Building with Earth: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture

182 Built examples

Cultural Centre, La Paz, Bolivia

Architect: Gernot Minke, Kassel, Germany

Supervisor: Alexander Fischer, La Paz, Bolivia

Completion: 2000

Area: 75 m^2

For the Goethe Institute in La Paz, an adobe

dome was erected as a multi-purpose hall

for cultural events. The dome, erected with-

out formwork and with the aid of a rotation

device, has an unobstructed diameter of

8.8 m and an unobstructed height of 5.65 m.

It was constructed of 9,400 specially hand-

made adobes. Corners were rounded for

the sake of improved space acoustics. The

three holes serve as grips for lighter hand-

ling, reducing weight and elevating thermal

insulation. The dome is covered by fibre-

glass reinforcement with a synthetic coating.

The acrylic coating contains aluminium pow-

der, which reflects ultraviolet radiation.