I live in a mudhouse with walls 50 to 60 cm thick. I would never live in any other type of house. Beautifully COOL and refreshing in hot summers and warm in winter. Try it !
I appreciate you sharing this. It means a lot especially since many people are still trying hard to discredit the facts of how efficient mud houses can be.
We cannot develop following the same path that Europe and the US has taken. We will never catch them they are too far ahead. That path is riddled with debt, it is industrial heavy, it is not environmentally friendly and it is not sustainable. We have to find African solutions to African problems.
I have seen efforts in parts of India focusing on using mud bricks to create sustainable homes as well. Mud homes are the past, they are also the future!
Thank you so much lady. Thank you. For over 20 years, I have fantasized about this. About how the cement houses are not sustainable and not made for African weather. Those houses contribute to erosion, overheating, filth and death. And to make matters worse, the materials have to be bought from far away from the continent. I just did not know how to voice it. I did not know if anyone would agree with me. People would laugh at the idea. I dont have an architectural background but I always fantasized about a mud home with its own courtyard like my great grandmother's home. I am so happy you have manifested. I hope your ideas catch on. We need to become less dependent on anybody because they are all dependent on us and eating us to death. How do I help this conversation. How do I help propragate this future? I see what you are doing, but how does someone without an architecture degree help propagate these back to Africa ideas. Thank you once again. May all your ancestors bless you and uphold you and strengthen you as well as elevate you prominently.
What you described is EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING IN WESTERN COUNTRIES! YOU CLEARLY HAVE ADOPTED WESTERN ECONOMICS THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE THE PROBLEMS YOU HAVE. In Toronto Canada, a bungalow will literally cost you a million dollars Canadian. For rent a one bedroom will cost you 2600 per month that is the entire salary of a minimum wage worker for a month. The costs do not include gas or electrical or food and internet. People are working full time and starving.
I completely agree. There's nothing wrong with taking inspiration from western culture building techniques, but never let that replace the traditional architecture. A good example from history, is in the mali empire. When Mansa Musa returned from his pilgrimage, he brought Muslim Masons from all over Eurasia back with him, not to replace the traditional sudo sahelian architecture, but to improve upon it. There was even curriculums in the university he established, to further educate his people about mud architecture. To this day djenne is still a testament to his ambitious (multistory mud buildings are still standing in Djenne today). Unfortunately, most of all that knowledge was lost when the mali empire ended, and even further neglected when colonization took over.
Now I am intrigued about the Mansa Masa history. It's been so hard getting books and quality research content of pre-colonial architecture. Where do you think I should look to find the curriculum he created? I know a lot of this information was destroyed during the colonial era but if there any remains and any way I can find the information I am willing to look for it.
@@mudhouses to be honest, to get more information you have to go to the continent and study in the field. I plan to retire on the continent in 3 years and Studying from the institutions there for personal enrichment is my goal. The information is not readily available on the internet without paying actual tuition from a studies program. Other than a scholar writing a book on this particular subject, this is the only way currently to break through the current knowledge gap
@@mudhouses the Malian governmental agencies might be a good place to start looking. There is an attempt at preserving a lot of the buildings that remain by locals . I saw a video about how they were doing it years ago but I don’t have anything current. Travelling there and talking with local artisans might be the best way.
@@mudhouses, I know from books I've read that all Royalty share knowledge and old wisdom . The only library that was never burned down is in Spain , where's the Moors had scholars transcribe books into ,many languages. Whatever was in Egypt , Greece, Rome ,Spain and where else in Africa was share so it would get lost . Unfortunately many libraries have been burned for a reason. So the more we share information. The more places it goes. The Igbo, have or Yoruba have ancient wisdom . It was never written down , but passed down in traditions. These traditions still exist all over the world where ever the enslaved were taken. There are clusters of people who still practice the old traditions. Cuba is one of the great keepers of this wisdom . Past down from generation to generation never written .
The knowledge is not lost. The Grand Mosque of Djenne is rebuilt every year by every inhabitant of the town under the direction of traditional masons. It fell into disrepair during colonial occupation of the French and it was the local people who rebuilt it from scratch then and maintaining it to this day. This could be done all over the region but people have a lack of resources.
Your analysis is spot on. I live in California and our cities suffer from the same housing inequality nonsense. We have huge hi-rises with nobody living in them because nobody can afford the prices, and meanwhile our homeless encampments are growing and growing under every freeway overpass. It's embarrassing, frankly, to have all these big buildings, old and new, sitting there empty just a few blocks away from the homeless encampments. One thing I semi-disagree with you about is the idea that 3D printers are the answer. Yes, they are very promising, and they can build beautiful mud houses quickly and cheaply. But as long as our current economic paradigm persists, you and I both know what will happen: some Chinese billionaire will own the 3D printers. They will convince the people that constructing mud buildings by hand is unsafe/unsanitary/low-class/undesirable/impossible, or even worse, they will get laws passed to make it actually illegal. Then people will have no choice but to pay for the 3D printing when they want a house, and now the owner of the printer can charge whatever price they want. The housing problem will continue just as before because no one will be able to afford these technology-assisted mud houses. It's much better to keep the power and the knowledge in the hands of the people. The fact that they can be made by people who do not have an expensive university degree or any expensive tools or materials is, I think, the very best quality of mud buildings, and I wouldn't wish to change that. If we ever decide to drop cut-throat capitalism as a system and try something new, though, then 3D-printed mud homes would make sense. When it comes to discussing mud hi-rises, I see inspiration in the gigantic termite mounds of Australia. The termites mix the mud with their own spit, which creates a substance so strong and resilient that humans have learned to take the abandoned mounds apart and reuse the material for themselves, to make the floors of their homes. I'm not suggesting that we mix our mud with termite spit (🤣), but I'm sure we could learn something useful from examining what makes it work so well. Presumably there are proteins, enzymes, sugars, or who-knows-what in it that allows it to transform mud into something even more durable. I wonder if anyone has ever tried mixing mud with, for example, the leftover whey from the cheese-making process? Or with aloe vera gel? Or perhaps the gel of certain seaweeds? I know that some people mix animal dung with their mud, which seems to improve durability. Some people also mix in a starch like potato, wheat, or cassava when plastering the inner walls. My point is that there must be some kind of (cheap, easily accessible) additive which could be used to make strong multi-storey mud buildings of any size. Probably the shape of the termite mounds also contributes to their strength, as they seem to have fluting and buttressing, like medieval cathedrals. They also have natural passive air-conditioning and many other ingenious features. Sad, when insects have better housing, and for free, than human beings do. Anyway, thanks for another thought-provoking video. Your channel is a true delight.
