Pueblo Adobe – Natural Air Conditioning
Indigenous people in the southwest had a particular problem when developing their buildings. The desert climate is hot, dry, and not as full of the wood so abundant in other Native American regions below the Arctic. But Pueblo design found a way to make these problems work for them. They developed adobe, a mix of clay, straw, small pebbles, sand, and water.
The sun baked the mix to form a mud brick. A thick plaster covered the adobe brick. Wood was scarce, but carefully used as a frame and laid to create beams, called viga, for a flat roof. The ends of the viga stick out of the wall, staying visible and giving the adobe home its distinct look. The best part? It was thick, and in a near-windowless building, it kept the heat of the day out. It was a natural air conditioning.
