Earthen architecture: history, typologies and construction techniques

Earthen architectures are one of the best evidence of the human capacity to create built environments adopting locally available resources. Earth is a versatile material, used since ancient times for the construction of architectural artefacts independently or associated with other materials such as stone, wood, gypsum, lime, vegetable fibres. Although today, earthen constructions are widely perceived as “mud huts”, associated with an image of poverty and social and cultural marginalization, their significance and potential are known and recognised. The paper study the history of earthen construction focusing on the analysis of the typologies, construction techniques, and preservation issues.