Urban Mud Metabolism and Survivability: From Earth Buildings to Edible Substances?

Designing Matter, Essay, Lola Ben-Alon, No Density, Technology and fabrication.

Adaptive system, Building, Clay, Climate change, Comfort, Consumption, Cultural identity, Designing Matter, Earth, Economy, Environment, Essay, Experimental Fabrications, Extreme environments, Food, Global market, Health contributor, History, Industrialization, Information, Materials, Metabolism, Natural materials, Passive design, Social culture, Soil, Sustainable.

Article by Lola Ben-Alon, Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP, where she directs the Natural Materials Lab and the Building Tech curriculum.

The use of earth-based materials (namely, mud or dirt architecture) appears in two practices throughout history: in the construction of buildings and – less commonly known or conclusively understood – in certain dietary consumption patterns. To put it simply, soil, the most important nutrient collector on earth, can be used for both building and for eating.