Abstract
Afghanistan suffers from four decades of war, caused a massive migration of the rural population to the cities. Kabul was originally designed for 1,5 million people, where now 5 million people live. The importation of modern western styles housing for rapid reconstruction reveals apparent cultural conflict and significant environmental footprint. The new constructive cultures for sustainable reconstruction should necessary consider the use of local materials combined with modern technologies. Earthen architecture underlies the embodiment of Afghanistan architecture. The aim of this research is to revisit traditional afghan earthen construction with the tools of industrial modernity. Three soils of the Kabul region were first characterized. Then, sun-dried mud brick and compressive earth block, with and without stabilization have been prepared and tested in the laboratory to develop the most suitable earth construction element which is cost effective and easily available compared to the imported modern products.
Highlights
Earth has been used for thousands of years and predates any other construction material
These good results may be explained by the fineness of the soils used, leading to an increase in the capillary force intensity (Ouellet-Plamondon & Habert, 2016). These results show that stabilization of raw earth can be achieved by mechanical compaction using relatively low pressure
Whatever the earthen element is considered, elements made with Deh-Sabz soil have an average specific heat transfer capacity 6% higher than that of elements made with Arghandi soil
Summary
Earth has been used for thousands of years and predates any other construction material. Glass facades, various types of thermal insulation and electrical equipment were imported to the country This economic boom in Kabul city has resulted in rapid population growth and greatly raised housing demand. AFNOR XP P13-901 (2001) and MOPT (2012) standard codes developed a boundary polygon to find the soil suitability for earth construction (Figure 4) Based on those definitions, test results indicate that Deh-Sabz and Arghandi soils are suitable for earth construction, while Band-eGhazi is located very close but outside of the boundary polygon. Test results indicate that Deh-Sabz and Arghandi soils are suitable for earth construction, while Band-eGhazi is located very close but outside of the boundary polygon This is due to the weak liquid limit of Band-e-Ghazi soil. This result does not exclude this soil because previous studies showed that soil outside the polygon may be good for earth construction, like Lattes soil used by the Romans to build their house in the Lattara archaeological site. (Accetta, 2003)
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