Types of Earth Construction

All around the world mud is one of the primary building material for one third of the worlds population. Although the type of construction differs from place to place as per the climatic conditions, the design of the structure becomes crucial to cater to the local needs. Recent shortage of resources has coaxed us to renew this long lost technique of construction in every continent known to man on earth.


Water is one of the biggest threats to this type of construction as against conventional kiln-burnt brick construction or cement or steel construction. Since rural people are the biggest users of houses build by mud, the technique used by them has remained more or less the same over the years, but with advancement in technology and eagerness of few concerned people to build a greener planet we have better, faster technology wherein compressed mud blocks (Compression Pressure - 39 kg/cm.sq.) or compressed mud walls are preapared which adsorp less than 5% water.


Type of Mud Archietcture practiced all over the world can be broadly divided into 5 different types, although its important to note that, it excludes the style further developed by Nadir Khalil (Iran) and others.


1. Wattle & Daub Construction (Mud & Woven Stick Construction)

Wattle & Daub is a building material used for making walls in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw.

2. Rammed Earth Construction (pise-de-terre)

Rammed earth construction is a simple technique wherein earth is compacted between formwork to make a homogeneous mass wall. It is a sustainable construction material, and it can be successfully designed and used in modern construction. Properly done, a rammed earth construction will create a building that is weather resistant, soundproof, insect and rodent proof, inexpensive to heat and cool, very comfortable to live in and will probably last for centuries.


3. Adobe Construction (Mud Blocks) 

Adobe is one of the oldest building material, and it is made from sand, clay and water with some kind of fibrous or organic material (sticks, chopped straw & dung) which is shaped into bricks using frames and then dried in sun over a period of time.

4. Cob Wall Construction

Cob Wall construction is also one of the ancient type of construction wherein the Cob contains earth and straw or other fibers, which is very similar to adobe. Cob is normally applied by hand in large gobs (or cobs) for the building process.

5. Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB or CEB)

CSEB is commonly known as CEB. Compressed Earth Block, wherein mud, sand, silt & clay are mixed in an appropriate proportion which is put in a frame of block size 24 X 24 cm (other customized shapes are available with different machines), which are then compressed to a high pressure of 20 – 40 Kg/cm2 to generate blocks.

CSEB is a new advancement over adobe construction and is widely used in New Mexico, America. The first CSEB Building code development happened in New Mexico, in 2001. Approximately 55% of all Indian homes still use raw earth for walls. But the irony being Earth is still considered as a poor man’s material.

The machine used for compressing the mix is different for different places. Balram, Auram Press 3000 are used in India. These machines can produce different types of Interlocking blocks also, which are highly suitable for speedy and mortar less construction.

Art of Building with Mud

Mud Architecture


Soil......Earth .....Mud......Dirt ......

whatever you want to call it, it is all around us and as they say " we the people of this earth" speaks for itself.


Tracing back the history of Building shelter with mud, will take us back thousands of years of human existence. We can link it from as early as Indus valley Civilzation (2600 - 1700 BC, part of India & Pakistan) to Great Wall of China(220 BC) to Modern Rammed Earth Houses. While we try to trace the evolution of mud architecture, we often stumble upon the great learning & understanding over the years about the usage of Mud in different styles, patterns & order.


Mud has other inherent advantages: It is extremely malleable and offers better insulation than steel-and-concrete structures, it decentralises the construction process because it utilises local material and technology and thereby obviates the need for a contractor, and it costs much less to maintain mud buildings.


One of the greatest sites World Heritage site is at Bam, Iran is Arg-é Bam Citadel which dates back to 500AD and was still inhabited till 1850. Since it is the largest Adobe Building construction in the world, UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage Site, which nearly covers around 0.18 sq.km. The UNESCO list of Heritage Sites also includes Fujian Clan Houses, Tulou wherein walls are not just of mud but of soil, sand & lime.

Numerous examples of Mud Architecture all around the World :

1. Ait Benhaddou, Morocco, Africa. (Unesco World Heritage Site )

2. The great mosque of Dijenne, Mali, Africa.

3. The ancient city of Shibam, Yemen, Morocco. World’s Oldest surviving Mud Skyscraper

4. The Hadhramaut region, Yemen, Morocco.


The city of Shibam, Yemen, Morocco is one of the most distinguishable of all since the tallest building heights around 30m, ie.100 ft. It’s interesting to note that all the floors includes their private toilets which means the level of maintenance to the complete building is crucial for the stability.


Mud Architecture is easy and simple to practice but it does require time to time maintenance as water and moisture are the biggest threat for its collapse. Accordingly roofing becomes main concern while designing the Mud Structure. If the wall can be designed as such that it avoids contact with direct splash of water then it impart few more years to the life of the structure.


Considering the scarcity and high cost of conventional building materials such as brick, cement and steel, Mud Architecture will be the next step which is also a more energy efficient way of construction.