tent. The Eastern or Persian type, used from Iran to Tibet. These tents are of the simplest construction, being a series of cloth breadths sewn side by side, with loops on the edges for the rope stays. when the tent is set the main pull of the ropes must be length ways (in the same direction as the seams) for if the pull was across seams, it would pull them apart. The poles are generally placed under seams, which can take the stress at this point. Examples of these structures may be characterized by the traditional dwellings of the Kurds, Qashqai and the Tibetans with their traditional yak-hair tent the Ba-nag.

The other form of the black tent is the the Arab type, used by the Bedouin tribes of Arabia, Iraq and all tribes to the west of them, who adopted the black tent as a dwelling. This tent uses the same basic tent cloth as the Persian type but has the addition of tension bands (trigas) sewn across the cloth breadths. Ropes attach to the tension bands so that the

main pull of the ropes is across the seams, exactly the opposite to that of the Persian tent. The tension created by the pull of the ropes is conce tension bands. The bands, the poles that stand under them, and the rope stays all create an independent support system underneath the tent c tent made on this theme may be found across this region from the shallow roofed desert tents of the Bedouin to the pitched roof Moroccan ten Berber tribes of the Atlas mountains.

The Bedouin of the Arabian Desert uses a black tent known as the beit al-sha'r, or 'house of hair'. These tents are woven from the hair of domesticated sheep and goats, and their design is thought to have originated in Mesopotamia. The animal hair is woven into strips of coarse cloth known as fala'if, which are then sewn together. The natural colour of the animal is retained mainly black goat's hair, with occasional addition of sheep's wool, which gives the tent a streaked, brown/black appearance.

The size of the tent depends on the importance of its owner, or on the size of his family. An average family would use a tent made up of narrow strips, each seven and a half metre long, supported by two tent poles. An important personage, such as a tribal sheikh, would have a more imposing dwelling, made of about six broad strips, each about twenty metres long, supported by four tent poles. Anything larger than this would not be easily transportable. When the strips of cloth are sewn together, they make up one long rectangle. This is then raised up and supported on tent poles, known as amdan, with tent ropes (atnab) being used to keep the sides taut. A brightly decorated curtain, or qata, hangs inside across the middle of the tent to divide it into a men's and a women's section. The women's section is the larger of the two and is never seen by any man except the owner of the tent. Ruaq, or tent flaps, are long pieces of material attached to the tent sides. These hang down like a curtain at the back of the tent and are sufficiently long to wrap around the entire tent and enclose it at night. The life of a tent cloth is about five or six years, with sections being added and renewed periodically, as they wear out. The spinning of the goat's hair is done by the women of the tribe on a simple drop spindle or maghzal. The thread is then woven on a horizontal ground loom (natui), which is extremely portable and can easily be rolled up and carried when it is time for the tribe to move on. An ancient measurement is used for the width of the loom, making the cloth strips of a standard breadth. This measurement is based on the length of the forearm. The process of sewing the strips together is undertaken by groups of women working together, and is an occasion for celebration. The sewing is a skilled job, as the seams need to be strong and durable. Thread made from black goat's hair is used for this task. The tent cloth is woven loosely to allow heat dispersal. Although the black colour absorbs the heat, it is still between 10 and 15-degree cooler inside the tent than outside. The tent provides shade from the hot sun, as well as insulation on cold desert nights. During rainstorms, the yarn swells up, thus closing the holes in the weave and preventing leaks. The goat's hair is naturally oily, which has an added effect of repelling the water droplets, so the tent's occupants can remain comparatively dry. The flattened shape of the tent roof is aerodynamically designed so that it cannot be blown away by sudden gusts, or by more prolonged windy conditions common in the desert. The exceptional length of the hempen tent ropes also assists wind resistance, as the ropes act as shock absorbers. An additional advantage of these long ropes is that they can act as trip wires to protect the tent's occupants from unwelcome intruders. It is the head of the family who directs the pitching of the tent, but the job is mainly done by the women of the family. The tent's owner chooses a suitable spot, on clear, level ground, often near the high-banked sides of a dry watercourse. The tent is unrolled and pitched so that one of its long sides faces the direction of the wind, and the men's section is always situated at the eastern end facing towards Makkah. Tent furnishings are extremely simple, consisting of carpets and mattresses (dawashaks) spread on the floor, with pillows (masanad) placed on either side of the owner's camel saddle, so that guests can sit in comfort. Hammocks may be stretched between the tent poles. The women's section contains food stores, cooking utensils and spindles, together with the camel litters in which the women ride. Marco Polo once described a tent used by Kublai Khan on a hunting trip. Its ropes were made of silk and it was lined with ermines and sables and coated with the skins of lions. The interior was large enough to accommodate 10,000 soldiers and their officers. Impressive indeed and a far cry from the humbler version used by the Bedouin

