Building with Earth and Recycled Materials in Egypt and Albania

The project is based on Boldan’s interest in environmental protection and waste management as well as Urban Research Institute’s interest in working with earthen materials. The mixture of both experiences has served as an example of how both organisations’ concepts and methodologies can provide architectural solutions.

In September 2017, Ina and Shaimaa have organised an interactive workshop on how to use earthen culture with recycled materials while creating physical spaces, during a Tandem meeting in Odesa. The participants of this session had the chance to explore plastering with earth, which is an ancient and natural technique for painting walls. They first learned how to prepare the mixture and to apply it hands-on, and then applied it to recycled wooden frames and learned how to paint. This exercise has brought earth and its uses closer to the participants.

You can watch two short videos about these hands-on workshops that took place in Fayoum, Egypt where participants built with earth, using local materials and traditional techniques from the region; and in Albania, where they used recycled wood as a sustainable, alternative building material.