Superadobe Generator — free 3D earthbag dome design studio
Superadobe Generator is a free, open-source web app for designing
superadobe (earthbag) buildings — the natural construction technique developed by
architect Nader Khalili at the Cal-Earth Institute, where long polypropylene bags are filled with
moistened earth and coiled into dome courses with barbed wire between layers.
What it does
- Layout: position domes, vaults and cylinders in 3D; overlap domes into complexes with corridors, apses, doors, windows and skylights.
- Layering: see the structure course by course, exactly as it would be built — every bag layer and the barbed wire between courses.
- Materials & time: bag/tube length, barbed wire, earth fill volume, plaster, foundation, build-time estimate for your crew, and an eco score.
- Simulation: structural utilisation, bearing and sliding checks, plus thermal, seismic and wind read-outs.
- Real terrain: import a scanned point cloud of your plot (.ply / .xyz) and place structures on the actual ground.
The science
The dome geometry follows the published equations for superadobe domed structures
(a revolved offset circular arc, not a hemisphere) and the construction rules from
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid research: "Equations that describe the geometry of Superadobe
domed structures" (López, González, Llauradó) and "A study of the geometry and structural
performance of Superadobe domes" (López Gómez, doctoral thesis, UPM 2021).
FAQ
Is it free? Yes — free, open source, no signup. The code is on GitHub.
What is superadobe? An earthbag building technique: earth-filled bags coiled into
self-supporting domes, reinforced with barbed wire between courses. Low-cost, low-carbon and owner-buildable.
What do I need to run it? Just a browser — this app needs JavaScript and WebGL enabled.
Please enable JavaScript to use the designer.
Source code on GitHub ·
Documentation ·
Geometry & simulation study ·
llms.txt (for AI assistants)