Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Sandbag Shelters
Location: Ahwaz, Iran (Central Asia)Architect: Cal-Earth Institute, Nader Khalili
Client: UNDP/UNHCR Tehran
Completed: 1995
Site size: 2'200 m²
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Sandbag Shelters Project BriefEmergency housing for refugees, sponsored by UN agencies and designed by an architect at the Cal-Earth Institute. The arch-shaped adobe houses are seismically safe, impervious to weather conditions, and built using war materials. Sandbags are filled with on-site earth, arranged in layers and lined with strands of barbed wire to act as mortar. Stabilizers like cement, lime and asphalt emulsion are added to the structures, which are fired", turning the mud into a ceramic-like material. They measure 14 square metres each and, significantly, cost only $4 to construct."
Upgraded shelter, section II Niches were not built at Baninajar Camp© AKTC
Upgraded shelter, section I Niches were not built at Baninajar Camp© AKTC
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Upgraded shelter, floor plan Niches were not built at Baninajar Camp
© AKTC
Sandbag architecture students learning the essence of building with earth, Cal Earth Institute. Pre project phase.© Cal-Earth Institute
Early research, sandbag dome shelter using corbelled method. Pre project phase.© Cal-Earth Institute
First completed sandbag dome prototype later tested for seismic resistance, standard sandbags, earth & barbed wire. Pre project phase.© Cal-Earth Institute
Standard 4-point barbed wire placed between bag rows as seismic & tensile reinforcement. Pre project phase.© Cal-Earth Institute
Interior of prototype dome corbelled sandbags & apse using traditional leaning arches technique. Pre project phase, structural testing in 1995.© Cal-Earth Institute
Continuous coils speed up construction short pipe sections integrate easily to simplify & beatify windows© Cal-Earth Institute
Flexibility for larger round windows long bag coils© Cal-Earth Institute
Small house, 34 sq. m., five rooms a dome with 4 large apses can upgrade emergency shelter into long-term home© Cal-Earth Institute
Men & women participate in construction© Cal-Earth Institute
Clusters of sandbag shelters can allow refugees to reconstruct their own social & cultural environments© Cal-Earth Institute
Interior of 3 vaulted house Khalili's design typology of offset vaults uses Superadobe construction to build conventional rectangular rooms which are repeated as needed for small or large shelters/homes© Cal-Earth Institute
Additional prototypes© Cal-Earth Institute
Public benefit teaching. Additional prototypes.© Cal-Earth Institute
Emergency shelters, UN village, Cal-Earth Institute. Additional prototypes.© Cal-Earth Institute
Prototype Emergency Shelters of different shapes and sizes. Additional prototypes.© Cal-Earth Institute
Additional prototypes© Cal-Earth Institute
Exterior view of continued research and development of clustered structures, upgraded with doors, windows, and bad-gir. Additional prototypes.© Cal-Earth Institute
Technical development continues at Cal-Earth Institute post project for emergency shelters using long sandbag coils (Superadobe), barbed wire, and clustering spaces. Additional prototypes.© Cal-Earth Institute
2004 Award Recipients
Review and Selection Procedures
Press: Press Releases, Speeches, Podcasts
AKAA 2004 Resources
Other 2004 Cycle Recipients
Old City of Jerusalem Revitalisation Programme
Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque
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