Nubian vault
Mudbrick catenary vault
Born in Nubia (Upper Egypt, Sudan), Sahel.
How it works
Mud bricks are leaned against an end wall along a catenary curve and built up into a self-supporting vaulted roof, with no timber and no shuttering. The thick earthen mass soaks up the day's heat and gives it back slowly at night, and the curved roof shades part of itself as the sun crosses.
In a modern home
Compressed-earth-block vaults and domes that replace a hot concrete slab with a breathing earthen roof, in timber-scarce, high-heat regions.
What it answers
Built from
Source
Hassan Fathy, Architecture for the Poor (1973); Nubian Vault Association (AVN) build manuals.
Follow the threads
Cavity brick wallshares overheating, high embodied carbon, store & slow heat→Filler-slab roofshares roof heat, high embodied carbon, store & slow heat→Dry-stone corbelled roofshares overheating, roof heat, store & slow heat→Thick earthen wallsshares overheating, high embodied carbon, store & slow heat→Earth-sheltered cave dwellingshares overheating, high embodied carbon, store & slow heat→Insulating & green roofsshares roof heat, overheating, store & slow heat→