You are slowly becoming my new best friend, I love the idea of putting power into the people's hands, that is what we have done for the longest time and I think it would be great to get to do that. People always assumed that everyone who never went through the formal school system does not have knowledge or never received an education and that's not necessarily true. They received a different kind of knowledge, and we have totally missed out on it because we are not bothered. I know for instance some West African communities they mixed shea butter and palm oil in their mud mixture. Back home in Kenya we mix a lot of our mud mixture with cowdung. I agree that technology can be manipulated its better to find creative ways to have these communities learn how to be self reliant especially when it comes to building their own houses.
Do you know that per gram, a spider's web is stronger than concrete? And it is protein. If you could get a brick size spider web it would be more durable than concrete of the same mass! All our universities yet these things are overlooked. I remember a white boy, maybe Asian making meat from the protein of feathers. So protein manipulation is certainly possible. It's not science fiction. Getting the right chemical compound, enzyme or protein to bind the mud particles stronger is within our scientific reach today
This may sound dumb at first but think about it. Ant hills are adequate proof for the scalability of mud houses. And their architecture accounts for a lot of biological necessities which have already begun to inspire architects. There are already buildings inspired by ant hill ventilation systems which keep large buildings warm during the night and cool during the day. The issue here is that people imagine skyscraper architecture. With anthills as inspiration, we can actually build human "anthills" which follows the basic sciences behind anthill architecture plus our own cultural inputs. What I'm imagining right now is something that would monumentally dwarf Skyscraper buildings in scale due to availability of material and like the ants that build one grain of mud at a time, this thing can grown proportionally to the population of humans living in it over generations and will grow side ways and upwards. I know this sounds science fiction but if a stealth bomber can be inspired by a falcon, why can't we be inspired by ants? Nature provides everything
You are the second person on this thread to talk about the anthill. You are not dumb at all in fact I think you are smarter than the average person when it comes to this topic and your thought process is brilliant and enlightening. When I started this channel I thought this is gonna be the most ridiculous thing I ever share publicly with people because no one cares about mud houses or African architecture but no, I was wrong. It been great connecting with people like you and learn more from your contributions. I am now inspired to look into this topic even more. Keep these brilliant ideas coming, and lets challenge each other.
Yes, it’s called biomimicry and it’s not just about the ways ants build efficiently, it incorporates other elements of modelling the built environment to mimic nature And yes, the lady from Uganda was right, vertically will save land, materials and time which all translate to cost savings keeping homes affordable Not to mention that urban sprawl, to house growing populations, makes it necessary to travel farther to work or school etc which increases pollution, clogs roads, necessitates a car or transport cost etc Making monthly transport costs equate to housing costs, which is a silent killer of resources that can be used for food or school fees etc Mud homes can be built fast and scalable without the need for 3D printing equipment when you have a mass of young people who want to work, it’s better to invest in people over machinery, ESPECIALLY in developing countries that need domestic employment and not investing in foreign made equipment while leaving youth unemployed Both are attainable
Your content is absolutely necessary! Sustainable development definitely needs to consider architecture. Implementing indigenous architecture and using our ingenuity to develop homes that are made from local, affordable and renewable resources is key! This conversation should be at the forefront of development.
Thank you very much foe this information. I have been looking for a decolonised Afrikan approach to setting up properly designed villages that respond to the needs of inhabitants. I'm a social.justice activist based in cape town but would be movie g back to the villages soon. Let us collaborate please
I like your logic and approach. I think the major thing that's overlooked is in the construction methodology of the clay structure you show repeatedly, The Grand Mosque of Djenne. It is the largest clay built structure on the planet and it is built and maintained by everyone in the community not a corporation. In fact all housing in Djenne and Timbuktu is built by the entire community. Capital interests require artificial scarcity in order to generate profit; therefore, any housing method based on capitalism will naturally produce a housing shortage. But community based housing (not communism) as we traditionally practiced insures that everyone is housed and that even there is anticipated housing for foreigners. such is the case among the Songhai in Mali and Niger who build every home with a room exclusively for housing strangers to such an extent that they even have a saying, "A house without a room for the stranger is not truly a home."
If you utilize cement more with mixing with mud it would be cheaper than trying to build a whole house with cement and sand. Plus it would be stronger. I've seen a video of Ghanaians do this. With the right ratio of cement and mud mixing, very strong walls are casted. Our major problem is cultural. Block houses despite their insane cost and maintenance plus unfriendliness to our climate are a status symbol. With a functioning African government, this can be corrected within three years but on an individual level, to break this cycle requires personal sacrifice
No. DO NOT mix cement with earth for building!! What you get is a bad version of both materials. You will lose the best properties of each material. Earthen buildings do not require stabilizing. What they need is what we call "hat and boots" roof and foundation. Concrete can be used at the foundation level to keep the bottom of the walls out of the wet and splash, good roof with wide eves to prevent rain from seeping in from above. In some climates, hard sideways driven rain will erode walls quickly and here, good lime plasters can be very helpful. In these places, annual maintenence may be necessary. Fortunately, this maintenence is usually light work and fun to do.
One word HEMP. A partnership with India who knows how to process it paired with lime from Egypt. Also, in order to service a growijg population you need to establish a cityscape along with RND into redevelop rural infrastructure with African tradition architecture. A city can be built with African influences to create unique scenery.
Or kenaf. Might be easier to promote since it looks less like the marijuana plant. Some of the varieties have "full" leaves vs the hemp-like palmate leaves. Seeds are available in Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, etc
This is also an issue in india. after watching your video i looked to see what other techniques other people around the world are using in regards to constructing with mud. There are some videos about cob houses + i saw this video about stabilised mud used in india ua-cam.com/video/9SCyGAaXvJE/v-deo.html it looked very interesting to me that we can incorporate other peoples knowledge to reinforce the techniques used for mud housing.
