Making History

The Dirt on Mud

  • By Jess Blumberg
  • Smithsonian magazine, February 2008

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    Related Books

    Glorious Mud!: Ancient and Contemporary Earthen Design and Construction in North Africa, Western Europe, the near East, and Southwest Asia

    by Gus W. Van Beek and Ora Van Beek
    Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2007

    More from Smithsonian.com

    As rapid advancements in technology render last year's inventions obsolete, it's reassuring to know that a 13,000-year-old innovation is still being used today: mud. This economical building material aids in the construction of everything from grand palaces and temples to simple shops and homes. Gus Van Beek, an anthropologist from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and his wife, Ora, an independent scholar, have been researching methods of ancient and contemporary mud architecture in Southwest Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States since 1971. One of their findings is that mud houses are best suited for desert climates, as they absorb and dissipate heat slowly, providing an ambient interior temperature. Concrete structures, by contrast, trap heat and act like ovens. Get more dirt on this building material in Glorious Mud!, a new reference book from Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. "Mud," says Ora, "is a magnificent property for humanity."

    As rapid advancements in technology render last year's inventions obsolete, it's reassuring to know that a 13,000-year-old innovation is still being used today: mud. This economical building material aids in the construction of everything from grand palaces and temples to simple shops and homes. Gus Van Beek, an anthropologist from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and his wife, Ora, an independent scholar, have been researching methods of ancient and contemporary mud architecture in Southwest Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States since 1971. One of their findings is that mud houses are best suited for desert climates, as they absorb and dissipate heat slowly, providing an ambient interior temperature. Concrete structures, by contrast, trap heat and act like ovens. Get more dirt on this building material in Glorious Mud!, a new reference book from Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. "Mud," says Ora, "is a magnificent property for humanity."

     
    Comments

    Why does concrete behave so differently from mud? How can the builder get the advantages of both? Concrete has stability in earthquakes and rain while mud is economical and apparantly better at regulating temperature.

    Posted by Lissa Klein on June 23,2008 | 09:24 PM

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