Mud Talks: Preserving Earthen Architecture

Abstract

Cornerstones Community Partnerships (Cornerstones), in collaboration with Adobe in Action, is proposing the project Mud Talks: Preserving Earthen Architecture. This podcast series will conduct and publish 10 audio interviews with experts from the earthen architecture preservation field. Each interview will focus on a detailed step-by-step practical breakdown of an essential aspect of earthen preservation. The proposed program supports the Secretary of the Interior’s priority of identifying best practices to manage cultural resources and adapt to changes in the environment by creating training to protect and conserve architecture and lead to innovation in the preservation world.

The podcasts will focus on topics such as

• The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Preservation and earthen structure assessment
• capillary action and permeability
• structural issues and preservation practices
• basal and wall stabilization
• material identification and adobe making
• traditional plasters
• wood elements in earthen structures
• earth and stone
• structural retrofit of historic earthen buildings
• maintenance plans for earthen structures.

The podcast format was chosen for this project because it is a mobile-friendly device that is an excellent tool for reaching a diverse audience of current as well as future national historic preservation practitioners and increases accessibility. The Mud Talks: Preserving Earthen Architecture podcasts will be distributed through existing hosting and publishing platforms.

Personnel

Jake Barrow, Executive Director, Cornerstones Community Partnerships

Jake joined Cornerstones as Program Director in 2009 after retiring from a 30-year historic preservation career with the National Park Service (NPS). The majority of those years were spent in the southwest focusing on earthen, stone, and timber architecture where he served as project manager and architectural conservator. He began his career as a carpentry contractor in 1970 and started working in historic preservation in 1978 in the National Capital Region of the NPS. He first volunteered for Cornerstones in 1987 shortly after moving to Santa Fe. He was named Executive Director in April of 2016.

Kurt Gardella, Education Coordinator/Instructor, Adobe in Action

Kurt specializes in online and field-based adobe construction education and holds a certificate in Adobe Construction from Northern New Mexico College. He is certified as a Specialist for Building with Earth (by the Dachverband Lehm (German Association for Building with Earth) and the Handwerkskammer Ulm (Ulm Chamber of Trades and Crafts). Kurt has taught online adobe construction classes, which include over 80 podcast episodes, since 2006. He has a background in photography, filmmaking, and web design, and has attended numerous media workshops at the Werkleitz Gesellschaft in Germany.

Quentin Wilson, Project Consultant and Director Emeritus, Adobe Construction Program at Northern New Mexico College, and Interim Board President, Adobe in Action

Quentin 6 repairs and constructs adobe buildings and is a licensed construction contractor. He also taught adobe and solar classes at Northern New Mexico College, joined the college full time, and established and the Adobe Construction Program at the College.

Francisco Uviña-Contreras, Project Consultant and Director of the Historic Preservation and Regionalism Certificate Program at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning

Francisco received a BA in Architecture from the University of New Mexico and an MA in Architecture and a master’s Certificate in Preservation and Regionalism from the University of New Mexico. He worked for Cornerstones Community from1994 to 2008, assisting with field assessments, documentation of historic buildings, adaptive reuse design, and new design work utilizing traditional building methods as the Architectural and Technical Manager. Francisco is the co-author and illustrator of Cornerstones’ Adobe Architecture—A Conservation Handbook. He now serves as the Director for the Historic Preservation and Regionalism Graduate Certificate Program at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico.

Pat Taylor

Pat has been involved in carpentry and masonry for more than 40 years. He started contracting in 1987, specializing in adobe restoration in southern New Mexico. Pat has worked with Cornerstones as a program manager and adobe conservation specialist from 1990 to 2009. He provided technical assistance in addition to organizing, estimating, and supervising several historic preservation projects in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California, Texas, and Mexico. Pat is a co-author of the Cornerstones Adobe Conservation—A Preservation Handbook.