This discussion was far overdue, it is so much appreciated for deep in depth talk about honoring our Ancestral aesthetics verses the mentacidial induced munchausen syndrome, in-breed inferiority dis-ease that ensnares our imagination as how to overcome the myriad of challenges facing our people, quality of adequate dwelling be just one facet of a multi dimensional situation. Perhaps it is time to truly intergrate the ancient Akan (Ghana) Adrinkra symbol of Sankofa, looking to our past in order to move forward. A beautiful and mist necessary discussion, again thanks a trillion for bringing this topic up and for all the hard work you have done.
I dont think it is demographic growth that is triggering construction emergency. We forget the fact that we tend to live as westerners (one person one room rule). Traditional African architecture did not eat up space because we were sharing rooms in large compounds. Today western health-science standards call that an anomaly, a danger: the jargon is "household density rate" echoing the malthusian concept of population density. Reviving and sustainably adapting indigenous African architecture requires taking back the modes of living that west with it. In other words afrocentric and afrofuturist architectural engineering need to be or to work with / like social scientists: historiens, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists and even linguists.
I was about to comment exactly this. Population growth is not a new phenomenon but its the individualised way of living that is making us think that we need more land rather than living as one family, in our compounds as you mentioned.
I think our way of life has been westernised so much including the need to move away from family which creates the need for space for 1 person. I may be simplifying this but we've always been a people who grow in population but we've also lived together in our spaces, meaning many generations in one household but now we leave our homes and creating a lack of space because the movement then continues.
There is a lot traditional houses that are widely in used that combine western and African architecture in places like South Africa , in Zululand I've seen pictures of houses that are traditionally shaped however they incorporate windows and doors .
Wonderful video! I was watching a documentary exploring how the ancient Egyptians (yes Black Africans for those who don't know) were able to build the pyramids. To cut to the chase, a building materials scientist analyzed a portion of one of the enormous blocks recently. He discovered that the blocks contained small amounts of organic materials including plants and human hair. These materials cannot be found in solid rock! He determined that the Egyptians built pyramids with what is essentially a super type of mixed mud!!! 😃 In other words, ancient Egyptians discovered a mud mix which was as strong as stone blocks. The scientist speculated that they used a special silt from the Nile river mixed with a quick drying polymer and then placed into forms. Interestingly enough the Bible does say that the pyramids were made of mud bricks, an idea that has been rejected until now. Not mud bricks perhaps, but mud blocks! An early example not only of the traditional African use of mud and the pyramid shape, but of African genius and ingenuity. Just to let you know that you're definitely on the right track! Thank you for your work.
@@VereDeVere THE EGYPTIANS[ PRESENT,AFTER ALEX THE G-R-E-E-K ET AL]ARE NOT BLACK YES!!! THE "O"RIGINAL INHABITANTS\ FOUNDERS OF THAT LAND KHEMIT WERE\AND STILL ARE!!! WHAT IS THERE NOW IS THE MULLATORIZED MIXNICITHIES LEFT BY NUMEROUS INVASIONS!!! FROM ALEX THE G-R-E-E-K OTTOMAN [ OTHERMAN] TURKS TO PRESENT DAY ARABS!!!
if we take into consideration the Bible and the Apocryphal books - Jasher / Enoch etc we could speculate that there was a pre-Adamic civilization inferred in Genesis and the extra-Biblical accounts of fallen angels etc. The harbour at Cesearea (sp?) has been there since Herod the Great and they used volcanic ash which hardens over time with sea water - so the pyramids could very well have been built by Africans using that technology. Africans are human beings created by YHWH with the ability to reason and create same as any other culture. Europeans have a need to call everything non-European primitive. Everybody migrated from the plains of Ararat where Noah and his family touched down after the flood. Speculation abounds with who are the orignal Egyptians and this is an 'argument' that I have with people claiming that Nguni tribe is aborigine to South Africa. Let's make the distinction between aborigine and native - people migrate and I have not done a study of the words so I'll give my own definition. Aborigine - original and Native - later migrants but have been in the land for a very long time. There is speculation that seems to be borne out by archeological evidence that Nimrod of the Babel fame fled Sumer with his followers after YHWH destroyed the Tower of Babel and fled to his father's family in Egypt where he ousted his family to establish his new kingdom. So, according to the archeological evidence - the aborigine (who had simpler burial traditions) were displaced by Nimrod (not his name, just a play on words in the Hebrew traidition) and this is borne out by the more elaborate burial traditions. see Matthew William Flinders Petrie's work on Egypt. So Black Africans are the aborigine of Egypt - the descedents of Nimrod and his Sumerian followers are the new Egyptians. Make of it what you will.
@@VereDeVere Originally, they were; through successive mixing they are now a mixed popoulation. Just like America ironically. Sphinx has African-DNA features.
The ancient indigenous people of America created cities like the ones you imagine of , the Inca , the maya and Aztecs . Modern Andean Indians still created houses/huts in similar fashion to there ancestors .... Though unfortunately these people are looked down upon similar to the African indigenous architecture/culture as backwards
1000s of years before ancient Kemet was populated, much of the area was covered by sea. When it dried up, it left limestone mixed with old fossils, shells and other materials which when picked up would crumble in the hand. Experts have found that a composite was created to bind these materials together and build The Pyramids.
Do you happen to remember how the composite was made and the contents of this composite or was it simply a combination of the fossil, shells and limestone?
@@Morgue12free I have no idea, but what struck me about this revelation is the end to the question of how the blocks where transported. They weren't. They were able to transport the rubble so that they could create the blocks and in turn keep to their precise measurements. When I heard this it made more sense than all the other conclusions of aliens, levitation or slaves pulling multi ton rocks around. It actually made me happy to hear something so obvious.
Plus I put the comment here as an example of more African architecture that is environmentally sustainable and has stood for (experts say) a conservative estimate of over 5000 years. Some reckon it's 1000s of years more.
Sister you are very smart .We need to see more pictures of your research and discoveries. But this has to start at school to remove the brainwash implemented by most western architecture scholars . I always think the person that designed UK parliament building had inspiration from GENE mosque. in Mali.
We are supposed to return to extended family set up. Build modern houses which can carry a large family then do family business. Practise race first Excel.
