Khalili, Nader

Khalili, Nader

(1936–2008)Khalili founded the Cal-Earth Institute near Hesperia, CA, which teaches students how to construct low-cost adobe homes. Among his many innovations is the “super adobe” Earthbag construction system, developed in the 1980s for NASA in response to a call for designs for human settlements on the Moon and Mars. He also developed the Gelaftan Earth-and-Fire system, a technique for ceramicizing adobe to provide a low-cost building material for homes in earthquake-and storm-prone areas. He was the author of five books, including Ceramic Houses and Earth Architecture: How to Build Your Own.