people. However, for practicality, durability and adherence to tradition, the beit al-sha'r, or 'house of hair' is a winning design proved by centuries of use.

troglodyte dwellings

Underground dwellings dug out, and lived in, by man. Originally the term 'troglodyte' comes from of Greek, where designating cave dweller. The troglodytes are a type of dwellings that are found in a group of desert villages spread around North Africa, with Matmata and Bulla

Regia, both Tunisia, as the principal examples. There are villages of this kind also in Morocco and Libya (Gharyan). Troglodytes are made as caves dug vertically into the ground. In order to make this possible, there is a need for a porous ground, while the main motivation to build underground houses instead of normal over-ground houses is warm climate through summer where normal ventilation and isolation does not manage to keep the heat out. And even in winter, the troglodytes prove valuable, as they isolate against the freezing winter nights of the desert. To some extent these dwellings have also served as protection against robbers. Between troglodytes there have only been rare examples of underground corridors. The few examples of this has been between troglodytes with the same owner. Troglodytes are believed to be a relatively recent invention in Saharan architecture, dating not more than 7800 years back in time. While the structures proved to be a success, their dissemination have only been limited, probably because normal houses are easier to build, and because there are only a limited number of days where such houses do not protect against heat/cold. Today most of these troglodyte villages are facing changing attitudes from the village dwellers, and more and more are leaving the troglodytes for modern houses which sometimes have air conditioning and always heating.

Kandovan village, famed for its troglodyte dwellings. Some of the houses are at least 700 years old and are still inhabited.

induced evaporation process


Colloidal particles in a tiny drying droplet are forced to assemble due to attractive capillary forces. Jamming of the particles throughout the droplet remains either isotropic or anisotropic depending upon the drying kinetics and the physicochemical environment. In this work, we explore the dynamical evolution of such an assembly process across a single evaporative droplet by in situ scanning small-angle scattering using a micro-focused X-ray beam at the synchrotron source. A methodology has been elucidated to differentiate quantitatively between the isotropic and the anisotropic jamming process. Switching of jamming behaviour depending on the initial particle volume fraction in the droplet has been demonstrated. Three distinct stages of assembly, associated with droplet shrinkage, have been revealed even during isotropic jamming. This is in contrast to the drying of a pure liquid droplet under diffusion limited evaporation. It has been established that such in situ scattering measurements can also be used to estimate the temporal evolutions of the viscosity of a drying suspension as well as the diffusivity of nanoparticles in a droplet.

NIGHT AIR COOLING

Ventilation Cooling Strategies In climates where it regularly cools of during the night, an especially when there is at least a gentle breeze, the house temperature can be lowered significantly overnight (assuming of course that you don't have a lot of thermal

mass that was heated during the day). Taller buildings (ie two stories or more) can use the stack effect, eg by opening a vent high in the building the hot air in the house will rise up and out. The cooler it is out, and the taller the vent, the stronger the air movement. If there is not enough stack effect pressure, an attic fan can supply the same pressure. By designing the house with good cross ventilation, any nighttime breeze will both provide cooler night air in a horizontal direction, but help force air out any ceiling vents. Since the ground temperature in most areas stays relatively cool (typically below 60 degrees), we can use the ground as a thermal mass also by using a pipe under the house to draw cold air out of the ground. Transferring too much heat will cause heating of the ground around the pipe, rendering it as ineffective as any other thermal mass, so the usual cautions apply.