Bio - ceramic components ....from a thinkable future emergence of redeployable micro- factories .....could enable a scalable vertical framework ....( where this the blend required )....filled in with mud unit craft ....provides a plausible / creative / prosocial / visualization . A sculptural mud mountain ❤ . One is given to understand Bio - ceramic is electromagnetically neutral ❤ .
How about we build a two story mud apartment inspired by the various style of natural vatilation, from indigenous tribes in africa, and modern toilet system combined, these apartment can hold up to 1thousand people in them, and it won't feel hot in they, and we be very warm at night.
We are not completely re-liberated. History always leaves a finger print on time. A lot of stuff did not come into being until they started colonizing.
If more houses would be built with mud, which is available on the whole planet for free then a lot of problems would be solved...environmental, financial..
Imagine a human ant hill city that grows with the human population in a culturally accepted mathematical plan that spans generations. An interconnected anthill city of mud that is one but at the same time segmented. Not crowded but connected in such a way that makes it look like one giant mud web. Of course we do not have the culture to even begin to imagine this nor am I suggesting we actually try this but please, dream with me. Because I know this dream is feasible if not possible today
I love your dream, and I believe that that if you can dream it you can do it. Nothing in this world is impossible. We will eventually realise and acknowledge that our ancestors were environmentally friendly way before it became fashionable in the 20th century. It was after all our way of life. I have hope for our future generations. Thank you.
Though it has YET to reach a larger audience, I feel like you have NO IDEA, how important your content is On a WHOLISTIC level Pan-African ,Traditional, Sustainable, Design PTSD , how ironic , keep up the Good work 💯
Isn't Adobe essentially mud housing? If so, many people in the US live in mud housing. Our economic system here has pros and cons. On one hand, when you buy everything, specialization is promoted. The man who does nothing but build houses can get really good at it and expand on those skills. But when you depend on everyone else for everything you need, you don'thave knowledge of how to do anything. You can't build your own home because you don't know how. Yes, what you said. There is no reason to buy your materials from other places. Every continent has the resources to supply homes. Use what you have there. Also other countries swear Africa has nothing original to offer. Build your own homes and construction tech and let the rest of the world take notice of your innovation.
No its good to have african style but we need to modernize it. Its the problem in africa we want african architectures food and clothes, bit at one point ubneed to modernize it, so it can be built and made faster, with better quality and precision, it will also bringing money and respect.
What you do wrong is comparing ancient too modern you caint do that , u gotta think we haven't had time to develop our architecture ,in 400 hundred years,but wen u compare our old architecture to there's. ours would have been viewed as modern and high class during that time, plus modern architecture is not really that advanced the material we build out of in the modern world are weak and flimsy and cheaply made they cause health issues, and the buildings dont last long
Scalable or not, the solution is simple but no one wants to hear it. If you’re at a point where you need to develop vertically, you’re having too many kids. Place a societal focus on education and this will decrease a desire to have a bunch of kids and this problem will solve itself.
This is a very Eurocentric view of the world and frankly very limited in its solutions in so many ways. 1st the idea that people are not educated that's why they are having many kids is utterly ignorant. I know many Africans with PHD with lots of kids. Secondly the idea that one didn't go to the formal education system so they are not educated is also beyond ignorant in my view. I can debunk that in a simple way, I am African, and we as a people have always lived with technology. I just did a video explaining how our forebears invented air-conditioning for our traditional houses pre-colonial era and long before electricity existed. None of them went to what people now call educational institutions and I would argue they were frankly more educated than you and me combined. If we were not rudely disrupted then a lot of this knowledge would have been available for us. Here is the video ua-cam.com/video/-6bbwYOhXSc/v-deo.html. I think it's important to educate yourself on the diversity of the world, it might help you to understand the diversity of opinion. I respect yours but it doesn't work for my people and my community. We value having kids, we value building our clans, we value the human interaction and how we support each other and want to create solutions to accommodate our growth. I know you might find that to be primitive and backwards and seeming from a lack of education but I think you are limited in your world view and experiences and would challenge you to open your mind to new educational material that is not available in the box of what people define as education these days. Have a nice day!
What is with all the anti-western propaganda in all of your videos? Are you trying to preach or teach? It looks like it is the former, because if you were not trying to preach you would be more focused on showing more actual architectural design and construction content. Inspiration is one thing, but the world doesn’t need more disciples it needs more architects engineers and construction workers. Visually I was attracted to these videos for their potential educational value with regards to traditional African architecture and any new potential modern innovations on those older building techniques, but sadly your videos are mostly filled with rhetoric and very little actual architectural content.
In Kenya you have only one beautiful national local urban architecture. It's named Swahili. So, you can keep or improve that through new constructions of our era. Just look the Shela architecture how beautiful it is in front of the whole neoafrican concrete & metal garbage!!! Especially as about the metal garbage, Ghana has the worst problem. Every but every building has a metal roof or sheds. And then they are crying about hard heat problem... YOU made that heat problem over your head. Because you left your roots, your tradition, your grandparents architecture. It's time to go back again & improve it.
I live in a mudhouse with walls 50 to 60 cm thick. I would never live in any other type of house. Beautifully COOL and refreshing in hot summers and warm in winter. Try it !
I appreciate you sharing this. It means a lot especially since many people are still trying hard to discredit the facts of how efficient mud houses can be.
We cannot develop following the same path that Europe and the US has taken. We will never catch them they are too far ahead. That path is riddled with debt, it is industrial heavy, it is not environmentally friendly and it is not sustainable. We have to find African solutions to African problems.
You are not supposed to compete with them, you are supposed to use your creative mind and build your own African Civilization.
I have seen efforts in parts of India focusing on using mud bricks to create sustainable homes as well. Mud homes are the past, they are also the future!
Thank you so much lady. Thank you. For over 20 years, I have fantasized about this. About how the cement houses are not sustainable and not made for African weather. Those houses contribute to erosion, overheating, filth and death. And to make matters worse, the materials have to be bought from far away from the continent. I just did not know how to voice it. I did not know if anyone would agree with me. People would laugh at the idea. I dont have an architectural background but I always fantasized about a mud home with its own courtyard like my great grandmother's home. I am so happy you have manifested. I hope your ideas catch on. We need to become less dependent on anybody because they are all dependent on us and eating us to death. How do I help this conversation. How do I help propragate this future? I see what you are doing, but how does someone without an architecture degree help propagate these back to Africa ideas. Thank you once again. May all your ancestors bless you and uphold you and strengthen you as well as elevate you prominently.
