>Adobe

Nader Khalili defines Adobe as "a sun dried construction block made of earth-clay and sand; the essential building block of many earth structures. This material is common in arid climates particularly in the South-West of North America and in the Middle East. Specific examples can be found in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico and Boshrouyeh, Iran. The process is relatively simple- simply experiment with the native soils to determine the appropriate mixture of clay and sand. Make several test blocks, if the mixture contains too much clay it will be full of cracks. If the mixture has too much sand it will crumble easily. US building codes call for blocks with no less the 25% clay and no more than 45% clay. Straw is also incorporated into mixtures for obvious reasons of structural integrity. I can begin to see a possible relationship betweent the use of straw in Adobe, and the use of lattice works in other mud architectures.

Geltaftan (fired-earth) differs from Adobe due to its higher clay content. It is also purer then adobe containing less rocks and debris.