Auroville Earth Institute

Earth treated as a serious structural material. Since 1996 the institute has held the Asia seat of the UNESCO Chair for Earthen Architecture, working on compressed stabilised earth blocks, rammed earth, and vaults, arches and domes raised without formwork; among its results is an earthquake-resistant hollow interlocking block. The campus is its own proof - you walk under the earth-block domes it argues for - and the library of building manuals, surveys and theses is open to visitors. Courses, workshops and occasional open-house days run through the year. It is a working research centre, so write ahead rather than turning up.

Domes and vaults built out of soil, standing over your head as the argument