What you described is EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING IN WESTERN COUNTRIES! YOU CLEARLY HAVE ADOPTED WESTERN ECONOMICS THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE THE PROBLEMS YOU HAVE. In Toronto Canada, a bungalow will literally cost you a million dollars Canadian. For rent a one bedroom will cost you 2600 per month that is the entire salary of a minimum wage worker for a month. The costs do not include gas or electrical or food and internet. People are working full time and starving.
I completely agree. There's nothing wrong with taking inspiration from western culture building techniques, but never let that replace the traditional architecture. A good example from history, is in the mali empire. When Mansa Musa returned from his pilgrimage, he brought Muslim Masons from all over Eurasia back with him, not to replace the traditional sudo sahelian architecture, but to improve upon it. There was even curriculums in the university he established, to further educate his people about mud architecture. To this day djenne is still a testament to his ambitious (multistory mud buildings are still standing in Djenne today). Unfortunately, most of all that knowledge was lost when the mali empire ended, and even further neglected when colonization took over.
Now I am intrigued about the Mansa Masa history. It's been so hard getting books and quality research content of pre-colonial architecture. Where do you think I should look to find the curriculum he created? I know a lot of this information was destroyed during the colonial era but if there any remains and any way I can find the information I am willing to look for it.
@@mudhouses to be honest, to get more information you have to go to the continent and study in the field. I plan to retire on the continent in 3 years and Studying from the institutions there for personal enrichment is my goal. The information is not readily available on the internet without paying actual tuition from a studies program. Other than a scholar writing a book on this particular subject, this is the only way currently to break through the current knowledge gap
@@mudhouses the Malian governmental agencies might be a good place to start looking. There is an attempt at preserving a lot of the buildings that remain by locals . I saw a video about how they were doing it years ago but I don’t have anything current.
Travelling there and talking with local artisans might be the best way.
@@mudhouses, I know from books I've read that all Royalty share knowledge and old wisdom . The only library that was never burned down is in Spain , where's the Moors had scholars transcribe books into ,many languages. Whatever was in Egypt , Greece, Rome ,Spain and where else in Africa was share so it would get lost . Unfortunately many libraries have been burned for a reason. So the more we share information. The more places it goes. The Igbo, have or Yoruba have ancient wisdom . It was never written down , but passed down in traditions. These traditions still exist all over the world where ever the enslaved were taken. There are clusters of people who still practice the old traditions. Cuba is one of the great keepers of this wisdom . Past down from generation to generation never written .
The knowledge is not lost. The Grand Mosque of Djenne is rebuilt every year by every inhabitant of the town under the direction of traditional masons. It fell into disrepair during colonial occupation of the French and it was the local people who rebuilt it from scratch then and maintaining it to this day. This could be done all over the region but people have a lack of resources.
Your analysis is spot on. I live in California and our cities suffer from the same housing inequality nonsense. We have huge hi-rises with nobody living in them because nobody can afford the prices, and meanwhile our homeless encampments are growing and growing under every freeway overpass.
It's embarrassing, frankly, to have all these big buildings, old and new, sitting there empty just a few blocks away from the homeless encampments.
One thing I semi-disagree with you about is the idea that 3D printers are the answer. Yes, they are very promising, and they can build beautiful mud houses quickly and cheaply. But as long as our current economic paradigm persists, you and I both know what will happen: some Chinese billionaire will own the 3D printers. They will convince the people that constructing mud buildings by hand is unsafe/unsanitary/low-class/undesirable/impossible, or even worse, they will get laws passed to make it actually illegal. Then people will have no choice but to pay for the 3D printing when they want a house, and now the owner of the printer can charge whatever price they want.
The housing problem will continue just as before because no one will be able to afford these technology-assisted mud houses.
It's much better to keep the power and the knowledge in the hands of the people. The fact that they can be made by people who do not have an expensive university degree or any expensive tools or materials is, I think, the very best quality of mud buildings, and I wouldn't wish to change that.
If we ever decide to drop cut-throat capitalism as a system and try something new, though, then 3D-printed mud homes would make sense.
When it comes to discussing mud hi-rises, I see inspiration in the gigantic termite mounds of Australia. The termites mix the mud with their own spit, which creates a substance so strong and resilient that humans have learned to take the abandoned mounds apart and reuse the material for themselves, to make the floors of their homes.
I'm not suggesting that we mix our mud with termite spit (🤣), but I'm sure we could learn something useful from examining what makes it work so well.
Presumably there are proteins, enzymes, sugars, or who-knows-what in it that allows it to transform mud into something even more durable. I wonder if anyone has ever tried mixing mud with, for example, the leftover whey from the cheese-making process? Or with aloe vera gel? Or perhaps the gel of certain seaweeds? I know that some people mix animal dung with their mud, which seems to improve durability. Some people also mix in a starch like potato, wheat, or cassava when plastering the inner walls.
My point is that there must be some kind of (cheap, easily accessible) additive which could be used to make strong multi-storey mud buildings of any size.
Probably the shape of the termite mounds also contributes to their strength, as they seem to have fluting and buttressing, like medieval cathedrals. They also have natural passive air-conditioning and many other ingenious features. Sad, when insects have better housing, and for free, than human beings do.
Anyway, thanks for another thought-provoking video. Your channel is a true delight.
You are slowly becoming my new best friend, I love the idea of putting power into the people's hands, that is what we have done for the longest time and I think it would be great to get to do that. People always assumed that everyone who never went through the formal school system does not have knowledge or never received an education and that's not necessarily true. They received a different kind of knowledge, and we have totally missed out on it because we are not bothered. I know for instance some West African communities they mixed shea butter and palm oil in their mud mixture. Back home in Kenya we mix a lot of our mud mixture with cowdung. I agree that technology can be manipulated its better to find creative ways to have these communities learn how to be self reliant especially when it comes to building their own houses.
