spalls and although the joints in the walls were not “broken,” the result was frequently a marvelously straight and strong wall that lias stood the ravages of centuries. Molded adobe bricks, now so commonly used, were not made in pre-Spanish times, but balls of mud, mixed with ashes and sage, and dried, were in vogue as a building material in prehistoric times.
The advent of the Spaniards introduced
the use of brick-formed units in the so-called “adobe” construction. (Adobe—from the Spanish “adobar,” meaning to daub or plaster.) These sundried bricks! are made from native clays, being molded in roughly rectangular shapes, usually in two principal sizes, 18 x 9 x 4” and 16 x 12 x 4 . The larger are used as headers, the smaller as stretchers. The sides of the freshly molded units are turned alternately to the sun day by day for a week or two, stacking them up for use when sufficiently “baked.”
The hardened blocks are then laid up in adobe mortar and the entire exterior surface “stuccoed” with adobe mud, applied and smoothed by hand.
The resulting surface finish is rough and streaked with hand prints.
The roof supports of the houses consist chiefly of pine or cottonwood beams, with ends p r o t r u d i n g through the exterior walls. Light poles are then laid transversely across the beams, these in turn being covered with brush grass and adobe mud, well tamped.
Windows, at first
unknown, gradually found a place in these odd structures as living conditions became more peaceful. Flakes of selenite were pieced together for window panes, but these have given way to stock frames purchased from the white traders.
The corner fireplace and chimney have gradually taken the place of the former central fire-pit with the hatchway furnishing egress for the smoke.
Weathering has its effect on these adobe structures. Adobe soils are very plastic when wet and the finished walls soon show the effects of rain. The surface becomes marked with numerous irregular crevices formed as the dissolving “adobe” streaks its way to the ground. Each year the
THE FRANCISCAN HOTEL, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M.
REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION, EXTERIOR COATED WITH PORTLAND CEMENT STUCCO
THE MUSEUM OF ART, SANTA FE, N. M.
BRICK AND CONCRETE, PLASTERED ON EXTERIOR
The advent of the Spaniards introduced
the use of brick-formed units in the so-called “adobe” construction. (Adobe—from the Spanish “adobar,” meaning to daub or plaster.) These sundried bricks! are made from native clays, being molded in roughly rectangular shapes, usually in two principal sizes, 18 x 9 x 4” and 16 x 12 x 4 . The larger are used as headers, the smaller as stretchers. The sides of the freshly molded units are turned alternately to the sun day by day for a week or two, stacking them up for use when sufficiently “baked.”
The hardened blocks are then laid up in adobe mortar and the entire exterior surface “stuccoed” with adobe mud, applied and smoothed by hand.
The resulting surface finish is rough and streaked with hand prints.
The roof supports of the houses consist chiefly of pine or cottonwood beams, with ends p r o t r u d i n g through the exterior walls. Light poles are then laid transversely across the beams, these in turn being covered with brush grass and adobe mud, well tamped.
Windows, at first
unknown, gradually found a place in these odd structures as living conditions became more peaceful. Flakes of selenite were pieced together for window panes, but these have given way to stock frames purchased from the white traders.
The corner fireplace and chimney have gradually taken the place of the former central fire-pit with the hatchway furnishing egress for the smoke.
Weathering has its effect on these adobe structures. Adobe soils are very plastic when wet and the finished walls soon show the effects of rain. The surface becomes marked with numerous irregular crevices formed as the dissolving “adobe” streaks its way to the ground. Each year the
THE FRANCISCAN HOTEL, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M.
REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION, EXTERIOR COATED WITH PORTLAND CEMENT STUCCO
THE MUSEUM OF ART, SANTA FE, N. M.
BRICK AND CONCRETE, PLASTERED ON EXTERIOR