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BUILDING WITH REEDS: Revitalizing a building tradition for low carbon building practice

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Author

  • Marwa Dabaieh
  • Mamdouh Sakr

Summary, in English

Since ancient times, reeds have been used as a low-tech building material in several construction purposes. Reed is a natural building materials that possess many useful benefits in contemporary building practices. Reeds grow around lakes, swamps and other water canals and have no environmental impact if dismantled after construction as they are biodegradable. Reeds are also easy to cut and handle making for a flexible material easily used in construction. Similar to several other building traditions, reed construction is disappearing in many parts of the world, especially now that there are no serious preservation or documentation attempts. In Egypt, this ancient and traditional building craft has been common for millennia, and was the predominant building technique in certain regions until recently. As previously the dwellings and the communal prayer areas of several fishing villages in Egypt were entirely built using reeds, there is still great potential for reintroducing reed building techniques to respond to different environmental and economical conditions in specific regions. This research paper demonstrates how we can revitalize this craft through learning how to use reeds as a low carbon contemporary building practice.

Publishing year

2015-11-06

Language

English

Document type

Conference - other

Topic

  • Architecture

Keywords

  • Reeds
  • building know-how
  • low carbon construction
  • vernacular for tomorrow

Status

Published