Archinect - News2024-12-11T17:05:32-05:00https://archinect.com/news/article/150373972/conservation-expert-cautions-narratives-about-traditional-earthen-architecture-and-the-moroccan-earthquake-are-flawed
Conservation expert cautions: Narratives about traditional earthen architecture and the Moroccan earthquake are flawed Josh Niland2023-09-18T14:37:00-04:00>2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/54/54a71d06ca24d20cf0a0cdd4ce5e70b8.jpeg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>The rush to blame the destruction that ensued in the wake of this month’s devastating <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150371312/moroccan-heritage-sites-severely-impacted-by-recent-earthquake" target="_blank">6.9 magnitude earthquake in Morocco</a> on <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/207825/rammed-earth" target="_blank">rammed earth</a> and the region's other traditional earthen construction methods is a flawed conjecture, according to an explanation penned recently by <a href="https://archinect.com/schools/cover/48672243/university-of-york" target="_blank">University of York</a> lecturer Louise Cooke.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://theconversation.com/morocco-earthquake-why-traditional-earthen-architecture-is-not-to-blame-for-the-destruction-communities-have-endured-213470" target="_blank">article</a> featured in <em>The Conversation</em> over the weekend, Cooke refuted some of what she calls inaccuracies latent in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/11/morocco-earthquake-cause-geological-map/" target="_blank">popular media narrative</a> about the country’s traditional architectures, namely that their structural designs make them susceptible to collapses during seismic events. She says the popular consensus about traditional architecture is a mischaracterization, adding that the disaster’s true culprit lies in a hastened shift away from age-old building and maintenance methods caused by outside influence from modern Western design.</p>
<p>“In the immediate aftermath of an earthquake, it is common for local building cultures to be blamed for their own destruction,” the...</p>
https://archinect.com/news/article/150339728/in-praise-of-mud
In praise of mud Nam Henderson2023-02-20T10:31:00-05:00>2023-02-21T14:12:06-05:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/1d/1d45be2a13a6731dbdb5aaa7aa94264f.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>The material is essentially free, or at least locally available for a fraction of the cost of concrete...Mud construction contributes little to global warming. And concrete tends to be a gateway, once people can afford it, to another fossil-fuel-guzzling invention: air-conditioning.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Peter Schwartzstein explores the work of folks such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/people/Archi-Bati-Consult/100064942143601/" target="_blank">Clara Sawadogo</a>, <a href="https://archinect.com/firms/cover/79859021/k-r-architecture" target="_blank">Francis Kéré</a> and <a href="https://salimanaji.com/" target="_blank">Salima Naji</a> who are trying to rekindle an interest in materials and methods that have a long tradition in Africa and the Middle East.<br></p>
https://archinect.com/news/article/150317483/mud-the-world-s-ancient-building-material-deserves-to-have-a-bright-future
Mud, the world's ancient building material, deserves to have a bright future Josh Niland2022-07-21T18:23:00-04:00>2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/b2/b20e8d6fc37f1a5be57b7ed767571290.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Even though the buildings in Sana'a are thousands of years old, they remain "terribly contemporary", says Salma Samar Damluji, co-founder of the Daw'an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation in Yemen.
Damluji says it is easy to see why these mud buildings have not lost their appeal – they are well-insulated, sustainable and extremely adaptable for modern use. "It is the architecture of the future," says Damluji.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Yemen’s largest city Sana'a may even supplant <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150289055/francis-k-r-and-others-are-attempting-to-muddy-up-the-rising-use-of-concrete-in-west-africa" target="_blank">Franis Kéré's home country</a> as the world’s leading rammed earth capital, with a host of stunning, <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/385" target="_blank">UNESCO-protected sites</a> scattered around its Old City area. The material is one of many in an arsenal of alternatives being used to combat <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150317426/record-high-temperatures-are-making-european-cities-look-elsewhere-for-future-heat-mitigation-plans" target="_blank">high temperatures</a> and reduce global carbon footprints, a scant 5% of which can be attributed to all 54 African nations, as the Pritzker Prize winner pointed out last week in a preview of his own <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150316809/pritzker-winner-francis-k-r-is-on-a-mission-to-tackle-misconceptions-about-africa-at-the-triennale-di-milano" target="_blank">locally-sourced designs</a> for the Triennale di Milano.</p>
