Think of Islamic mud structures and more than likely the iconic Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali will come to mind. The largest mud brick building in the world, the mosque is considered to be amongst the greatest achievement of Sudano-Swahelian architecture and one of the most famous landmarks of Africa.

But it’s not only Africa that boasts impressive (and sustainable) mud structures, the Middle East is home to some of the most stunning mud buildings in the world. From Shibam – the Manhattan of the Desert – in Yemen to the Bam citadel of Iran, these mud structures show that there’s more to Muslim architecture than Mecca and Masdar.

Why is Mud Building Sustainable?

For thousands of years, mud has been used as building material because it’s cheap, widely available and durable. Although many question its durability, there are numerous ancient mud buildings which have withstood the test of time. Mud construction is also an extremely environmentally-friendly method as it creates little waste, there is minimal energy consumption (mostly in the construction and transportation process), and it is easy to maintain and recycle.

In fact, Hassan Fathy, who has been hailed as the Middle East’s father of sustainable architecture and was behind eco-projects such as the Gourna village in Egypt wrote: “For centuries, the peasant had been wisely and quietly exploiting the obvious building material, while we, with our modern school-learned ideas, never dreamed of using such a ludicrous substance as mud for so serious a creation as a house.”

Modern Living in the City of Shibam

Yemen is home to one of the most impressive, one of the oldest and also one of the tallest mud cities in the world. Before the city scrapers of New York, the city of Shibam had built high rise apartments out of mud which tower to over 100 feet and are between 5 and 11 storeys high.

Dating back to around the 2nd century CE, the city was built using local clay and is still home to around 7,000 residents who live in the fortified city.

Although it is over 2,000 years old, rain and erosion necessitates constant maintenance, which efforts are now supported by restoration and urban development programs. Nicknamed Manhattan of the Desert, the city is testament to the durability of mud not just for single structures but also for modern high-rise living.

Another impressive city made of mud is Bam in Iran. Built using mud bricks known as adobe, the Bam tower or citadel (Arg-e-Bam) is believed to have been the largest adobe building in the world and was built over 2,000 years ago.

At its peak, the city served as a site of pilgrimage and was the trading centre of the Silk Road, which brought goods from the Far East to the capitals of Europe. Sadly, an earthquake in 2003 destroyed a large part of the historic city (around 70%) and killed over 26,000 people. There were more later showing that earth architecture has some limits.

Mud Castles, Walls and Mosques

Other notable mud structures in the wider Muslim world include the Bob Dioulasso Grand Mosque in Burkina Faso, and the Khiva Wall in Uzbekistan, which is built around a collection of Islamic schools and mosques. The Siwa Oasis in Egypt (which we visited and posted about here) and the Eastern Castle in Syria have also employed mud bricks in their construction, and research shows that the famous walls of Jericho were built using sun-dried mud bricks.

Whilst these mud buildings may seem like something of the past, they are in fact increasingly considered as options for low-carbon and low-cost construction. As well as having a small footprint, mud structures have been shown to reduce energy consumption as they are able to regulate temperature.

Hopefully mud architecture will not only decorate our past, but our future too.

Image of Great Mosque in Mali via Juan Manuel Garcia and image of Bisham in Yemen by Aysegul Tastaban.

Updated 2025

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We got so much international attention when we wrote about the Iraqi mudhouse called a mudhif built with US veterans and Iraqi refugees in the US. You can read the story here. Vernacular architecture is that built without a plan by local people is taking the world by storm as people consciously and subconsciously are drawn to simpler times when design was functional and from materials that nature made.

The proof is in the pudding at Dubai Design Week where a designer from Kuwait, with Mesopotamian origins, recreates an Iraqi or Mesopotamian mudhouse. Don’t you feel like you’d like to step inside?

In the US they were constructed of phragmites, an invasive reed grass, and built on the grounds of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Northwest Philadelphia.