1. Introduction

The basic aim of night cooling is to use high ventilation rates at night, so that the air flow through the building removes heat from the fabric at an increased rate. During the following day, the fabric can absorb more heat from the internal air, thereby reducing the internal air temperature, compared to the values with low night ventilation. A necessary condition for night cooling to be successful is that external air temperatures at night are significantly lower than daytime values e.g. a total diurnal swing greater than 10 C. However, that is not a sufficient condition. Other factors are important e.g. the thermal mass of the fabric; the thermal contact between the fabric and the air; the air change rates during the day and the night; the relative magnitudes of internal and external temperature.

In Section 12.3.5 of [1], results from a simple dynamic thermal simulation model of a room are used to illustrate night cooling. The basic equations used in the model are described in Section 2.8.

Figure 1. Heat flows to the air contained in a room

Figure 1 shows a room in a building. A control volume is formed by the air in the room, shown by the dashed lines. The temperature of the air within the volume is assumed to be uniform at all times. Only sensible heat is considered and radiation is neglected. The rate of change of Tair with time is then given to a close approximation by the following equation (conservation of thermal energy for the air)

(2.38) (modified) where V, r and c denote room volume and the density and specific heat capacity of air. The terms on the right hand side are the net heat flows to or from the air (taken as positive when the flow is in to the air) i.e. fabric Ef, internal heat gain Eint and ventilation Ev . A major simplification is the assumption that the heat flow through the external wall is dominant i.e. heat flows through the internal walls, ceiling and floor are neglected. For the purpose of illustrating the importance of various parameters, this simplification is felt to be justified, but that may not necessarily be so. The results are more likely to be valid for a room where the majority of the walls are external. It is, in fact, not too difficult to include other surfaces with different boundary conditions, but this is not done here.

The fabric of the envelope acts as a thermal store i.e. the temperature distribution in the material changes with time, with corresponding changes to the heat flows to the air. The fabric is assumed to be homogenous and the heat flow within it is governed by the diffusion equation, which in one-dimensional form (i.e. the temperature varies with distance only in the x direction) is

(2.39)

where the fabric has density rf, specific heat capacity cf and thermal conductivity kf,. The heat flow from the fabric to the room air is given by

(2.40) where Af denotes the fabric surface area and x =L denotes the internal surface. the thickness of the wall. For design purposes, the internal heat gain Eint is often specified as a function of time in terms of the heat gain per unit floor area, , andthe floor area, Afl (2.41) There are many publications in the literature concerning night cooling, many of which involve simulation of complex buildings under realistic weather conditions. A potential disadvantage of such investigations is that there are so many variables, that it may be difficult to isolate their different effects. There is also the practical issue that running complex simulation models is not a trivial exercise. It requires experience with the software, with compilation of extensive input data and with presentation of results. The current simulation model is much less demanding, albeit at the expense of realism. A description of the Excel program is given here, where it can be downloaded.

Richard Dahl, a freelance writer in Boston, has contributed to EHP since 1995. He also writes periodically for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

cooling courtyard

The Courtyard House The courtyard house is seen in climates where the main consideration is to reduce the thermal heat loads imposed on the internal spaces of the building. The level of thermal comfort in a courtyard space is determined by the microclimatic forces acting on it, most notably those of radiation and wind.

Courtyards take different forms, dimensions and detail treatment, but all serve the general purpose of creating open spaces adjacent to buildings. The courtyard house form encloses a void within it. An inner building envelope composed of the courtyard"s walls screens the sheltered house space from the open space of the courtyard. The most important characteristic of the courtyard house form is that it allows back to back packing i.e. the outer envelope is not necessarily required for obtaining light and ventilation. As the inner building envelope is used for this purpose, outer envelope can be shared with adjacent buildings causing complete shading of the outer envelope from any radiation and air movement. The outer envelope opens to the external environment only at the street frontage hat is usually a very small percentage, except in case of a corner house. However, since the street width is usually very small (not more than the widths of the internal courtyards), the open space on the street also functions like a shaded courtyard.

