#ClimateCrisis #archetecture

"How Architects Are Using an Ancient Building Technique to Combat Climate Change

Rammed earth buildings have been around for thousands of years. Now, they’re having a modern moment.

As a building technique, rammed earth—which combines clay soil with aggregate such as gravel into tightly compressed layers—traces back thousands of years. It was widely used in ancient China, but appears globally throughout history, including in the U.S. After the industrial revolution, and the innovations of steel, concrete, glass, and mass-produced bricks, the traditional method fell out of favor. Now, however, an increasing number of architects are looking to the material as a sustainable, place-rooted way to build amid a climate crisis that calls for dramatically reduced carbon emissions."

https://www.inc.com/fast-company-2/how-architects-are-using-an-ancient-building-technique-to-combat-climate-change/91278667

#climate #archetecture #Dubai

"Last year, temperatures in Dubai reached a scorching 51C and outdoor 'feels like temperatures – which take humidity into account – were as high as 62C. Air conditioning is widespread in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE), accounting for more than 70% of electricity consumption in the country during the summer months. However, proponents of traditional, passive cooling techniques say these tried and tested approaches to shading buildings and managing air flow could help people beat the heat without racking up massive electricity bills.

'The Emiratis built houses that were completely desert-proof," says Noor Ahmed, my tour guide. 'Wind towers were used to catch the cool air from outside and drive out the hot air from inside,' he adds. Gesturing at the labyrinthine alleyways of the old town, Ahmed points out how the high walls protect pedestrians from the blistering sun.

After Old Dubai emerged from the sands of time in the 1700s, it became a popular residential area when the ancestors of today's Emiratis transitioned from a nomadic to a more settled lifestyle along the Dubai Creek, a natural saltwater inlet that runs through the city.

The city's original inhabitants designed ingenious homes that could withstand the harsh climate of the Arabian Desert. They used technologies such as wind towers or wind-catchers known as barjeels, enclosed courtyards, latticed windows called mashrabiyas, coral stone houses, and narrow walkways called sikkas.

'The beauty of Al Fahidi's architecture lies in the fact that it uses several passive cooling techniques that work in tandem to keep the neighbourhood cool,' says Ahmed Al-Jafflah, senior cultural speaker at Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Cultural Understanding, a nonprofit organisation that promotes Emirati culture and history. 'Our ancestors built a holistic architectural system that optimised wind quality, enhanced shade and minimised exposure to the Sun – all of which were crucial to maintaining comfortable temperatures in Old Dubai,' he adds."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20250715-how-old-dubais-historic-streets-beat-extreme-heat