Auroville Earth Institute

TBT to 2009's team and beautiful memories!
Want to part of this fun family?? Join the Clan!
Register for the upcoming workshop through our website! Link in bio.

We joined Satprem, over a virtual meet as he took us on a journey to Costa Rica and shared details of the project.

Situated in Central America, Costa Rica boasts lush rainforests, a diverse ecosystem, and pristine beaches. Recently, Satprem was approached to spearhead technology transfer, facilitating the implementation of earthen architecture as a means to promote greener and more sustainable building practices.

This issue covers our activities during the latter half of 2023, and shares succinct accounts of our experiences with projects, research, conferences, media features and much more as we continue the journey of disseminating the knowledge of earthen architecture across the world!

You can find the link to the publication :http://www.earth-auroville.com/maintenance/uploaded_pics/2023-12-avei-newsletter.pdf
and through our website in the link in bio.
Subscribe to our email list to ensure you never miss our updates, by scanning the QR code in the previous post.

Join the conversation with our Sr. architect Radhika, about earthen architecture and the significance of low embodied energy, in the context of green buildings!

Years ago, we ventured on a journey to discover the magic hidden in Earthen Architecture.

And then, we thought we should reveal a few of them to you too!
#

The 6350 sq.m foundation of Osodhara Dome with its never before explored 33m span is near completion!!

The Director of the Auroville Earth Institute, Satprem Maïni, UNESCO Chair Representative “Earthen Architecture, Constructive Cultures and Sustainable Development” for Asia, has been expulsed from India and has to leave the country before the 1st of July, because his stay visa was revoked even though it was valid till Dec 2025.

He has given almost 34 years of his life to Auroville - An International experimental township based on human unity - given all the money from his savings, created Millions of Rupees of assets in Auroville, contributed to large developments in India and made the Auroville Earth Institute one of the world leaders in the field of earthen architecture. He has trained more than 14,000 people from 94 countries with his team, to teach them how to build sustainable homes. He has contributed to a lot of developments in India, like assisting the construction of more than 3,000 houses in Gujarat after the 2001 earthquake, with more than a million square meters built. 14 awards have been granted for the contributions that he made to India. The certificate of one of them was awarded by the then President of India, Sri Abdul Kalam on 27th July 2007. He was also granted the first prize of the Prince Sultan Bin Salman Award for Urban Heritage in 2010, for Al Medy Mosque built in 2004 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

No reason has been given for the revocation of his recommendation. Seemingly, this was a retaliation from the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation because of the reports written by Satprem on the Crown Road construction. If Satprem is forced to leave, that means the probable end of the Auroville Earth Institute. This will result in losing out on one of the finest training centres responsible for the largest growing network of earthen construction in the country and the world.

Sign the following petition to support Satprem to be able to continue his invaluable contribution towards sustainable development in Auroville and India.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0v76R31cuv9qiL952JGjIKBLTiF1xu9VKWF1hlQmW4V0L5g/viewform?embedded=true

📢 We’re looking for an enthusiastic, passionate person to join our team as the Communication and Website Specialist.

If you’re interested in writing and communicating architecture, willing to learn about earthen construction & sustainability and have an eye for content creation, reach out to us.

Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite (mainly InDesign and Photoshop) and WordPress would be preferred, with some basics of HTML being a bonus.
However, we’d be happy to give you the time to work on building your familiarity while on the job.

Mail us your CV, along with a sample of an essay, research article, or other writing to apply for this position.

1h

📢 Seats for our upcoming On-Campus AVD Theory Course from June 19th to 24th are quickly filling up!

Find more details about the course content and register on the link in bio.

All slots are on a first comes, first served basis, so once the accommodation is filled the rest of the trainees will have to arrange their own accommodation. Register early to save your seat.

See you soon!

Ensure that the CSEB you choose to build with meets the minimum required standards of strength and finish.

For guidance, refer to our previous post on the 'Checklist for Good Practices for CSEB Production'

And share the post to help us spread awareness to maintain the global standard of CSEB construction.
 

