Afghanistan

Afghanistan has a long history of earth building, with a wide use of different earth building technologies, bricks, blocks, cob and rammed earth. The end of the 20th century and into the 21st Afghanistan has experienced wars, earthquakes, economic collapse and a great deal of change. After the foreign invasion in 2001 several projects started which recognised the value of existing traditions in using both the skills and the materials available to Afghans.

One project using rammed earth as a basic building method achieved amazing things in a very short space of time, shifting attitudes, training people, building buildings. Refugee homes, schools, defensible structures were all achieved using basic but sophisticated timber formwork, local labour and soil.

Banker turned architect Grahame Hunter set up a working group after attending a weekend rammed earth workshop and then doing some building experiments in southern Spain. Unleashed in a country with dire building need, little money, abundant labour and access to timber and earth Grahame set to work.

Amongst his other projects he built returning refugee housing with wall corners made from cruciform elements to act against seismic risk. More images of these rammed earth elements and tools can be seen, the diversity of built elements and results is remarkable.

This is just one of the many facets of a system which has been used worldwide, its ability to adapt to a wide range of situations. Afghanistan is both very hot and very cold, with little money sophisticated and expensive energy intensive heating and cooling is not affordable even if the equipment is installed. Instead using mass in the walls and some basic passive design the buildings can gather heat in the day, keeping spaces cool, while giving up the same heat at night, keeping them warm.