Ola Znad, the designer, turns the traditional gathering place for Marsh Arab communities into a multi-sensory experience. The buildings were designed, of course, for centuries before without any one person taking claim. She says they were crafted in Iraq from locally sourced reeds and mud: the materials that have supported Marsh Arab communities for generations.

According to the paper The Ecology of the Mudhif, the mudhif was built and used, by the Marsh Arabs of the region, until 1993 when Saddam Hussein began to drain and dam the marshes, in an attempt to destroy the life and culture of those Arabs. But after his defeat 10 years later in 2003, the Arabs dug up his dykes, canals and damns, re-flooded the marshes and began to resume their ancient way of life.

Inherently nomadic, the author muses: “the prejudice against a fixed life is strong, only the lowest of the tribe will condescend to remain stationary; but change is in progress.”

Related: What is Vernacular Architecture

The paper notes that mudhifs were built by the culture which not only developed the world’s first cities, with their great mud-brick ziggurats and temples; it also invented writing, for the keeping of temple records. And of course, for sustenance, the cities had to be surrounded by agricultural villages hence, in the marshes, buildings constructed entirely of reeds. Is this why our pull toward them is strong?

Related: read about the origins of writing in Iraq

By portraying the Mudhif as an open and inclusive space, Znad says she “reflects the traditional architecture of the Marsh Arabs and emphasizes the contemporary need for sustainable design.”

This is true in every culture everywhere especially the UAE which has designed itself out of the desert from scratch over the last 50 years. It may be why cardboard was also featured this year. We are all going back to the basics.

Enjoy the photos and if you are at the Dubai Design Week this week drop us a line.

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Yemen is all over the news the last couple of months as the Houthi terrorists play a role in Israel’s war against Hamas. As a sustainable news reporter, I’ve been interested in Yemen because as much of the Middle East progresses, Yemen with its internal conflicts remains one of the world’s driest and hungriest cultures.

Most of the Jews from Yemen have immigrated to Israel over the years when they felt it was unsafe for them there. So there is a lot of information from the Diaspora culture about life in Yemen, which is rarely known. Sadly, the latest persecution by Houthis over the last several years have had what’s left of the Jewish community fleeing for their lives.

What I have learned over the years is that Yemen has a treasure trove of food traditions, natural building traditions and unspoiled nature and natural medicines for the world to explore.

Here’s an overview of what I have learned and what could be sustainable development target goals for any leader or group that wants to put the Houthis out of power. These are soft approaches that could help the local people earn income from cottage industry products, tourism and passing on sustainable building methods.

Yemeni honey: The Sidr tree appears in the Jewish Bible, the New Testament and the Quran where it is mentioned as being one of the plants of paradise. Have you tasted the honey from paradise? Sidr tree honey from Yemen is believed to be one of the best medicines on earth. More about Yemeni honey here.

Yemen has a special island called Socotra, home to a unique tree that bleeds when cut. The dragon blood tree is medicine. It was an impossible mission to get to Socotra Island in the good days. These days, forget about it. Conflict does have a way of protecting nature from over-tourism.

This knock-out hot sauce from Yemen improves every dish. Here are 2 recipes. One from a famous Israeli chef. We like to ferment our peppers first.

Make your own fresh, whole wheat pita the Yemini way – with two fingers, one hand, and instructions from a Yemenite grand-daughter who taught us this step by step method. Learn the way!

When a Jewish Orthodox grandmother from Israel pulls a Vice move to find ghat in Israel––> This is what she learned. More than 10 years ago, drinking the Yemenite habit was for hipsters in Tel Aviv. It’s still one of the countries where addictive ghat is not exactly banned.

Yemen has a promising oil and natural gas industry for exports but Houthis who hold oil tankers hostage and possibly sabotage pipelines make it difficult for Yemen to be taken seriously. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and UNICEF says people are at risk for starvation. Climate change is making it one of the driest.

We’d love to visit Yemen one day and finally adore up close Shibam, Yemen’s mud Manhattan of the Middle East.

