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40 % of the world population lives in earthen dwellings
25 % of the world population does not have access to decent housing
(Statistics from UNCHS)
17 % of the "world cultural heritage sites" is built with earth
25 % of the "world heritage sites in danger" is built with earth
14 % of the "hundred most endangered world heritage sites" is built with earth
(Statistics from UNESCO)
For millennia men proved that they could live in
a sustainable way. They lived in harmony with nature. They used it and still
respected it. People used earth as a raw material with a lot of sensibility. The
"modern" fashion of the 20th century created a break with the
millennia old developments. Our Mother Earth has been spoilt and abused. The
21st century should find again the harmonious link between man,
nature and spirit.
At the dawn of this new millennium, our Mother Earth
gave us two challenges: How to build with earth on a large scale, while
respecting Nature? How to realize architecture full of light, suppleness,
simplicity, imagination and beauty with a heavy and formless mud?
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