Ensure that the CSEB you choose to build with meets the minimum required standards of strength and finish.

For guidance, refer to this 'Checklist for Good Practices for CSEB Production'

And share the post to help us spread awareness to maintain the global standard of CSEB construction.
 

Ensure that the CSEB you choose to build with meets the minimum required standards of strength and finish.

For guidance, refer to our next post on the 'Checklist for Good Practices for CSEB Production'

And share the post to help us spread awareness to maintain the global standard of CSEB construction.
 

Last month, GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) hosted a 2-day event in Auroville with the key stakeholders from 4 cities (Surat, Pune, Nagpur and Bhubaneswar) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as a part of the German Development Corporation project on “Reduction of Air Pollution in Three Indian Cities”.

Our Communication and Website Specialist, Malavika, hosted the delegates for a campus tour of the Earth Institute as a living example of sustainable technology and solutions to facilitate experience sharing and envisioning implementation of key strategies. She introduced AVEI’s activities, research and knowledge and our impact in developing and disseminating energy efficient and disaster-resistant construction technologies.

We thank Auroville Green Practices and Auroville Consulting for the smooth coordination of the event and are delighted to hear that the delegates found their visit inspiring and informative. We hope it supports their mission of developing sustainable solutions in their cities and look forward to future collaboration with all the participants and organisers!

The 50th Newsletter of AVEI is now available!

This issue covers our activities during the latter half of 2022, and shares succinct accounts of our experiences with constructions, research, conferences, media features and much more as we continue the journey of disseminating the knowledge of earth architecture across the world.

You can access the publication on the following linkhttps://www.earth-auroville.com/maintenance/uploaded_pics/2022-12-avei-newsletter.pdf
Subscribe to our email list to ensure you never miss our updates, by scanning the QR code in the previous post or using the following link.
https://mailchi.mp/9f086ad3edd2/ewl3jp9gdb

Our 50th Newsletter will be published tomorrow!

Make sure you subscibe to our Newsletters to stay up-to date on our activities by scanning the QR code above or clicking the following link.
https://mailchi.mp/9f086ad3edd2/ewl3jp9gdb

This latest issue will give a succint recap of our main activities in the latter half of 2022!

Stay tuned for the publication tomorrow. ✨

President of La Voûte Nubienne, Benoît Lambert, visited the Earth Institute earlier this week and was introduced to our work and campus by our Co-director Ayyapan and Senior Architect Radhika.

The exchange of knowledge and techniques, especially of earthen Arches, Vaults and Domes (AVD), was invigorating to partake in and we look forward to more opportunities of mutual dissemination.
Learn more about AVD construction with our On-campus or Offline Training Courses.

Head to the link in Bio for more information.

Happy New Year from us at Auroville Earth Institute!

A recent ArchDaily article titled ‘Pioneering the Revival of Earth Architecture: Egypt, France, and India’ credited Ar. Hassan Fathy, CRAterre and Auroville Earth Institute respectively, for spearheading the renaissance of earthen architecture across the world.

It recounted the contribution of each in the research, construction and training of earthen construction and its consequent role in bringing earth to the forefront of contemporary built environment.

The Earth Institute was particularly cited for being ‘the world’s largest and most rapidly growing carbon economy’ and its crucial role in building a movement of sustainable practitioners in India and the world.
Read the full article here:
https://www.archdaily.com/992851/pioneering-the-revival-of-earth-architecture-egypt-france-and-india

Arches, Vaults and Domes (AVD) have been used since millennia worldwide. With the developments in the 20th century of reinforced cement concrete, tensile and steel structures, vaulted structures have been left aside since then.

The Auroville Earth Institute attempts to revive these techniques, shapes and skills of builders with the aim of increasing awareness about the possibilities of such roofing and continue their R&D to integrate them into the techniques of the 21st century.
Get trained by us on these and many more construction techniques by joining us on campus for our training courses. Register using the link in bio!

Registrations for our 2023 Training Courses are now open!