Thermal exchanges taking place at the opaque surfaces of the courtyard walls:

1. 2. 3.

Opaque surfaces absorb part of the incident radiation and diffusely reflect the rest. Some of the radiation reflected by one wall is received by the others. The absorbed component elevates the surface temperature above the relatively low temperature of the air inside the courtyard.

Thermal exchanges taking place at the ground surface of the courtyard:

1. 2.

3.

In the day, the round receives the diffuse radiation coming from the sky and from the surrounding walls by reflection. The radiation is partially absorbed and partially reflected to the surrounding walls adding to their total heat gain. The physical parameter which influences the thermal balance of each surface of the form is its reflectivity to the incident radiation. The heated surface of the ground loses heat to the adjacent cold air layer. The rising heated air is replaced by relatively colder air. The surface loses heat also by emitting longwave radiation.

Thermal exchanges at night:

1. 2.

Being exposed to the sky, the courtyard surfaces get rid of the previously absorbed heat through the emittance of longwave radiation. As the surfaces lose heat, the temperature of the adjacent layer of the air gradually decreases. The cold air, being denser than the relatively warm air in the courtyard, tends to sink down, and the cold air is collected inside the courtyard.

The relatively static cooling system used in the courtyard house demonstrates how air movement can be generated by convection. After sunset, the warm air of the courtyard, this was heated directly by the sun and indirectly by the warm building, rises and is gradually replaced by the already cooled night air from above. This cool air accumulates in the courtyard in laminar layers and seeps into the surrounding rooms, cooling them. In the morning, the air of the courtyard, which is shaded by its four walls, and the surrounding rooms heat slowly and remain cool until late in the day when the sun shines directly into the courtyard. The warm wind passing above the house during the day does not enter the courtyard but merely creates eddies inside. In this way, the courtyard serves as a reservoir of coolness. Traditional architecture gives ideas to enrich modern architecture. In traditional architecture, local materials and renewable energy resources have been used. The courtyard was one of the traditional architecture solutions as a climate modifier. The inclusion of an internal courtyard in buildings design is attributed to the optimization of natural ventilation in order to minimize indoor overheating conditions. The paper investigates the potential of a ventilated courtyard for passive cooling in a small building in a hot desert climate. The analyzed model is one of the low-income housing models in New Aswan City - Egypt. Which was built and provided with main services by the government, these housing models were characterized by their improper design in many cases, especially, concerning with climatic design.

To evaluate the performance of a ventilated courtyard, building simulation software TRNSYS 16 (The coupling between TRNSYS and COMIS) was used. The courtyard parameters considered were the courtyard orientation and the courtyard geometry. To evaluate the performance of a ventilated courtyard, the average monthly indoor air temperature for the purposed building determined in the overheating summer season depended on the weather data for the building site. The results of the investigations of the courtyard parameters indicate that there are some important parameters and other are of less significance which affect the thermal performance of the courtyard building model.

