Despite its decline, people in many developing countries have continued to utilise earth as a building material in the traditional fashion. This produces dwellings characterised as vernacular and generally defined as indigenous. In addition, in some developing countries that have widely adopted modern building materials and techniques, scarcity and increasing prices of these materials, together with their environmental impact, have led to reconsideration of the use of earth materials. Consequently, contemporary housing schemes have been built with ‘improved’ earth. These schemes have usually been designed and built without consultation with future occupiers, contrary to traditional practice. This has sometimes resulted in standardised dwellings that not only have not fulfilled requirements and aspirations of their occupiers but also have reinforced people’s negative attitudes towards earth construction.
This paper is based on findings of a research project that examined the viability of earth construction as a building material and technique for urban housing in Zambia. As part of the research, a case study was carried out on two selected Zambian sites where twenty residents were interviewed to gain their views on earth housing living conditions. In addition, a questionnaire survey, based on the findings from the case study, was administered to practising architects, structural engineers and contractors, to collect data for a baseline overview of the Zambian construction industry’s attitude to earth construction. It was anticipated that this might give indications of the reasons for
residents’ attitudes.
The research findings showed that urban residents associated earth houses with poverty and low socio-cultural status. On the other hand, construction professionals were reluctant to specify and select earth materials for their projects, owing to the materials’ technical deficiency and performance limitations, exacerbated by a lack of appropriate standards and codes relating to earth construction. Nevertheless, the professionals expressed their willingness to consider using earth materials if their performance could be improved. The content of this paper should be of interest to building designers, contractors, housing developers, and policy makers in developing countries, who have a crucial role in promoting the use of earth materials for housing construction.