On Saturday March 29th, from 11:00 am throughout the afternoon, Nader Khalili's surviving family and students invite all who were his friends and supporters to remember and celebrate his life, words and works, at his Cal-Earth Institute, in Hesperia, California, amongst his visionary architecture. (directions)
Rather than flowers, please send a contribution to a charity which helps the poor and refugees, in his name.

Nader Khalili, internationally renowned architect, author, and educator, passed away at the age of 72 on Wednesday, March 5th.

Khalili was known for his innovation of the Geltaftan Earth-and-Fire System known as Ceramic Houses and the Superadobe (sandbag and barbed wire) construction technique also known as Earthbag. He developed the SuperAdobe technology in 1984, in response to a NASA call for designs for human settlements on the Moon and Mars. He had been involved with Earth Architecture and Third World Development since 1975, and was a U.N. consultant for Earth Architecture.

In 1991 he founded the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth), in Hesperia, CA, which teaches his philosophy and earth architecture technique. His sustainable solutions to human shelter have been published by NASA, and awarded by the United Nations, and the Aga Khan award for Architecture, amongst others.

He authored six books, including his international best-selling auto-biography, "Racing Alone," (his newest book "Emergency Shelter," available this summer) as well as two highly-acclaimed volumes translating the poetry of Rumi, "Fountain of Fire" and "Dancing the Flame."

Born in Iran as one of nine children, his quest was to empower the world's poor and refugees to build homes using the earth under their feet. He was a prominent American leader on the value of ethically based architecture, where the needs of the homeless are considered above all else.

Inspired by the mystical poetry of Rumi, (whose poems he studied and translated, from an early age) his architecture was distilled from the timeless principles of this universe and its timeless materials -- the elements of earth, water, air, and fire, and has been described as "Poetry crystallized into structure." Laura Huxley, Aldous Huxley's widow, called Khalili the "practical visionary."

He was a quiet hero and a gentle humanitarian, who wrote: "No one can prove there is a meaning to life. I must make my own life meaningful. That is all."

He is survived by his wife Iliona, son Dastan, daughter Sheefteh, eight brothers and sisters and extended family.

Other articles about his life and work.
Nader Khalili's Biography.

The Burial Ceremony took place on Tuesday March 11th at the Sontag Greek Amphitheater, Pomona College, and at Oak Park Cemetery where he is buried. The main entrance is at the end of Oak Park Drive, cross street with Sycamore Avenue. (909) 399-5487 After the burial, the wake/refreshments were at the Seaver House, Pomona College close to the Eco-Dome and the organic garden.