Adobe Vault
by Esfahk Mud Center
South Khorasan province, Iran
Project details
Year
2025
Project year
Under construction
Site area
425 m²
Project website
Location
Team credits
architects
- Esfahk Mud Center -
Pouya Khazaeli,
Amir Masoud Ahmadi,
Hosein Bagheri,
Behnaz Motarjem,
Mahta Makari,
Bardia Haji Rasouliha,
Jana Omidi,
Faezeh Darvish.
In the historical village of Esfahk, in Iran’s South Khorasan province, Adobe Vault reimagines ancient earthen building traditions for the present. The project is part of a long-term initiative by the Esfahk Mud Center, founded in 2015 to study and revive local clay and adobe techniques. Built by volunteers from Iran and abroad, the vault will serve as a concert and gathering space, reviving Do-Tar music – a folk tradition once banned – and reuniting the community through shared rituals of sound and space. When completed, Adobe Vault will be the largest pure-earth structure of its kind in the world. Beyond its impressive scale, it demonstrates how historical knowledge can generate sustainable, locally embedded solutions to contemporary ecological and social challenges.
The project grew out of years of research and workshops organized by the Esfahk Mud Center, asking how a contemporary design can emerge from traditional knowledge. The construction process brings together local craftspeople skilled in adobe techniques and volunteers with architectural training. This exchange of practical and academic knowledge enriches both sides: villagers refine their inherited skills through scientific insight, while architects rediscover the tactile and communal nature of building with earth. Through this collaboration, the team pursued the aesthetic and structural precision characteristic of historical architecture. Every decision – from the vault’s geometry to its detailing – arose from listening to the properties of raw earth itself.
All materials are sourced directly from the site. The vault is made entirely of unstabilized earth – no cement, lime or gypsum – making it a zero-carbon construction. Its form follows the natural behaviour and structural limits of the material. By using only local resources and labour, the structure feels inseparable from its surroundings. It rises from the landscape as if shaped by erosion and wind, both ancient and immediate in its presence.
Spatially, Adobe Vault forms a plaza between the farmlands and the historical village. At ground level, paths lead to an open gathering space where steps at the vault’s base double as seating. In front, a stage of rammed earth and brick creates a focal point for concerts, storytelling and community events. Nearby, a pond and fireplace anchor everyday social life. Here, architecture and landscape merge to support cultural revival. The return of Do-Tar performances gives voice to traditions once silenced, turning the site into a place of connection, reflection and renewal.
As a structure made entirely from the soil beneath it, Adobe Vault models a sustainable and replicable approach to building. Its low-tech, low-energy construction reduces emissions while strengthening local skills and social cohesion. The project demonstrates that ecological responsibility and cultural continuity can reinforce one another. At the same time, Adobe Vault builds bridges across backgrounds and generations. Local builders and volunteers collaborate in every phase, transforming construction into a shared act of learning and care.
The Esfahk Mud Center, based in the historical village of Esfahk, is a research and educational organization dedicated to reviving and innovating earthen construction techniques in Iran. Combining scientific and vernacular knowledge, it conducts workshops and builds experimental structures that test and showcase sustainable practices. For Adobe Vault, the Center assembled a mixed team of villagers and volunteer architects, encouraging cultural exchange and respect between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design thinking. This collaboration redefines architecture as a collective, hands-on process rooted in the realities of place. By working without industrial stabilizers or imported materials, the Center proves that the knowledge of the past can guide responsible design for the future.
The prize money will fund the completion of Adobe Vault and the creation of facilities for its future programme. Once finished, the plaza will host concerts, workshops and public gatherings – strengthening Esfahk’s identity as a living village of art, craft and learning. Built from the earth and for the community, Adobe Vault turns ancestral knowledge into a vision for a sustainable future, proof that even the humblest material can hold extraordinary cultural and architectural power.
- Information for the project text was provided by Esfahk Mud Center -
Image gallery
Advisory Committee Statement
‘Adobe Vault’ receives the award for Local Scale for the careful way it revives traditional building methods rooted in local knowledge of clay and mud construction, while creating a vibrant social and cultural gathering space. The Esfahk Mud Center beautifully and inclusively combines research with hands-on building, aiming to preserve and share traditional craftsmanship. It conveys an important message: what works should be continued – traditional crafts can be maintained while addressing today’s ecological, economic, and social challenges. The diverse group of volunteers involved in the construction—researchers and residents alike—is especially commended. The vault will serve as a space for music, helping to revive regional traditions within the fragile context of Iran. By bridging the landscape and the village, the project gains both cultural and spatial significance.