Ceramic Houses and Earth Architecture: How to Build Your Own

Nader Khalili, an Iranian-born California architect and author, is the designer and innovator of the Geltaftan Earth-and-Fire System known as "ceramic houses" as well as the Superadobe building technologies. He received his education in Iran, Turkey, and the United States, and has been a licensed architect in California since 1970. In 1975, he closed his successful practice in the United States and Iran designing high-rise buildings and journeyed by motorcycle for five years through the Iranian desert, where he worked closely with local villagers to develop his earth architecture prototypes. His impressions have been collected in his book Racing Alone. Mr. Khalili serves as a consultant to the United Nations and is a contributor to NASA on construction technologies for the moon and Mars. He is the founder and director of the Cal-Earth Institute, Geltaftan Foundation-dedicated to research and development in earth and space architecture technologies for the moon and Mars.

Khalili presently lives in the Mojave desert city of Hesperia, California (north east of Los Angeles). He has a son, Dastan, and a daughter, Sheefteh. He continues to work as an architect, teacher, and author. His books include Ceramic Houses and Earth Architecture: How to Build Your Own, Emergency Sandbag Shelter: How to Build Your Own, and Sidewalks on the Moon: Journey of a Mystic Architect.