It Always Takes a Village: Preserving Earthen Sites

Abstract

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has worked with different institutions and professionals around the world over the past thirty years, engaging in projects and initiatives to advance the field of earthen conservation. The GCI has sought to improve practice, by working across professions and cultures, using both advanced research and traditional know-how through its Getty Seismic Adobe Project (GSAP), the Terra Project (Terra), and nowadays the Earthen Architecture Initiative (EAI). Understanding how earthen buildings were constructed and adapted to their environments has been a fundamental principle of the different training courses, model projects, research and dissemination of information that the GCI has developed and continue working on. The current paper describes the work of the GCI and its multiple partners over the years to improve the field of earthen conservation while emphasizing the importance of multidisciplinary work.