Rethink the Nubian vault in Sub-Saharian Africa

Presented by Coleman A. Jordan The Nubian Vault's mudbrick process has advantages for economic and educational growth in the building industry for local communities. As the revival of the Nubian Vault construct has taken hold in Sub-Saharan Africa, the rainy season continues to halt progress in Africa's more tropical regions. With assistance from Dwell Earth, a company founded by two brothers in Texas, and the measured use of concrete, the Nubian Vault's failures have the potential for success in the tropics. My presentation will look at the history of the Nubian Vault from ancient Egypt to Hassan Fathy's twentieth-century revival and the recent work of the French /Burkinabé NGO La Voûte Nubienne. Lastly, I will show the failed experiments and the subsequent potential for success.