Architects around the world are reviving ancient mud construction as they seek to make sustainable buildings that can withstand extreme weather events, according to a feature from BBC News. Mud walls have a high thermal mass, meaning that they slowly absorb heat and store it, allowing them to keep buildings both warm and cool. Compared to concrete, mud has a very low impact on the environment and is fully recyclable, says the feature. Mud is also porous and can absorb excess moisture from the air.
"Mud is the champion of future sustainable construction," says Austrian architect Anna Heringer in the feature. She received the Aga Khan Award for architecture in 2007 for her earthen building the METI handmade school in Rudrapur, Bangladesh. She adds: "It is the only material we can recycle as often as we like, without using any energy."
Depending on the quality of its construction and foundations, the benefits of earthen architecture can extend to resilience to earthquakes and heavy winds. Mud buildings are also highly sophisticated in terms of adaptability. The feature quotes Salma Samar Damluji, co-founder of the Daw'an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation in Yemen, which is home to UNESCO-listed mud skyscrapers, as saying: "If you want to pull a wall down or change the design, you can recycle all the materials." Every mud house is therefore “comfortable, can be totally adapted and easily retrofitted with electricity and plumbing".
