Earth as a material for construction of modern houses

Abstract

Earth was used for construction of residential buildings in the past. Due to the more widespread tendency toward the use of sustainable local materials, earth is present as one of the dominant materials for building of modern houses. The implemented techniques for construction of earth houses differ depending on the characteristics of a region and architectural tradition. This paper presents the characteristics of earth as a building material, traditional techniques for construction of residential buildings using earth, regulations which permit the construction in many countries of the world, as well as traditional residential building constructing techniques which use earth. Likewise, through the emblematic realizations of contemporary architecture it was shown that earth houses have the potential to provide the modern standard of living and to satisfy the aesthetic requirements.nema