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Popular Posts...

  • The Persian ice house, or how to make ice in the desert
    April 4, 2016

    The Persian ice house, or how to make ice in the desert

  • Build with Gambia Earth Architecture Workshop: Experimenting with local materials in rural Gambia
    August 18, 2019

    Build with Gambia Earth Architecture Workshop: Experimenting with local materials in rural Gambia

  • Earthbag domes of Dome Lombok: From ecotourism to earthquake-resistant housing
    November 17, 2019

    Earthbag domes of Dome Lombok: From ecotourism to earthquake-resistant housing

  • Architecture, sustainability, travel and this blog
    November 23, 2015

    Architecture, sustainability, travel and this blog

  • Bridge building with Toni Rüttimann and rural communities of Myanmar
    December 17, 2019

    Bridge building with Toni Rüttimann and rural communities of Myanmar

  • Floating villages and gardens of Inle Lake
    January 4, 2016

    Floating villages and gardens of Inle Lake

  • Traditional earth lodges of the Great Plains
    July 7, 2016

    Traditional earth lodges of the Great Plains

  • Searching for windcatchers in Hyderabad
    February 15, 2016

    Searching for windcatchers in Hyderabad

  • Providing clean drinking water to the people of Lake Atitlan
    June 19, 2017

    Providing clean drinking water to the people of Lake Atitlan

  • Ganvie, Africa’s largest lake village
    September 2, 2019

    Ganvie, Africa’s largest lake village

Author: Erika

Earthbag domes of Dome Lombok: From ecotourism to earthquake-resistant housing
Architecture, Responsible tourism, Social sustainability November 17, 2019

Earthbag domes of Dome Lombok: From ecotourism to earthquake-resistant housing

2,210 Views 4 by Erika

Dome Lombok is building an ecoresort of earthbag domes on the Indonesian island of Lombok, and the technique is also proving to be valuable for affordable housing in the earthquake-prone country.

Build with Gambia Earth Architecture Workshop: Social architecture in practice at Kantora Arts Village
Architecture, Communities, Social sustainability, Volunteering November 3, 2019

Build with Gambia Earth Architecture Workshop: Social architecture in practice at Kantora Arts Village

860 Views 1 by Erika

Build with Gambia Earth Architecture Workshop was a project at Kantora Arts Village aiming to create a positive social impact through architecture.

Abetenim Arts Village and the rammed earth schools of Ghana
Architecture, Social sustainability, Vernacular architecture October 17, 2019

Abetenim Arts Village and the rammed earth schools of Ghana

3,258 Views 0 by Erika

Abetenim Arts Village is a vocational school project in rural Ghana that is promoting earth building techniques, in particular rammed earth.

Ganvie, Africa’s largest lake village
Communities, Environment, Vernacular architecture September 2, 2019

Ganvie, Africa’s largest lake village

2,652 Views 3 by Erika

Ganvie village is a 400-year-old settlement that is built in the middle of a lake in Benin.

Build with Gambia Earth Architecture Workshop: Experimenting with local materials in rural Gambia
Architecture, Design, Vernacular architecture, Volunteering August 18, 2019

Build with Gambia Earth Architecture Workshop: Experimenting with local materials in rural Gambia

2,471 Views 4 by Erika

Build with Gambia was an earth architecture workshop project with the goal of designing and building a dormitory for a rural vocational school using local materials.

Defensive and spiritual tata sombas of the Batammariba
Vernacular architecture July 28, 2019

Defensive and spiritual tata sombas of the Batammariba

1,178 Views 0 by Erika

Tata sombas are a type of vernacular house in Togo and Benin built by the Batammariba tribe, for whom the traditional house is full of cultural and religious symbolism.

Participatory design of WASH in schools with UNICEF Guinea-Bissau
Architecture, Design, Social sustainability June 9, 2019

Participatory design of WASH in schools with UNICEF Guinea-Bissau

344 Views 0 by Erika

In January 2019 I took part in an in-situ studio in Guinea-Bissau where we used participatory design to design inclusive sanitation facilities for schools.

Life inside the volcanic crater of Pico do Fogo
Communities, Environment March 29, 2019

Life inside the volcanic crater of Pico do Fogo

617 Views 0 by Erika

The residents of Chã das Caldeiras on the Cape Verdean island of Fogo choose to live inside the crater of an active volcano despite the constant threat of eruption.

Vernacular architecture of Dogon Country and its development
Architecture, Vernacular architecture March 7, 2019

Vernacular architecture of Dogon Country and its development

3,907 Views 0 by Erika

Mali’s Dogon Country has a rich heritage of vernacular building techniques and this heritage is being kept alive and developed through school building projects.

Artistic action and clay oven construction at Portes et Passages du Retour art center
Design, Social sustainability, Vernacular architecture, Volunteering February 20, 2019

Artistic action and clay oven construction at Portes et Passages du Retour art center

348 Views 0 by Erika

Portes et Passages du Retour is a holistic art center in Senegal where art becomes a tool for social change.

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About

Welcome to my blog! My name is Erika Alatalo and I’m a world traveler and humanitarian architect writing about sustainable development, architecture and travel. Check out this page for more information.

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