Our third session, held on 16th December, was dedicated to two speakers, Andy Horn and Eckardt Dauck, who introduced us to two very different ways of building with straw.

Andy Horn who is a South African Architect and Principal of Eco Design Architects with over 24 years of experience demystified the notion of building with straw bales. He also showcased previously completed projects, shared his experiences and findings as well as the various experimentations his firm has done with the material.

We were also delighted about the presence of the founder of Zero Carbon Designs, Eckardt Dauck, who presented to us his made-in-Uganda Zero Carbon straw panel, and how it is being used in construction throughout East Africa.

The modern problem of deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa has created a housing crisis. So Association la Voûte Nubienne looked 3,500 years into the past and used an architectural solution to create a home that people are proud to live in. via Dezeen & the Future Makers Series.

Nowadays, because of climate change and deforestation, there's not enough locally available construction timber in the Sahel region of Africa. Traditional roofs are often replaced by imported corrugated zinc sheets and sawn timber frames - an expensive and climatically inappropriate solution. But with the Nubian Vault technique, using raw earth as the principal construction material, a building can go up without using timber Such buildings are well adapted to both rural and urban contexts.

Between 2014 and 2017, AVN was instrumental in the construction
of the very first village built entirely of Nubian Vaults, implemented
by the NGOs Banlieues du Monde and Le Partenariat, and funded by the Dubai Charity Association.

Located in Mauritania, practically on the frontier formed by the river Senegal, the Sheikh Zayed Village of Diakré is made up of 51 private houses, a mosque, a literacy centre, and a maternity clinic. The beneficiaries of the project are Mauritanian refugees who fled their country during the war.

AVN présente les solutions qu'offre son programme en terme de bâtiments communautaires mais également en terme d'assistance technique pour la construction.

La construction en terre... pour construire la terre ! Tel est le crédo de l'entreprise solidaire CoMaLoC de Dassa (Bénin), accompagnée par SENS depuis 2010. Grâce à la formation animée par CRAterre au Bénin en novembre 2011, de nombreux autres acteurs sont en train de s'associer à la démarcher pour (re)valoriser le construction en terre.

In this movie, Thomas Granier explains why his organisation La Voûte Nubienne believes the future of housing in Africa can be transformed by reviving a 3,500-year-old building technique.