Adobe

Adobe is a building material made by shaping earth mixed with water, often adding plant fibers, and drying it in the sun. Its low-energy production and thick walls suit many hot, dry climates.

Clay: Clay is fine-grained soil whose particles become cohesive when wet and harden as they dry. Clay-rich earth binds adobe particles and helps shaped bricks hold together.
Soil texture: Soil texture describes the proportions of sand, silt, and clay in a soil. Those proportions affect whether an adobe mix holds its shape or cracks.
Çatalhöyük: Çatalhöyük is a Neolithic settlement in central Anatolia, occupied roughly from 7100 to 6000 BCE. Its densely packed houses included walls made from mudbrick.
Passive solar building design: Passive solar building design uses a building’s orientation, materials, and openings to manage solar heat without mechanical systems. Adobe’s thermal mass can store daytime solar heat for release later.
Straw: Straw is the dry stalk material left after cereal grains are harvested. Fibers such as straw can limit cracking as adobe dries.
Drying shrinkage: Drying shrinkage is the reduction in size that occurs as wet material loses moisture. Uneven shrinkage can split adobe bricks during drying.
Mesopotamia: Mesopotamia is the historical region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, centered in present-day Iraq. Mudbrick was a widespread building material in its ancient cities.
Earthquake engineering: Earthquake engineering designs structures to withstand ground motion and reduce seismic damage. Unreinforced adobe walls are vulnerable to earthquakes, prompting reinforcement and retrofit methods.
Adobe brick: An adobe brick is a molded block of earth, water, and sometimes fibers, dried without kiln firing. This common unit gives adobe construction its modular form.
Compressive strength: Compressive strength is a material’s capacity to resist forces that squeeze it. Adobe carries building loads mainly through compression, but its strength varies with soil and moisture.

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