EARTH COOLING

A ground-coupled heat exchanger is an underground heat exchanger loop that can capture or dissipate heat to or from the ground. They use the Earth's near constant subterranean temperature to warm or cool air or other fluids for residential, agricultural or industrial uses. If building air is blown through the heat exchanger for heat recovery ventilation, they are called earth tubes (also known as earth cooling tubes or earth warming tubes) in Europe or earth-air heat exchangers (EAHE or EAHX) in North America. Earth-air heat exchangers can be analyzed for performance with several software applications using weather gage data. These software applications include GAEA, AWADUKT Thermo, EnergyPlus, L-EWTSim, WKM, and others. However, numerous earth-air heat exchanger systems have been designed and constructed improperly, and failed to meet design expectations. Earth-air heat exchangers appear best suited for air pretreatment rather than for full heating or cooling. Pretreatment of air for an air-source heat pump or ground-source heat pump often provides the best economic return on investment, with simple payback often achieved within one year after installation. Most systems are usually constructed from 100 to 600 mm (4 to 24 inch) diameter, smooth-walled (so they do not easily trap condensation moisture and mold), rigid or semi-rigid plastic, plastic-coated metal pipes or plastic pipes coated with inner antimicrobial layers, buried 1.5 to 3 m (5 to 10 ft) underground where the ambient earth temperature is typically 10 to 23 C (50-73 F ) all year round in the temperate latitudes where most humans live. Ground temperature becomes more stable with depth. Smaller diameter tubes require more energy to move the air and have less earth contact surface area. Larger tubes permit a slower airflow, which also yields more efficient energy transfer and permits much higher volumes to be transferred, permitting more air exchanges in a shorter time period, when, for example, you want to clear the building of objectionable odors or smoke. It is more efficient to pull air through a long tube than to push it with a fan. A solar chimney can use natural convection (warm air rising) to create a vacuum to draw filtered passive cooling tube air through the largest diameter cooling tubes. Natural convection may be slower than using a solar-powered fan. Sharp 90-degree angles should be avoided in the construction of the tube - two 45-degree bends produce less-turbulent, more efficient air flow. While smooth-wall tubes are more efficient in moving the air, they are less efficient in transferring energy. There are three configurations, a closed loop design, an open 'fresh air' system or a combination:

Closed loop system: Air from inside the home or structure is blown through a U-shaped loop(s) of typically 30 to 150 m (100 to 500 ft) of tube(s) where it is moderated to near earth temperature before returning to be distributed via ductwork throughout the home or structure. The closed loop system can be more effective (during air temperature extremes) than an open system, since it cools and recools the same air.

Open system: outside air is drawn from a filtered air intake (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value MERV 8+ air filter is recommended). The cooling tubes are typically 30 m (100 ft) long (or more) of straight tube into

the home. An open system combined with energy recovery ventilation can be nearly as efficient (80-95%) as a closed loop, and ensures that entering fresh air is filtered and tempered.

Combination system: This can be constructed with dampers that allow either closed or open operation, depending on fresh air ventilation requirements. Such a design, even in closed loop mode, could draw a quantity of fresh air when an air pressure drop is created by a solar chimney, clothes dryer, fireplace, kitchen or bathroom exhaust vents. It is better to draw in filtered passive cooling tube air than unconditioned outside air.

Single-pass earth air heat exchangers offer the potential for indoor air quality improvement over conventional systems by providing an increased supply of outdoor air. In some configurations of single-pass systems, a continuous supply of outdoor air is provided. This type of system would usually include one or more ventilation heat recovery units.

The California Institute of Earth Architecture or Cal-Earth appears like some alien subdivision dropped out from space into one of those ubiquitous cookie-cutter suburban starter home communities in the urbanized southwestern Mojave Desert. To reach the Cal-Earth training/test site in Hesperia, one must first past through several streets of nearly identical homes with virtually the same SUV parked in front. When I looked for it, I felt lost amid these cookie cutter homes, but then suddenly, the Cal-Earth complex emerged with its array of exotic beehive-like adobe domes behind a chain-link fence. The juxtaposition of these strange structures against the backdrop of the recentlybuilt suburban homes makes the Cal-Earth dwellings seem, at first glance, out of place, but after closer inspection they begin to appear completely natural in this arid environment. Then like a camera adjusting its focus, the generic tract homes surrounding them seem out of place with the desert. At the gate, I was greeted by my friend, Hooman Fazly one of the long-term Cal-Earth associates who now travels the globe teaching Cal-Earth's Superadobe construction technique developed by its founder, Iranian-American architect, Nader Khalili. Hooman, who received his BA in architecture at UC Berkeley in 2003 and veered away from a successful career in conventional architecture. He took me on a tour of the various building experiments and prototypes found at the Cal-Earth training campus -- some are built as low-cost, but reliable, emergency shelters for those affected by natural disasters. Others, such as the Earth One Vaulted tract home prototype exhibits how Khalili's building technique may be applied to more traditional contemporary homes found throughout SoCal suburbs.

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