Developing Of Earthen Techniques In the Contemporary Residential Buildings

Earth is the most natural building material which has been used for many centuries in different regions of the world, but it was declined by time, because of using modern building materials, like cement, and some disadvantages for earthen construction, but recently it has been coming back to the world of construction, according to the growing concerns with sustainable architecture, throw researches and scientific experiments to improve its advantages and reduce its disadvantages. This is held out in order to study the earthen architecture in Palestine, especially in Jericho- which has the oldest use of earthen techniques, and it is rich with traditional earthen architecture- in attempt for developing it, to get safety and sustainable architecture in the future, The study concludes that, loam isn't a standardized building material, many techniques has been used in Palestinian earthen architecture, since the stone ages, spread in different areas of Palestine, but it was concentrated later in arid regions especially in Jericho, that has a distinctive traditional building, characteristics with its flat and inclined roofs, while the using of domes and vaults was very rare, recently there are some efforts for reviving it, but it still needs improvement because of the lake of skills and local researches, so in any attempt to reuse earth in construction it must be taken in account four aspects: environment, economy, social needs, and the structural safety, which can be achieved by applying the scientific principles, and benefit from the successful traditional practices, the most suitable earthen technique for contemporary architecture is the compressed block because of its structural advantages. The study presented a number of recommendations for all parties in the field of earthen construction like: establishing specific labs for earthen construction, including the study of earthen architecture in the local faculties of engineering, and making cooperation with the universal ones which deal with this field, finding a code building for earthen construction, establishing a factory for producing compressed earth block in Jericho according to the universal standards, and the need to grow the awareness with the sustainable advantages of the earthen buildings.