What do you love about Yemen?

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Nestled in the heart of Fars Province, Iran, the Sarvestan Palace stands as a testament to the rich cultural heritage and ingenious architectural prowess of ancient Persia. This remarkable edifice, built during the Sasanian era (224–651 AD), not only captivates with its aesthetic charm but also holds invaluable lessons for contemporary architects, especially those with a keen interest in eco-friendly and indigenous building practices.

Sarvestan Palace, also known as the “Small Sassanian Palace,” is a prime example of natural building techniques that seamlessly integrate with the surrounding environment. The structure was constructed using locally sourced materials, predominantly mud bricks, which were both abundant and eco-friendly. The use of mud bricks, known for their thermal mass properties, allowed the palace to maintain a comfortable temperature throughout the changing seasons, a principle modern eco-architects strive to achieve.

One of the key elements that draw eco-architects and enthusiasts to Sarvestan Palace is its harmonious integration with nature. The architects of the Sasanian era possessed an innate understanding of the local environment, crafting structures that blended effortlessly with the landscape. The palace’s earthy tones, complemented by the desert surroundings, create a visually pleasing aesthetic that resonates with lovers of sustainable architecture.

According to the Tehran Times, a project started last year to protect the interior part of the earthen structure from moisture.

The monument with others is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list under the name “Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region.”

The ensemble of structures embodies political, historical, cultural, and artistic developments of the mighty Sasanian Empire (224–651), a leading world power alongside its arch-rival, the Roman-Byzantine Empire. The protected sites comprise eight archaeological sites in the areas of Firuzabad, Bishapur, and Sarvestan.

The Sassanid era is of very high importance in the history of Iran. Under Sassanids, Persian art and architecture experienced a general renaissance, according to Tehran Times, and the architecture often took grandiose forms, such as palaces at Ctesiphon, Firuzabad, and Sarvestan, the highlights of the ensemble.

Sarvestan Palace, standing resilient after centuries of exposure to the elements, serves as a beacon of inspiration for those interested in designing structures with longevity. The use of indigenous materials and traditional building techniques has enabled this ancient palace to withstand the test of time, highlighting the sustainability and durability inherent in natural construction methods.

Lessons for the West:

As we navigate the challenges of climate change and seek more sustainable architectural solutions, there are valuable lessons the West can glean from the wisdom of the East, particularly Iran’s indigenous architecture. By embracing natural building materials and methods, architects can create structures that are not only environmentally friendly but also aesthetically pleasing and enduring.

Five Other Notable Examples of Iranian Indigenous Architecture:

Windcatchers of Yazd: The windcatchers, or “badgirs,” of Yazd exemplify ingenious passive cooling systems. These traditional towers capture and direct prevailing winds into buildings, providing natural ventilation and cooling in the arid desert climate. Modern architects can draw inspiration from these structures to develop innovative, sustainable cooling solutions in Western architecture.

Abyaneh Village: Nestled in the Karkas Mountains, Abyaneh village showcases the use of red clay as a primary building material. The village’s unique architecture, with its red mud-brick houses and narrow winding alleys, not only reflects the local culture but also harmonizes with the natural landscape. The incorporation of local materials and vernacular design is a lesson for those aiming to create sustainable communities in the West.

Borujerdi House, Kashan: The Borujerdi House is a masterpiece of Persian architecture in Kashan. Its traditional courtyard design, intricately adorned with colorful tiles and stunning archways, creates a microcosm of serenity. The integration of open spaces and natural light in this historic dwelling offers insights for Western architects aiming to design eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing homes.

Pasargadae: The capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Pasargadae, showcases the fusion of art and nature. The Tomb of Cyrus the Great, with its simple yet elegant design, emphasizes the use of stone and local materials. The integration of the tomb into the surrounding garden landscape serves as a reminder of the importance of sustainable and contextually sensitive design in monumental architecture.