Swipe to see the dates of the On-Campus and Online Training Schedule and save the post to refer later.

As the UNESCO Chair of EARTHEN ARCHITECTURE, Constructive Cultures and Sustainable Development in Asia, we have trained over 13,900 participants from 93 countries forming one of the world’s leading networks in sustainable development.

Join us next year to gain the knowledge of earth construction and its low carbon & cost-effective ex*****on.
Registrations have already begun and are on a first come, first served basis.

Head to the following link or use the link in our bio for more info and register to confirm your slot!
https://www.earth-auroville.com/training_overview_en.php

Auroville Earth Institute | Introduction to Natural Building in Auroville | Auroras Eye Films Have you heard of Auroville Earth Institute? Here is a little Intro video on what happens there.... ...

Natural Rammed Earth Building | JOI Social Space | Auroville Earth Institute Rammed earth is an ancient building technique for constructing foundations, floors, walls using natural raw material.Benefits of rammed earth include strengt...

AVEI was cited in the LiFE-Lifestyle for Environment compendium ‘Prayas se Prabhav tak’, one of the key documents released at the Indian Pavilion of COP 27.

The document aimed to highlight on-ground projects in India that have exemplified the principles of environmental consciousness and mindful utilization of resources.

We were 1 among 2 of the only projects featured under the Building category, highlighting our research of CSEB, earthquake resistant technology and our global impact training thousands in earth construction, among other things.

Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav released India's Long term Low emission development Strategy as well at the Indian Pavilion of COP27 which saw a footfall of around 25,000 people.
Head to the link below to access the ‘Prayaas se Prabhav Tak’ document to read about all the projects highlighted.
https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-11/Prayaas_Se_Prabhaav%20Tak.pdf
Image courtesy: pib.gov.in

UNESCO marked the 30th anniversary of the 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐎/𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 by holding an International Conference entitled “𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬” at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, on 3rd and 4th November.
Being the 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 of the UNESCO Chair “Earthen Architecture, Constructive Culture and Sustainable Development”, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦 𝐌𝐚ï𝐧𝐢 was invited to attend this two-day event celebrating the spirit of scientific, moral, intellectual and academic solidarity.
Over 500 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 from 80 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, representing some 250 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 were in attendance, covering many fields in higher education and research, from social science, natural science, medical science, ocean science, technologies, architecture to information and communication technologies, human rights, community empowerment, artificial intelligence, and many more.
Livestream of the Conference can be found on the following link
http://webcast.unesco.org/events/2022-11-UNITWIN/
Follow us at https://www.instagram.com/earth.institute/ , to learn about our role as a UNESCO chair and our work in earthen architecture.

A quick read about the 𝐇𝐨𝐧'𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫'𝐬 recent visit to Auroville and the hopeful way forward for the community, featured in The Hindu
"𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 2022”, 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴 “𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥”, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 “𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦”."
Tap the link below to read the full article.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/a-ray-of-hope-in-auroville-to-break-down-walls-and-restore-harmony/article66066032.ece

A ray of hope in Auroville to break down walls and restore harmony Auroville governing board chairman and Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi had informal discussions with the three reconstituted working groups — the Working Committee, the Funds and Assets Management Committee and the Auroville Town Development Council

Last week, on 19-10-22, AVEI had the pleasure of hosting the respected Governor of Tamil Nadu, R. N. Ravi, who is also the Chairman of Auroville Foundation, along with Dr. Jayanti Ravi, Secretary of Auroville Foundation and a member of the Working Committee elected by the Resident’s Assembly of Auroville. Our director, Satprem, gave a tour of our office, exhibition room and laboratory while introducing the Earth Institute’s work and research, particularly CSEB (Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks).
It was encouraging to behold the Governor’s inquisitiveness and enthusiasm to learn more about Earth Construction and the worldwide impact of AVEI.
Follow us at https://www.instagram.com/earth.institute/ to learn more about Earth Architecture and stay up to date on our daily activity.
Click the link below to see our recourses that have open access for all.
https://www.earth-auroville.com/resource_centre_en.php