Do you know that per gram, a spider's web is stronger than concrete? And it is protein. If you could get a brick size spider web it would be more durable than concrete of the same mass! All our universities yet these things are overlooked. I remember a white boy, maybe Asian making meat from the protein of feathers. So protein manipulation is certainly possible. It's not science fiction. Getting the right chemical compound, enzyme or protein to bind the mud particles stronger is within our scientific reach today
Cement and lime is your friend
ua-cam.com/video/9SCyGAaXvJE/v-deo.html
@@weskerwillie9044 They do make turkey feather insulation in the US, so that's a step in the right direction I guess.
@@mudhouses Ooh, oil in the mud? I wonder what effect that has?
I'm loving your channel, and I can't wait to see what you bring us next!
This may sound dumb at first but think about it. Ant hills are adequate proof for the scalability of mud houses. And their architecture accounts for a lot of biological necessities which have already begun to inspire architects. There are already buildings inspired by ant hill ventilation systems which keep large buildings warm during the night and cool during the day. The issue here is that people imagine skyscraper architecture. With anthills as inspiration, we can actually build human "anthills" which follows the basic sciences behind anthill architecture plus our own cultural inputs. What I'm imagining right now is something that would monumentally dwarf Skyscraper buildings in scale due to availability of material and like the ants that build one grain of mud at a time, this thing can grown proportionally to the population of humans living in it over generations and will grow side ways and upwards. I know this sounds science fiction but if a stealth bomber can be inspired by a falcon, why can't we be inspired by ants? Nature provides everything
You are the second person on this thread to talk about the anthill. You are not dumb at all in fact I think you are smarter than the average person when it comes to this topic and your thought process is brilliant and enlightening. When I started this channel I thought this is gonna be the most ridiculous thing I ever share publicly with people because no one cares about mud houses or African architecture but no, I was wrong. It been great connecting with people like you and learn more from your contributions. I am now inspired to look into this topic even more. Keep these brilliant ideas coming, and lets challenge each other.
@@mudhouses ua-cam.com/video/1NGZzo529Mw/v-deo.html
Ants work their buts off
Yes, it’s called biomimicry and it’s not just about the ways ants build efficiently, it incorporates other elements of modelling the built environment to mimic nature
And yes, the lady from Uganda was right, vertically will save land, materials and time which all translate to cost savings keeping homes affordable
Not to mention that urban sprawl, to house growing populations, makes it necessary to travel farther to work or school etc which increases pollution, clogs roads, necessitates a car or transport cost etc
Making monthly transport costs equate to housing costs, which is a silent killer of resources that can be used for food or school fees etc
Mud homes can be built fast and scalable without the need for 3D printing equipment when you have a mass of young people who want to work, it’s better to invest in people over machinery, ESPECIALLY in developing countries that need domestic employment and not investing in foreign made equipment while leaving youth unemployed
Both are attainable
Yes they are . If wooden beams/support system is used . The ancient city of Saana in Yemen's houses are majority constructed of Mud bricks .
Your content is absolutely necessary! Sustainable development definitely needs to consider architecture. Implementing indigenous architecture and using our ingenuity to develop homes that are made from local, affordable and renewable resources is key! This conversation should be at the forefront of development.
Thank you very much foe this information. I have been looking for a decolonised Afrikan approach to setting up properly designed villages that respond to the needs of inhabitants. I'm a social.justice activist based in cape town but would be movie g back to the villages soon. Let us collaborate please
Thanks for having this musings , monologue out conversations on UA-cam. You are building something.
Create a Birthright Return for African Diaspora to African Economic Zones with the needs of the Locals as the Recruiting Formula
I like your logic and approach. I think the major thing that's overlooked is in the construction methodology of the clay structure you show repeatedly, The Grand Mosque of Djenne. It is the largest clay built structure on the planet and it is built and maintained by everyone in the community not a corporation. In fact all housing in Djenne and Timbuktu is built by the entire community. Capital interests require artificial scarcity in order to generate profit; therefore, any housing method based on capitalism will naturally produce a housing shortage. But community based housing (not communism) as we traditionally practiced insures that everyone is housed and that even there is anticipated housing for foreigners. such is the case among the Songhai in Mali and Niger who build every home with a room exclusively for housing strangers to such an extent that they even have a saying, "A house without a room for the stranger is not truly a home."
If you utilize cement more with mixing with mud it would be cheaper than trying to build a whole house with cement and sand. Plus it would be stronger. I've seen a video of Ghanaians do this. With the right ratio of cement and mud mixing, very strong walls are casted. Our major problem is cultural. Block houses despite their insane cost and maintenance plus unfriendliness to our climate are a status symbol. With a functioning African government, this can be corrected within three years but on an individual level, to break this cycle requires personal sacrifice
No. DO NOT mix cement with earth for building!! What you get is a bad version of both materials. You will lose the best properties of each material.
Earthen buildings do not require stabilizing. What they need is what we call "hat and boots" roof and foundation. Concrete can be used at the foundation level to keep the bottom of the walls out of the wet and splash, good roof with wide eves to prevent rain from seeping in from above.
In some climates, hard sideways driven rain will erode walls quickly and here, good lime plasters can be very helpful. In these places, annual maintenence may be necessary. Fortunately, this maintenence is usually light work and fun to do.
Sending love to fellow africans from egypt
Why not cover the difference between building in compression versus tension? Mudbrick could be bulit in both.
One word HEMP.
A partnership with India who knows how to process it paired with lime from Egypt.
Also, in order to service a growijg population you need to establish a cityscape along with RND into redevelop rural infrastructure with African tradition architecture. A city can be built with African influences to create unique scenery.
Or kenaf. Might be easier to promote since it looks less like the marijuana plant. Some of the varieties have "full" leaves vs the hemp-like palmate leaves. Seeds are available in Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, etc
Doesn't lime need to be mined? Not good.
Cal Earth is similar to African tradicional Houses and can be personaliced... it can be traditional and modern too... Namaste Haribol Asewe!
Africans We have to Use Imagination... and Comunion again... Namaste Haribol Asewe!!
This is also an issue in india. after watching your video i looked to see what other techniques other people around the world are using in regards to constructing with mud. There are some videos about cob houses + i saw this video about stabilised mud used in india ua-cam.com/video/9SCyGAaXvJE/v-deo.html it looked very interesting to me that we can incorporate other peoples knowledge to reinforce the techniques used for mud housing.
