SuperAdobe Housing in Gaza

$7,741.04

Raised

Donations

$13,000

Goal

What if disenfranchised communities had the ability to produce essential needs for themselves, instead of relying on Aid?

Nushoor Institute, with Hidden Humanity (https://hiddenhumanity.org/) and our partners on-the-ground in Gaza - Veranda Design (https://verandadesign.org/) - are determined to accomplish this for the housing crisis, by bringing Architect Nader Khalili's SuperAdobe innovation into Gaza.

Many have seen families suffering in tents torn apart by rough winds, and unable to stop the floodwaters several months ago. Now the families suffer from the excruciatingly hot desert summers with little shelter.

A SuperAdobe home is made from materials all sourced locally within Gaza - a mixture of clay and sand, empty flour bags (previously provided by the United Nations) along with wire. The mixture is packed inside the bags, then the bags are formed into a dome and held together by layers of wire.

Examples of the homes available on CalEarth.org, SuperAdobe home being built (top) and a finished structure (bottom):

©Cal-Earth, ©Caves and Arches by Anne Burgess/Wikimedia Commons

This structure has been credited with surviving earthquakes, keeping the indoors cool during hot summers through "passive cooling", and can be built quickly provided enough labor is available.

Previously, Veranda Design and Nushoor built a Greenhouse in Gaza using rebar harvested from the concrete rubble, to assist in Veranda's goal of food sovereignty in Gaza by growing agricultural kits to families in the Greenhouse and distributing them to families.

Now we hope to bring the same sustainable focus to Gaza for housing.

Help us build the first SuperAdobe home in Gaza using materials available locally, as a step towards a more self-reliant future!

About our partners: Veranda Design

Led by 2 sisters, Qamar and Suzan Attallah, they started EcoDesign business after studying at the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza. October 3rd, 2023 they left for a business trip to Cairo. On October 7th, 2023, the border closed, and they have been outside Gaza since.

Their team and community suffered like everyone else. What was once a 20+ person company is now a dedicated five-person team still working on the ground. Veranda built a greenhouse and a “land lab” in Gaza, which produced and distributed Agriculture kits for families to grow their own food, a “soil lab” creating nutrient rich soil from organic material from the local landfills, and experimented with other growing methods such as hydroponics.

More about them here:

https://youtu.be/L0FfhGx31pg?is=y4OuKVsNjEZ4jQ0A

Where will funds be used

All funds will be directed towards Veranda’s team in Gaza to build the first SuperAdobe structure.

If additional funds remain, they will be be given to the employees in the form of food parcels among other essential needs.

Learn more about SuperAdobe here:

https://calearth.org/

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190228-what-is-superadobe

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2025-02-20/superadobe-calearth-hesperia-fire-resistant-los-angeles

https://www.latimes.com/00000195-d9d3-d1bd-a5bf-dff7621b0000-123

Nushoor Structures team preparing instructional material for Veranda Design:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RzKYxClv56M