Jameh Mosque of Isfahan: The Jameh Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a prime example of Persian-Islamic architecture. Its intricate tilework, innovative use of geometry, and sustainable features such as the central courtyard for natural ventilation make it an inspiration for contemporary architects. The mosque demonstrates the potential for combining cultural richness with eco-friendly design.

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Hassan Fathy, author of Earth & Utopia is the Middle East’s father of sustainable architecture. Before it was fashionable or even fathomable, he was championing earth architecture in the hopes of bringing decent housing to Egypt’s impoverished masses. Using mud and other natural resources, he wanted to liberate Egyptians from the ‘concrete matchboxes’ that they lived in the crowded and bustling cities and give them spacious, earthen homes they could be proud of. He came from a wealthy family but wanted more for Egyptian society. 

Fathy also brought a new found respect to age-old (and sustainable) architectural techniques that were still in use by Egypt’s poorest to build homes. His world-famous book ‘Architecture for the Poor‘ extolled the virtues of vernacular architecture and the skills and knowledge that the poor possessed. But what happened to his model village ‘New Gourna’ that was built in the forties?

Well, years later the model village is falling into serious disrepair. Buildings are crumbling and others have disappeared completely or have been changed beyond all recognition. But for all its fault those will live there are proud of their village and are desperate to see it repaired. In 2010, the World Monument Fund visited the village to survey the damage. As well as producing a stunning little video they documented all the repairs that would be needed to restore the village to its former glory.

What’s happened since then isn’t so clear. I got in touch with the WMF to find what the future holds for New Gourna. Erica Avrami, who is director of Research and Education at WMF explained: “We would very much like to follow-up on this work, and UNESCO – who is our institutional partner for New Gourna efforts and the lead organization in its preservation – has been working with the government bodies in Egypt to get approval for the project’s continuation.”

World Monument Fund – “I Wish I Had Better News To Convey…”

“Unfortunately, due to the political situation and the many changes in ministry leadership that have occurred over the past year, this has proven difficult. At present, we are in limbo as we await these permissions. I do wish that I had better news to convey with regard to our work at New Gourna.”

It’s a shame that the project hasn’t lead to more concrete action so far. Yes the instability of the region is a huge and understandable stumbling block but New Gourna represents so much of what is creative, innovative and great about Egypt that I hope it remains a priority to see it restored. As the seasons pass and erode away at the earthen walls of Hassan Fathy’s model village, I also hope that the restoration happens before it’s too late.

For inspiration I highly recommend Fathy’s book Earth and Utopia which you can buy here. Or Hassan Fathy, An Architectural Life (links to Amazon).

The leading editorial review sums it up:

“Hassan Fathy is Egypt’s best-known 20th-century architect. He was also a man of contradictions. He came from a wealthy background and had a western-style training. Yet he embraced traditional, vernacular forms, techniques, and materials and throughout his career promoted their use as part of a campaign to improve the conditions of Egypt’s rural poor.

“Earth & Utopia chronicles this lifelong commitment through personal interviews conducted by the author, photographs, and drawings from the Hassan Fathy archives, and Fathy’s own writings on the subject, many of which are published for the first time. This beautiful, fascinating, and scholarly book will be essential reading for students, academics, and general readers interested in Fathy, and the development of Arab and vernacular architecture, earth construction, architecture for the poor, and sustainability.”

For more on Fathy and Gourna see:
Remembering Hassan Fathy – Egypt’s Green Architect Of the People
Hassan Fathy is the Middle East’s Father of Sustainable Architecture
13 Principles of Sustainable Architecture

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Award-winning architect Salma Samar Damluji speaks to GreenProphet about her mud architecture work in Yemen and why Dubai’s property development mentality is ruining the Middle East

The Middle East may be a fascinating place politically but architecturally, it’s on its last legs. Years of corruption and poor governance mean it’s slowly becoming one of the ugliest places on earth. You just need look at at the sprawling mess of glass and metal in Dubai to realise that something has gone awry. Salma Samar Damluji, an Iraqi architect of 30 years says that greed and corruption is behind the fall of architecture and insists that this money rush is destroying the region’s architectural heritage one building at a time.