This discussion was far overdue, it is so much appreciated for deep in depth talk about honoring our Ancestral aesthetics verses the mentacidial induced munchausen syndrome, in-breed inferiority dis-ease that ensnares our imagination as how to overcome the myriad of challenges facing our people, quality of adequate dwelling be just one facet of a multi dimensional situation.
Perhaps it is time to truly intergrate the ancient Akan (Ghana) Adrinkra symbol of Sankofa, looking to our past in order to move forward.
A beautiful and mist necessary discussion, again thanks a trillion for bringing this topic up and for all the hard work you have done.
Love your content and focus on African architecture
I dont think it is demographic growth that is triggering construction emergency. We forget the fact that we tend to live as westerners (one person one room rule). Traditional African architecture did not eat up space because we were sharing rooms in large compounds. Today western health-science standards call that an anomaly, a danger: the jargon is "household density rate" echoing the malthusian concept of population density. Reviving and sustainably adapting indigenous African architecture requires taking back the modes of living that west with it. In other words afrocentric and afrofuturist architectural engineering need to be or to work with / like social scientists: historiens, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists and even linguists.
I was about to comment exactly this. Population growth is not a new phenomenon but its the individualised way of living that is making us think that we need more land rather than living as one family, in our compounds as you mentioned.
Even if technology gets wiped out, the homes & creations we create to live would remain!
I think our way of life has been westernised so much including the need to move away from family which creates the need for space for 1 person. I may be simplifying this but we've always been a people who grow in population but we've also lived together in our spaces, meaning many generations in one household but now we leave our homes and creating a lack of space because the movement then continues.
There is a lot traditional houses that are widely in used that combine western and African architecture in places like South Africa , in Zululand I've seen pictures of houses that are traditionally shaped however they incorporate windows and doors .
Burkina faso are big in traditional houses too. They have I think few architects. We really have to push this
In the uK a lot of new apartments are being built in cladded bricks which are probably fired and have some additives put in them. So it’s a mix.
Love this!!!!!
Indus Valley civilization housed millions. Can you imagine. It was bigger than Egypt they say
Thank you for the video.
I would choose a manual brick machine over any 3d printing machine
Wonderful video! I was watching a documentary exploring how the ancient Egyptians (yes Black Africans for those who don't know) were able to build the pyramids. To cut to the chase, a building materials scientist analyzed a portion of one of the enormous blocks recently. He discovered that the blocks contained small amounts of organic materials including plants and human hair. These materials cannot be found in solid rock! He determined that the Egyptians built pyramids with what is essentially a super type of mixed mud!!! 😃
In other words, ancient Egyptians discovered a mud mix which was as strong as stone blocks. The scientist speculated that they used a special silt from the Nile river mixed with a quick drying polymer and then placed into forms. Interestingly enough the Bible does say that the pyramids were made of mud bricks, an idea that has been rejected until now. Not mud bricks perhaps, but mud blocks! An early example not only of the traditional African use of mud and the pyramid shape, but of African genius and ingenuity. Just to let you know that you're definitely on the right track! Thank you for your work.
The Egyptians weren't black. Some were, most weren't.
@@VereDeVere THE EGYPTIANS[ PRESENT,AFTER ALEX THE G-R-E-E-K ET AL]ARE NOT BLACK YES!!! THE "O"RIGINAL INHABITANTS\ FOUNDERS OF THAT LAND KHEMIT WERE\AND STILL ARE!!! WHAT IS THERE NOW IS THE MULLATORIZED MIXNICITHIES LEFT BY NUMEROUS INVASIONS!!! FROM ALEX THE G-R-E-E-K OTTOMAN [ OTHERMAN] TURKS TO PRESENT DAY ARABS!!!
if we take into consideration the Bible and the Apocryphal books - Jasher / Enoch etc we could speculate that there was a pre-Adamic civilization inferred in Genesis and the extra-Biblical accounts of fallen angels etc. The harbour at Cesearea (sp?) has been there since Herod the Great and they used volcanic ash which hardens over time with sea water - so the pyramids could very well have been built by Africans using that technology. Africans are human beings created by YHWH with the ability to reason and create same as any other culture. Europeans have a need to call everything non-European primitive.
Everybody migrated from the plains of Ararat where Noah and his family touched down after the flood. Speculation abounds with who are the orignal Egyptians and this is an 'argument' that I have with people claiming that Nguni tribe is aborigine to South Africa. Let's make the distinction between aborigine and native - people migrate and I have not done a study of the words so I'll give my own definition. Aborigine - original and Native - later migrants but have been in the land for a very long time.
There is speculation that seems to be borne out by archeological evidence that Nimrod of the Babel fame fled Sumer with his followers after YHWH destroyed the Tower of Babel and fled to his father's family in Egypt where he ousted his family to establish his new kingdom. So, according to the archeological evidence - the aborigine (who had simpler burial traditions) were displaced by Nimrod (not his name, just a play on words in the Hebrew traidition) and this is borne out by the more elaborate burial traditions. see Matthew William Flinders Petrie's work on Egypt.
So Black Africans are the aborigine of Egypt - the descedents of Nimrod and his Sumerian followers are the new Egyptians. Make of it what you will.
@@VereDeVere Originally, they were; through successive mixing they are now a mixed popoulation. Just like America ironically. Sphinx has African-DNA features.
Which documentary is this? And where in the Bible does it say this?
The ancient indigenous people of America created cities like the ones you imagine of , the Inca , the maya and Aztecs . Modern Andean Indians still created houses/huts in similar fashion to there ancestors .... Though unfortunately these people are looked down upon similar to the African indigenous architecture/culture as backwards
I do not think this Lady has ever lived in a mud hut
You are right
A combo of mud housing or stuff like rammed earth with the framework of something like habitat 67
1000s of years before ancient Kemet was populated, much of the area was covered by sea. When it dried up, it left limestone mixed with old fossils, shells and other materials which when picked up would crumble in the hand.
Experts have found that a composite was created to bind these materials together and build The Pyramids.
Do you happen to remember how the composite was made and the contents of this composite or was it simply a combination of the fossil, shells and limestone?
@@Morgue12free I have no idea, but what struck me about this revelation is the end to the question of how the blocks where transported. They weren't.
They were able to transport the rubble so that they could create the blocks and in turn keep to their precise measurements.
