Auroville Earth Institute is a pioneering organization that has for decades led in the research and implementation of earth-based & sustainable building. The institute is part research institute, part evangelist – leading workshops and discussions all over the world in how to use the Earth to develop a more sustainable built environment.
Their work is widely influential, inspiring multiple groups and organizations all over the world to take up the practice of sustainable building.
The Institute has also expanded into designing equipment: it has designed, manufactured and distributed presses in collaboration with private partners. The presses are intended to work in conjunction with Auroville training and enable communities to produce structural materials from local resources.
Auroville also emphasizes a cultural function, promoting the reintroduction of traditional forms of building like arches, vaults & domes. In developing world contexts, ‘modern’ construction techniques can be either technically or economically out of reach. Returning to more traditional techniques allows for community self-empowerment as well as ecological sustainability.
Finally, Auroville has played a major function in disaster response as well. Particular to post-disaster conditions, Auroville’s work plays well. It is a form of knowledge and building that allows communities to self-recover, not relying on the bureaucracy of foreign governments or international NGOs. For areas that are seismically vulnerable, Auroville has been experimenting, developing and implementing different strategies of reinforced compressed earth block that are as safe as any ‘modern’ form of construction.
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