And no-one knows this more than Damluji. She has fought what she calls architectural recolonisation in Egypt alongside Hassan Fathy who championed mud architecture practiced by the falaheen (rural peasants) in the 197os. And she’s also worked in Yemen restoring and renovating eco-friendly mud buildings in Yemen’s Wadi Hadramout where ancient building can disappear over night.

“In Europe, countries have been able to preserve their own culture, architecture and urban heritage but the rest of the Arab world hasn’t done that,” explains Damluji. “So as a result they have no architectural heritage left – everybody is imitating Dubai which is a complete disaster. Unfortunately you see the result of it now all across the Arab region.”

One country that Damluji believes has been able to hold back the mass commercialisation of architecture is Yemen. “When I first went in 1981, there was a kingdom of architecture and there was a huge rich resource of architectural heritage. Yemen, I felt, was the last place in the Arab world that had this incredible civilisation and urban heritage that had been going on for hundreds of years. They were so developed that they were creating these amazing palaces out of mud – very modern too. I felt that there was a cause there and I felt I had to take on that cause.”

She has been visiting Yemen ever since and from 2005, the Daw‘an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation has supported her work to restore buildings in Wadi Hadramout. Another important institution has been the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) of the The Prince Claus Fund in Netherlands, which funded restoration projects in ‘Aynat and Sah following a destructive flood in the region in 2008.

Damluji’s effort to protect and preserve the mud architecture of Yemen, however, hasn’t been easy. Civil war, political in-fighting and badly mismanaged resources mean she’s had to rely on outside support to carry out any restoration and she also has to take on other projects just to make a living. And it isn’t getting any easier.

“It’s harder now than it used to be to work in Yemen as a woman because there are more people in Hadramout who are more… I wouldn’t say fundamentalist. There is a worse level of education and people are taking the girls out of school at the age of 12 to get them married and people rely on money that comes from relatives living in Saudi and the Gulf.”

“So, things are difficult but there is still an architectural scene for me to engage in and there are all these builders who I adore but the people don’t like dealing with a woman… They think that to become good Muslims they need to do what the Saudi’s do and not talk to women. I think they’ve got the wrong end of the stick.”

Damluji’s hard work maybe challenging but it is being recognised – she was recently named one of the five winners of the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. The one thing she wants the award to do, however, is bring more attention to the need for architectural restoration in Yemen. She says she is going to be bringing out her begging bowl and say ‘yalla, where’s the money’. “The Yemeni residents give me such a rough time but I think that maybe years down the line people will appreciate the architecture and heritage that I helped preserve.”

When I ask Damluji why architectural heritage is so down the list of priorities in the region, she pauses and replies with one word – greed. “I think it’s all tied up to politics, economics, corruption and how much money people can make from these big construction projects. The amount of money that changes hands during the kind of modern construction is huge and the fact that they annihilate architects from the equation means that developers have complete control over the building.”

Damluji also doesn’t see Masdar as some happy half-way solution. “I don’t know what’s so ecological about constructing in the desert,” she says. “And the other point is that Norman Foster [architectural team behind Masdar] was talking about Hadramout and Shibam in his literature about Masadar but he’s never been to Yemen. I am very cynical about that kind of development … I worked there [UAE] for a couple of years and I know the mentality.”

The things that do keep Damluji motivated and have kept her going back to Yemen for 25 years are the small victories – being able to restore a Sufi dome, conserving an important mosque in Yemen and keeping locals trained in the art of mud-architecture. “I think this thing- restoring architectural heritage – is like a battle and no matter what you do there is always more work to do. So I keep moving.”

