Comments on: Sand-bag houses by MMA Architects 2

By: World_Guru

World_Guru — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:23:53 +0000

oh Mr Demcheck…
your level of consciousness is a very poor one i am afraid. Women are the real 'architects' in this material world. Aren't they the ones that stay with the kids when men decide to leave? aren't they the 'columns' of entire families around the world when men decide to just take care of themselves instead of the families they created? last but not least, all those men 'sitting at internet cafes' may belong to Nigeria, not South Africa so a little more imagination and geography may come handy too.

By: medea

medea — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:14:30 +0000

this type of construction exists in northern mexico at a shelter for abandoned handicapped children. the entire complex is built like this and the structures seem very solid. walls are thicker than regular adobe walls and they seem very thermal. ojosdedios.org is the website of this non for profit organization. every aspect of the complex is geared towards a “green” purpose

By: Cazola

Cazola — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:24:29 +0000

@Patricia – sand means sand. The Cape Flats are sand, not from the beach but from Table Mountain sandstone. The sandy soil is the reason it’s so hard to grown anything there unless you do trench gardening adn basically recreate real soil. So no shortage of sand. Ecobeams are a lot faster than adobe – but there are people doing cobbing and probably adobe too. I’m planning to set up a website cataloguing them soon. Or maybe not so soon – it takes time!

@Guillermo, the advantage with sandbags (as opposed to boards, etc) is that you can transport a few hundred empty sandbags easily in an ordinary car, whereas most people wouldn’t be able to transport boards. Getting the ecobeams themselves there is enough of a challenge – i tmay be possible to construct them on site from the wood and galvanised steel strips. (We try to avoid mortar too – stick to mud.)
I do admit to having reservations about nylon bags – what happens to them when the building is broken down or abandoned? Will they eventually be a danger to animals/sea creatures?

@s.rube: re steel tubes: wood is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Steel production takes a huge amount of energy. But thanks for all teh sugegstions – I will give them all some thought (even those I’ve ‘refuted’ here) when I build my ecobeam house this year.

By: patricia

patricia — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:12:25 +0000

The original article was lacking in visuals and also depth….Sandbags, yes but filled with what….So it was sand…..Is there no adobe possibility in Capetown?
Altho they are a flimsy design i would prefer the straw bale house or the adobe for sheer economy. of course it depends if the bags, filled with sand? (sand bag as a generic term) are serviced from a nearby source to make it
truly practical, but not so ecological plundering sand from beaches?
Nevertheless, the fact that housing is being designed for the poor in Capetown is very laudable.

By: poet

poet — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:07:43 +0000

I hope to see a follow up article about these homes after a year or two passes, it would be nice to think the families given the homes will care for them and possibly improve them. I do hope the best for them and kudos to the volounteers for trying. I cant help thinking (due to my experiance with volunteering) if its anything like habitat for humanity in the U.S they probably will have a a car on blocks and a babies daddy drinking a beer in the front yard by next year