Presentations

The Stabilization of Historic Earthen Structures: New developments in the field, by Ed Crocker. Presented to the Structural Engineers Associations of California and New Mexico, September 2012 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Terra 2008 Conference Proceedings, published articles from the 10th International Conference on the Study and Conservation of Earthen Architectural Heritage:
Recent Work in Earthen Architecture, by Ed Crocker.
Toward a Comprehensive Taxonomy of Earthen Architecture, by Ed Crocker.

Earthen Architecture and Seismic Codes; Lessons from the Field (PDF), by Ed Crocker. Presented at UNESCO, ICOMOS and Turkish Ministry of Culture, International Conference on the Seismic Performance of Traditional Buildings, Istanbul, Turkey, November 16-18, 2000.

Racing Alone:  Thoughts on Advancing Earthen Architecture, by Ed Crocker. Presented at The 3rd Adobe Conference of the Adobe Association of the Southwest, May 2005 in El Rito, New Mexico.

Article

This Old House: The Art of Adobe Restoration, by James Glave.

Understanding Abobe

"Understanding Adobe" is a monthly column written by Ed Crocker for the Santa Fe New Mexican's "Home" Magazine. These essays are intended to further the reader's knowledge and understanding of architectural conservation, historic preservation and earthen architecture.

 
EARTHEN TRADITIONS

Face to face with Osama

Red Ants and Rusted Steel

Reflections on a Golden Time

¡Maestro! Estos pájaros son pintados

John Armstrong's Tea, Trudy Blom and the Dishes

Sitting Back:  Advice from the Source

Let's Talk Tabby

Waiting for the Big One

The Hutmachers and the Hopi

Mud "Shingling" in North Dakota

Into Africa

"Soy un Zoquetero":  Why We Need a Glossary

Adobe:  Whence the Word?

Poets, Prophets and the Insidious Adobe Bloodsucker

"We Emerged From There" -- The Magic of Earth

Stabilized Mud and Mobile Homes

Whence Tradition?

Pliny the Elder Endorses Mud

The Passion of the Un-Chaste

Mud Fences and Rocket Surgery

Report from Yazd

Earthen Architecture and the Axis of Evil

The Costilla Country Courthouse - An Early Jackalope

Buildings as Systems:  A Discussion of the Compatibility of Materials

Cornerstones and the Acoma Initiative

Destruction as Metaphor

Santa Fe Style:  Ersatz Adobe and a Vanishing Heritage

Myth and Synthesis:  New Mexico's Adobe Vernacular

Modified Sehalian Scaffolding in the New World?

The Threat of Sweat:  How One Earthen Roof Works

Bam! Adobe Takes Another Unfair Hit

 
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOBE

Conserving Earthen Structures by Using Fluids in Motion

Maverick Mud

Quality and Quality:  A Response

Swedish Modern and the "Old Reliable"

R-values, U-factors and Thermal Mass

Earth:  The Thoroughly Modern Material

Rastra Bad Vibrations

Strawbale:  An Okay Second Choice

 
ADOBE LAYING AND REPAIR

Upon this rock. . . .

Adobe Laying in Winter:  Some Cautionary Notes

Contrapared:  The Kiss of Death

The Dog-Prints Go Down:  Traditional Wisdom in Adobe Laying

Dust to Dust:  The Utilization of Bones in Adobe Repair

 
MUD PLASTER

Form and Function in Decorated Earthen Surfaces

Stunning Cracks

Aggregates:  The Key to Successful Mud Plastering

Crossbreeding Plasters:  Folly in Every Way

Elastomeric Plaster:  Silver Bullet or Blight?

Overworked Plaster:  Breaking the Second Commandment

Stabilized Mud -- Tinkering of the Worst Kind

Straw in Mud Plaster:  Don't Ask Why, Just Do It!

 
STRUCTURAL ISSUES

The Resurrection of St. Augustine

Underpinning Earthen Walls

Opening the Cell:  Polyurethane on Probation

Adobe and the Law of Unintended Consequence

Beer Bottles, Arches and Eggs

Rogue Gardeners (I Reveal a Trade Secret)

Embedded Downspouts:  A Really Bad Idea

Caging Adobes and Capturing the Zia

Why I Don't Use Freedom Drains; With Commentary on the Origin of the Term

Foundation Repairs in Historic Earthen Buildings

Interrupted Equilibrium and the Descent of Homes

Protecting the Crown:  Detailing Parapets on Earthen Buildings

 
WOOD TREATMENTS

Bridging the Mote:  A Simple Method of Structurally Splicing Vigas and Beams

On Insects, Rot and the 20 Mule Team

 
BUILDING CODES

Encounters with Adobe Nazis

The Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Vernacular Architecture

Adobe Code -- Lessons From the Field

Building Inspections:  Of What, for Whom?

H-boards and My Grandfather’s Razor

 
SANTA FE/LOCAL THEMES

Meeting Mary Taylor

Cocky Cactus

Getting Religion

Adobe and schizophrenia:  a personal journey

Heads up, contractors!

When Mickey Mouse met David Rockefeller

Chindi and the Scout

Finding Adobe from the Back of the Bus

How I Met Nigger George

Recollections on the Closing of Martin's

Mud Walls and Princess Grace's Doorjamb

The State Makes a Breakthrough

The Underground Architecture Critic

Adam to Atom

Death of a Citizen:  Reflections on 984 Acequia Madre

A Site of Conscience (on the destruction of the Santa Fe Indian School)

What Do We Value?:  A commentary on The Style over ten years

Concha

Santa Fe Style:  A Caricature of Adobe

Santa Fe Style:  Ersatz Adobe and a Vanishing Heritage