: Top photo – Salma Samar Damluji outside Shibam’s gate with a visiting Saudi delegation © Rashid bin Shibraq, Mukalla 2010. 2nd photo – Al Faqih ‘Aynat Mosque in Wadi Hadramut ©SS Damluji, London 2012. Photo of Salma Damluji in Geneva via ©Aydan Balamir, 2007. Final photo – worker applying white wash to the ceilings of newly constructed bathroom at Nasir Ba Surrah’s house in Masna‘at ‘Urah, Daw‘an ©SS Damluji, London 2011.

For more on  mud architecture see: 
Iraqi Mud Architect Wins Prestigious Sustainability Award
Yemen’s ‘Manhattan of the Desert’ Boasts 400 Habitable Clay Towers
Hasan Fathy is the Middle East’s Father of Sustainable Architecture

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Iraqi architect Salma Samar Damluji has won the ‘Global Award for Sustainable Architecture’ for her mud-brick renovation work in Yemen

Mud. Muck. Dirt. Clay. Earth. Call it what you like – it’s the stuff of life and also of sustainable architecture. From the stunning mud mosque of Djenne in Mali to the clay tower homes of Yemen, earth architecture has been used to create some stunning and sustainable buildings. Indeed, Iraqi architect Salma Samar Damluji has just been awarded the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture for helping to renovate the mud built towns of Hadramut in Yemen.

The fact Damluji has won this important architecture award is all the more ironic when you consider that she almost never became an architect at all. A couple of years into her architecture studies in London, she was bored and on the verge of quitting. By complete chance she stumbled across Hassan Fathy’s book about his earth-inspired architecture work at Gourna. “I suddenly discovered that I had been studying the wrong type of architecture,” she explains.

Damluji decided to finish her studies and focused on mud architecture. In 1975 she left to work with Hassan Fathy in Cairo and she began teaching Islamic Art and Architecture in Lebanon. In 1980 she joined the UN and was posted to Yemen where she became fascinated by the mud fortresses of Hadramut.

Once the last reserve of mud brick architecture, conflict and economic decline meant that many in Hadramut abandoned their sculpted homes to the wilderness in the 1990s. “I was the first “architect” per se to set my eyes on these sites,” she explains in an interview. “So I felt I had a very important role, to convey this, study this, institutionalise this and create centres of learning.”

In 2005, Damluji visited Hadramut again and decided to work on renovating and restoring some of the mud-built homes in Wadi Daw’an. To this end Damluji established the Daw’an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation to help renovate these crumbling structures and keep the knowledge around their construction alive. The Foundation surveys villages, palaces and houses to try and save them and to pass on knowledge to architects and students as well as the locals. The simple construction technique involving mud is still used by half the world’s population.

With the help of artisans from the region, the foundation has rebuilt walls, sealed roofs and trained Yemeni students. On its website it states that the landscape of the Wadi is threatened by commercial contractors, and its coherent ecological structure and identity is being eroded. “As a result, the integrity and sustainability of its settlements and landscape is already at risk. Natural resources, skills and agricultural wealth are declining, with a detrimental effect on the economic and historical heritage and future of the region. The Foundation is dedicated to consolidating the urban and cultural wealth of Hadramut and Wadi Daw’an and to sustaining the natural and built environment.”

Whilst the restoration work is always a battle with time, Damluji says it a battle she can’t help fight. She adds that the aim of the project is not to restore the buildings into museums but to enable locals to actually live and work in the semi-abandoned mud villages of Hadramut.

For a detailed breakdown of some of the restoration work see ‘The Restoration of Masjid al-Faqih in ‘Aynat, Wadi Hadramut‘

Top image from Vladimir Melnik @ Shutterstock.com and subsequent photos via First Earth/ David Sheen

For more on earth architecture see:
Hassan Fathy Is The Middle East’s Father of Sustainable Architecture
Mud Structures in the Muslim World: Spectacular and Sustainable
Yemen’s Manhattan of the Desert Boast 400 Habitable Clay Towers

The post Iraqi Mud Architect Wins Prestigious Sustainability Award appeared first on Green Prophet.