<figure><figure><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/d1/d1da54971e620d96d263395c8abb801a.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/d1/d1da54971e620d96d263395c8abb801a.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=514"></a><figcaption>Earlier on Archinect: <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150289055/francis-k-r-and-others-are-attempting-to-muddy-up-the-rising-use-of-concrete-in-west-africa" target="_blank">Francis Kéré and others are attempting to muddy up the rising use of concrete in West Africa</a></figcaption></figure></figure><p>Elsewhere in the world, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220705-the-sustainable-cities-made-from-mud" target="_blank"><em>BBC</em>'s Future Planet</a> offers Austrian architect Anna Heringer’s <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/332181/aga-khan-award-for-architecture" target="_blank">Aga Khan Award-</a>winning <a href="https://archinect.com/news/bustler/8358/the-2021-philippe-rotthier-european-prize-for-architecture-winners-have-been-revealed" target="_blank">METI handmade school design</a> in Bangladesh as a contemporary example of its successful export and application. As she and others pointed out, mud's ability to circumvent the need for more air-conditioning on a warming planet is a huge selling...</p>
https://archinect.com/news/article/150289055/francis-k-r-and-others-are-attempting-to-muddy-up-the-rising-use-of-concrete-in-west-africa
Francis Kéré and others are attempting to muddy up the rising use of concrete in West Africa Josh Niland2021-11-22T15:24:00-05:00>2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/00/00dd7f2b212962794a87d21ecff0e42b.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Architects, officials, and villagers confirm the trend: People are discarding traditional materials, mostly mud, in favor of concrete, as soon as they can afford it. As living standards increase making concrete more accessible, some of the world’s hottest, poorest landscapes are rapidly morphing from brown to cinder block grey.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Architects like <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150272032/francis-k-r-s-latest-project-brings-a-termite-inspired-design-to-the-kenyan-lowlands" target="_blank">Francis Kéré</a> have been attempting to buck the trend of using concrete by experimenting with <a href="https://eartharchitecture.org/?cat=77" target="_blank">upgraded versions</a> of terrestrial materials like mud bricks that simultaneously provide tools for community-building in developing countries like Burkina Faso.</p>
<figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/5f/5f10baa5b1fab00359bba13252eb9763.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/5f/5f10baa5b1fab00359bba13252eb9763.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Facade detail of Kéré Architecture's Burkina Institute of Technology. Photo: Jaime Herraiz.</figcaption></figure><p>The ancient material is much more heat-adaptable when compared to concrete, which is increasingly valuable in an area whose number of <a href="https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2018-march-2019/global-warming-severe-consequences-africa#:~:text=West%20Africa%20has%20been%20identified,resultant%20impacts%20on%20food%20security.&text=West%20and%20Central%20Africa%20will,C%20and%202%C2%B0%20C." target="_blank">extreme heat days</a> is expected to rapidly increase over the next three decades due to climate change.</p>
<p>“It’s a matter of time, it’s a matter of belief. It’s a matter of political will,” Kéré, told <em>National Geographic</em>. “But there’s a lot of accumulated knowledge now. In 10 years, you’re going to be surprised by our success.”</p>
https://archinect.com/news/article/149972966/the-taj-mahal-yellowed-by-smog-is-getting-a-restorative-mud-mask
The Taj Mahal, yellowed by smog, is getting a restorative mud mask Amelia Taylor-Hochberg2016-10-10T13:20:00-04:00>2016-10-10T13:20:10-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/19/19hkukpazrb368k8.JPG?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>The famed monument to love ... has for years been acquiring a yellow tinge despite a ban on coal-powered industries in the area.
Authorities have been applying "mud packs" around the side walls and towers since last year to draw the impurities out of the stone, but have not yet touched the main central dome. [...]
The mud-pack therapy involves covering the surface with fuller's earth and leaving it to dry before removing it with soft brushes and distilled water.</p></em><br /><br /><p>More from the annals of preservation:</p><ul><li><a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/145189824/never-the-same-river-twice-experimental-preservation-and-architectural-authorship-with-jorge-otero-pailos-on-archinect-sessions-47" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Never the Same River Twice" – Experimental preservation and architectural authorship with Jorge Otero-Pailos, on Archinect Sessions #47</a></li><li><a title="Saddam Hussain's architectural heritage—and what to do with it" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149968391/saddam-hussain-s-architectural-heritage-and-what-to-do-with-it" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Saddam Hussain's architectural heritage—and what to do with it</a></li><li><a title="The Seagram Building after the Four Seasons: maintaining a costly landmark" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149958646/the-seagram-building-after-the-four-seasons-maintaining-a-costly-landmark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Seagram Building after the Four Seasons: maintaining a costly landmark</a></li><li><a title='No guarantees for historic residential architecture in "real-estate limbo"' href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149942153/no-guarantees-for-historic-residential-architecture-in-real-estate-limbo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">No guarantees for historic residential architecture in "real-estate limbo"</a></li><li><a title="The price of keeping Britain's 'Downton Abbeys' from crumbling" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149940743/the-price-of-keeping-britain-s-downton-abbeys-from-crumbling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The price of keeping Britain's 'Downton Abbeys' from crumbling</a></li></ul>