Mud Talks 37: Integrating Earth into Art & Conservation Practice with Lea Marta Andersson

In our fortieth Mud Talks podcast, we speak to Ethan Novikoff on the four-year anniversary of living in his owner-built adobe home.Ethan Novikoff built an adobe house for his family on a mountaintop in southwestern New Mexico. He earned a Certificate in Adobe Construction from Adobe in Action in 2014 and started his adobe career with Mule Creek Adobe in 2015. Ethan is the author of www.visioncreationadobe.com, and has been the Board Treasurer for Adobe in Action since 2020.

In our thirty-ninth Mud Talks podcast, we speak to Esther Fredrickson and Kenny DeLapp from Albuquerque Joinery about their journey from owner builders to adobe contractors. Albuquerque Joinery is a small design-build company that specializes in new home construction using traditional adobe building techniques. They also produce one-of-a-kind doors, custom cabinetry, and fine woodworking in general, all built in an adobe / timber frame workshop. They design and build in an aesthetic that is simple, distinctly New Mexican, and carefully executed. Their preference is to use local and natural materials whenever feasible. Kenny DeLapp and Esther Fredrickson established Albuquerque Joinery in 2020 after building their own adobe home in the South Valley. Previously, Kenny worked fabricating museum exhibits and other pieces of fine carpentry, and worked with his uncle, long-time adobe builder Win DeLapp.

In our thirty-eighth Mud Talks podcast, we speak to passive solar adobe architect Mark Chalom on the topic of the recent National Ambient Energy for Buildings Research Symposium and his take on the current state (and future) of passive solar architecture.

In our thirty-seventh Mud Talks podcast, we speak to artist and Adobe in Action certificate graduate Lea Marta Andersson about how she integrates earthen building materials into her art and conservation work practice in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In our thirty-sixth Mud Talks podcast, we speak to passive solar adobe specialist and Adobe in Action board member Quentin Wilson on the topic of the recent National Ambient Energy for Buildings Research Symposium which took place at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, NM - almost 50 years after construction began on the Sundwellings Project.

In our thirty-fifth Mud Talks podcast, we speak to adobe owner builder Paul Mallory on the topic of the “Volunteer Work Days" he has begun offering in support of ongoing Adobe in Action owner-builder projects.

In our thirty-fourth Mud Talks podcast, we speak to Adobe in Action field instructor Issac Logsdon on the topic of his recent “Horno Design & Construction” workshop which took place in Abiquiu, NM with a group of eight students.In addition to his teaching at Adobe in Action, Issac is the Assistant Program Director for Cornerstones Community Partnerships. With deep family roots throughout Northern New Mexico, learning traditional building skills has been a way to reconnect with the land-based traditions that have skipped a generation in his family. Issac has worked on adobe and stone preservation projects at Pecos National Historical Park, Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Joshua Tree National Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Death Valley National Park, various projects on BLM land, and in communities throughout Northern New Mexico. He also teaches in the Adobe Construction Program at the Santa Fe Community College. 

In our thirty-third Mud Talks podcast, we speak to Debora Barros and Siena Leone-Getten from the Pratt Institute Historic Preservation MS Program on the topic of Adobe in Action’s recent “Intro to Adobe Preservation with Pat Taylor” workshop which they attended in Mesilla, NM with a group of eleven students. When asked why the preservation of adobe buildings is a special experience for Historic Preservation students, architect and Professor Debora Barros explained that there is more common ground between the two fields than one can expect. At Pratt Institute’s Masters in Historic Preservation, theory and hands on practice of adobe preservation have been harnessed as a rich pedagogical tool to promote a variety of learning outcomes:Adobe (and other earthen) buildings are among the oldest in the world, with many featured as highly significant heritage across the globe, potentially becoming the subject of work of our graduates focusing on architectural conservation.The hands-on experience of adobe conservation highlights the significance of traditional building crafts, fostering interest in this career path, potentially mitigating the incremental loss of knowledge transfer and subsequent loss of qualified workforce which has been a long-standing concern in the field.Adobe preservation fosters a deeper connection to the land, to local, regional and ancestral practices that are beneficial holistic experiences. Processes of making build student’s confidence and problem-solving abilities. This fits within the tradition of Pratt Institute as a School of Arts and Design.Both Historic Preservation and the preservation of earthen buildings are inherently sustainable. Historic Preservation is a field of advocacy for the retention and adaptation of the built environment for the benefit of society and future generations. The synergy between preservation and sustainability in light of the climate imperative can be leveraged as a powerful catalyst to mitigate the effects of climate change.And finally, both Historic Preservation and earthen buildings are fields underpinned by advocacy efforts. In our age, characterized by a material culture of planned obsolescence, preservation of the potential offered by existing buildings and the fight for a return to a healthier, regional building culture that can acknowledge the wisdom of earthen construction can be seen not only as advocacy, but as acts of resistance.Debora Barros is an architect and Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute. She has been practicing Architecture and Preservation for over 18 years with experience in New York, United Kingdom and Brazil. After completing her Master of Science from the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University, with focus on materials conservation, Ms. Barros has worked extensively on preservation and adaptive reuse projects such as the Guggenheim Museum, the Park Avenue Armory and the New-York Historical Society. Her passionate engagement in Historic Preservation straddles Architecture of the Modern Movement, such as leading educational tours in Brazil on behalf of the non-profit DOCOMOMO_US, and Conservation and Maintenance of Archaeological Sites, where her research focuses on the preservation of traditional construction techniques and building crafts, and their translation into contemporary construction practices.Siena Leone-Getten is a recent graduate of the Historic Preservation M.S. Program at the Pratt Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment. She hopes to one day work on the preservation and interpretation of historic buildings within parklands.

In our thirty-second Mud Talks podcast, we speak to architect and Adobe in Action board member Ben Loescher on the topic of the recent Los Angeles fires and the role that adobe might play in the rebuilding process.Ben Loescher is a founding Principal at Loescher Meachem Architects, where his work focuses on the reuse of existing buildings and the founder of Adobeisnotsoftware, an earthen education and advocacy initiative.

In our thirty-first Mud Talks podcast, we listen to Joe Silins and Stephen Hren deliver their podium presentations at the Earth USA 2024 Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Download the accompanying PDF research papers here:Joe Silins: Play, Toil and Ritual: Building an Experimental, Poured Clay Studio in the Covid19 EraStephen Hren: Getting Cob through the Inspection Process: My Experience in North CarolinaJoe Silins is the Owner of Tierra Buena Home and Garden, LLC, which is an Arizona-based general contractor specializing in strawbale and earthen construction, and small-scale real estate development. Joe received an M.S. in Urban Planning and a B.A. in Studio Art from the University of Arizona.Stephen Hren is a natural builder, inspector, writer, teacher, husband and father living in Durham,North Carolina. He currently teaches cob classes at Mud Dauber School in Silk Hope, NC.Earth USA 2024 was the 12th International Conference on Earthen Architecture & Construction hosted by Adobe in Action. More information about the conference can be found at www.earthusa.org.