There are several ways to build with mud, or earth as you call it. What is more common in Pakistan are either burnt red bricks, which are most common, or kachi or unburnt clay bricks that we see in villages and rural areas.
While red kiln bricks are attributed to environmental pollution, the kachi brick is not considered durable enough for long-term construction. Although I know there are houses as old as 100 years made with unburnt clay bricks that are still usable today.
However, there is another type of brick, which is the compressed stabilized earth brick. A lot about how to build with mud and different ways to construct with mud has been explained in simple terms by Laurie Baker in his book:
https://www.eartharchitecture.org/uploads/mud_english.pdf
In 2020, I got hold of a hand-operated machine from Islamabad which could produce interlocking CSEB bricks. Interlocking bricks are a type of brick made with exact precision such that each brick can be laid on top of another like Lego blocks. This not only reduces the time to build the house but also saves a lot on labour, as it makes the process of building walls faster.
My experience with CSEB bricks has been very good. Ar. Shahid Khan has done a lot of work with CSEB bricks and has constructed houses that are suitable for urban areas as well.
I am attaching some videos of the house I made of Shahid Khan sb to give you guys an idea of what type of houses are possible with CSEB. Ar. Shahid Khan runs an organization called Indus Earth Trust, which can be contacted for projects directly.
Leave a Reply