Raw Earth Architecture

This book includes the conference proceedings on earthen architecture, coordinated by Mehdi Mahmoud Dellagi and organised by the Arts department within the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts Beit al-Hikma on February 6th, 2015. The meeting, whose main objective is to enrich the wide earthen architecture file, allowed the participants to deal with architecture as geometric forms encompassing scientific and artistic techniques and expressing civilisational specificity. Based on the Unesco’s estimations for the world heritage on raw earth, the conference coordinator asserts in his opening address that «this architecture harbours a third of the world population». With respect to the participants they highlighted the transformations that the different types of architecture has gone through across time, hence responding to the dynamic of the economic and social structure, as well as environmental changes. In fact, each era is characterised by the emergence of various aesthetic notions and knowledge structures thus creating a new architectural vision. Not only does the book display knowledge and theories’ definitions of earthen architecture around the world, but it is also particularly interested in the different architecture model, its techniques and it draws attention to the practised earthen construction in Tunisia.
This book outlines a consistant content dealing with the cultural, architectural and aesthetic aspects related to this multi-faceted civilisational discipline.