Through his free movie First Earth David Sheen is passing on the positive transformation that occurred in his life after learning about ecological architecture.  

When David Sheen first decided to make a film that depicts the history, necessity, and straight-up sensibility of ecological architecture, he had no idea what a massive task he had set for himself. It took four years to scout out both ancient and contemporary natural homes on four continents and hundreds of hours of footage to create First Earth – Uncompromising Ecological Architecture.

Remarkably, the Canadian-born Israeli designer and reporter has never sought fame or fortune. Instead, he hopes to pass on to everyone, regardless of their demographic, the positive transformation that learning about healthy homes has created in his life. First Earth has been translated into 12 different languages and costs absolutely nothing to watch. This is not a trick – we promise.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFTwnTbLPBU[/youtube]

Pursuing a more meaningful life

Sheen explained in a Skype interview with Green Prophet that he moved to Tel Aviv from Canada in 1999 and worked as a Graphic Designer. In time the conventional consumer lifestyle in Tel Aviv lost its meaning and he sought out a new place to pursue a healthier, more natural lifestyle.

“Kibbutz Lotan really appealed to me on a gut level,” he said.

A decade ago, Kibbutz Lotan in Israel’s Negev desert – now a world-famous center for all things ecological – was just beginning to experiment with green building projects. Sheen was lucky to be among the first on this exciting new scene.

After six months of building healthy homes at the Kibbutz, he then decided to return to Canada to deepen his knowledge and pursue a Masters in Architecture at the University of Toronto.

Learning the ropes in the United States

But it became apparent very quickly that Sheen’s ideas were too unconventional for the University’s industrial architecture curriculum, so he enrolled at the North American School of Natural Building in the United States instead.

“It was amazing,” he said. But it wasn’t easy. Sheen had to adjust to living in Oregon’s dense, wet forests and to building with his own hands and feet. Then he did an apprenticeship with a leading ecological building firm called TSUI Design.

It was while he was traveling up and down the west coast to visit other natural homes that Sheen began to document what he was learning. “Most people who were involved with natural building didn’t know how to disseminate their knowledge using modern technology,” he explained. So he decided to bridge the gap between these two worlds – seemingly at odds with each other.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoSdnMEhRa0[/youtube]

Telling the whole story

He traveled to Ghana, Ethiopia, England, Europe, and Yemen, where he witnessed first hand the incredible “Manhattan of the Desert” mud towers that have survived hundreds of year, among other places, to gather material for his film.

“I’m a perfectionist,” he said. “I wanted to tell the whole story.” And that is exactly what he has done in the most comprehensive cinematic overview of earth architecture – from its origins to its future – that we have seen.

Sheen is not independently wealthy and had very little funding to make this incredible resource available to the wider public. But he did receive a lot of help from friends and others – a little bit of money here, a few airline miles there, and time.

“They believed in what I was doing,” he said.

First Earth demonstrates that using local, renewable building materials with a low carbon footprint and intelligent design to reduce energy requirements is not only good for “eco-freakos” – everyone can benefit from this knowledge. And we have done for thousands of years.

12 Chapters from the heart

There are 12 chapters, beginning with What’s Wrong With Architecture. Sheen unravels the evolution of architecture from the ancient, sustainable model to the contemporary industrial model that usurps far too many natural resources.

He then moves on to depict examples of African and American natural buildings before proceeding to European, Arabian, Urban, and International earth projects. There are several other chapters in between that are very easy to follow thanks to handy sub titles.

Anyone interested in earth bag construction, building with cob, or any other kind of natural building materials and methods should visit David Sheen’s website and enjoy – one chapter at a time – a project that was compiled with a whole lot of heart.

:: David Sheen

More on Ecological Architecture From the Middle East:

13 Principles of Sustainable Architecture From Nader Khalili Student

Iranian Architect Nader Khalili Built Earth Architecture Fit for Space

Woman Builds Off-Grid Earth Bag Home for Just $3,761

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