When I heard this it made more sense than all the other conclusions of aliens, levitation or slaves pulling multi ton rocks around. It actually made me happy to hear something so obvious.
Plus I put the comment here as an example of more African architecture that is environmentally sustainable and has stood for (experts say) a conservative estimate of over 5000 years. Some reckon it's 1000s of years more.
Sister you are very smart .We need to see more pictures of your research and discoveries. But this has to start at school to remove the brainwash implemented by most western architecture scholars . I always think the person that designed UK parliament building had inspiration from GENE mosque. in Mali.
We are supposed to return to extended family set up.
Build modern houses which can carry a large family then do family business.
Practise race first
Excel.
Bio - ceramic components ....from a thinkable future emergence of redeployable micro- factories .....could enable a scalable vertical framework ....( where this the blend required )....filled in with mud unit craft ....provides a plausible / creative / prosocial / visualization . A sculptural mud mountain ❤ .
One is given to understand Bio - ceramic is electromagnetically neutral ❤ .
My sister, how can i contact you?? We need to talk!!! Please?!
How about we build a two story mud apartment inspired by the various style of natural vatilation, from indigenous tribes in africa, and modern toilet system combined, these apartment can hold up to 1thousand people in them, and it won't feel hot in they, and we be very warm at night.
Post more please
We are not completely re-liberated. History always leaves a finger print on time. A lot of stuff did not come into being until they started colonizing.
If more houses would be built with mud, which is available on the whole planet for free then a lot of problems would be solved...environmental, financial..
Imagine a human ant hill city that grows with the human population in a culturally accepted mathematical plan that spans generations. An interconnected anthill city of mud that is one but at the same time segmented. Not crowded but connected in such a way that makes it look like one giant mud web. Of course we do not have the culture to even begin to imagine this nor am I suggesting we actually try this but please, dream with me. Because I know this dream is feasible if not possible today
You are not us, not African, please stay away
Mud can wash away!
I love your dream, and I believe that that if you can dream it you can do it. Nothing in this world is impossible. We will eventually realise and acknowledge that our ancestors were environmentally friendly way before it became fashionable in the 20th century. It was after all our way of life. I have hope for our future generations. Thank you.
@irenedavo3768 If it's just mud. It can be mixed with recycled materials!
Though it has YET to reach a larger audience, I feel like you have NO IDEA, how important your content is
On a WHOLISTIC level
Pan-African ,Traditional, Sustainable, Design
PTSD , how ironic , keep up the Good work 💯
I totally agree. Keep.up the good work
Mud washes away!
Ignorance
They are. Why not?
Isn't Adobe essentially mud housing? If so, many people in the US live in mud housing.
Our economic system here has pros and cons. On one hand, when you buy everything, specialization is promoted. The man who does nothing but build houses can get really good at it and expand on those skills. But when you depend on everyone else for everything you need, you don'thave knowledge of how to do anything. You can't build your own home because you don't know how.
Yes, what you said. There is no reason to buy your materials from other places. Every continent has the resources to supply homes. Use what you have there. Also other countries swear Africa has nothing original to offer. Build your own homes and construction tech and let the rest of the world take notice of your innovation.
Nope, the common attitude against mud houses comes more from opinion than facts...
But why use machines!?
Isn't the point to also bring ancient techniques
No its good to have african style but we need to modernize it. Its the problem in africa we want african architectures food and clothes, bit at one point ubneed to modernize it, so it can be built and made faster, with better quality and precision, it will also bringing money and respect.
What you do wrong is comparing ancient too modern you caint do that , u gotta think we haven't had time to develop our architecture ,in 400 hundred years,but wen u compare our old architecture to there's. ours would have been viewed as modern and high class during that time, plus modern architecture is not really that advanced the material we build out of in the modern world are weak and flimsy and cheaply made they cause health issues, and the buildings dont last long
Scalable or not, the solution is simple but no one wants to hear it. If you’re at a point where you need to develop vertically, you’re having too many kids. Place a societal focus on education and this will decrease a desire to have a bunch of kids and this problem will solve itself.
This is a very Eurocentric view of the world and frankly very limited in its solutions in so many ways. 1st the idea that people are not educated that's why they are having many kids is utterly ignorant. I know many Africans with PHD with lots of kids. Secondly the idea that one didn't go to the formal education system so they are not educated is also beyond ignorant in my view. I can debunk that in a simple way, I am African, and we as a people have always lived with technology. I just did a video explaining how our forebears invented air-conditioning for our traditional houses pre-colonial era and long before electricity existed. None of them went to what people now call educational institutions and I would argue they were frankly more educated than you and me combined. If we were not rudely disrupted then a lot of this knowledge would have been available for us. Here is the video ua-cam.com/video/-6bbwYOhXSc/v-deo.html. I think it's important to educate yourself on the diversity of the world, it might help you to understand the diversity of opinion. I respect yours but it doesn't work for my people and my community. We value having kids, we value building our clans, we value the human interaction and how we support each other and want to create solutions to accommodate our growth. I know you might find that to be primitive and backwards and seeming from a lack of education but I think you are limited in your world view and experiences and would challenge you to open your mind to new educational material that is not available in the box of what people define as education these days. Have a nice day!
What is with all the anti-western propaganda in all of your videos?
Are you trying to preach or teach?
It looks like it is the former, because if you were not trying to preach you would be more focused on showing more actual architectural design and construction content.
Inspiration is one thing, but the world doesn’t need more disciples it needs more architects engineers and construction workers.
Visually I was attracted to these videos for their potential educational value with regards to traditional African architecture and any new potential modern innovations on those older building techniques, but sadly your videos are mostly filled with rhetoric and very little actual architectural content.
So... how they made those mud "skyscrapers" in Shibam, Yemen??
Shouldn't make a search over there???
In Kenya you have only one beautiful national local urban architecture.
It's named Swahili. So, you can keep or improve that through new constructions of our era. Just look the Shela architecture how beautiful it is in front of the whole neoafrican concrete & metal garbage!!!
Especially as about the metal garbage, Ghana has the worst problem. Every but every building has a metal roof or sheds. And then they are crying about hard heat problem... YOU made that heat problem over your head. Because you left your roots, your tradition, your grandparents architecture.
It's time to go back again & improve it.