The warmth and wisdom of mud buildings | Anna Heringer

"There are a lot of resources given by nature for free -- all we need is our sensitivity to see them and our creativity to use them," says architect Anna Heringer. Heringer uses low-tech materials like mud and bamboo to create structures from China to Switzerland, Bangladesh and beyond. Visit an awe-inspiring school, an elegant office and cozy social spaces -- all built from natural materials -- in this delightful talk.
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[@imrankhanfahim2488]

This woman was really an inspiration for me as I belonged to that very rural school.I saw her rushing for bringing people,doing this doing that all the time.Amid all these hard works and toiling, we never saw her not smiling.Anna Herringer,you really are a kind and very good woman,ma'am.

[@aglehg]

Have you people demonising the idea ever been inside a mud house? I was visiting my mother's birthplace in mid summer. It was insanely hot. We went inside this mud house, which was partially in ruins already... but it was fresh inside! I can't really put it into words. The feel inside a mud house is completely different. It felt so comfortable. I'd like to live in one some day.

[@shlomosilversteinberg5785]

It's primitive.

[@LughSummerson]

Just because it's ancient technology doesn't mean it's not a good building material. Stone and wood are just as primitive. Concrete is nearly as old, and was even used thousands of years before the Romans began using it extensively. If it works, it works. And it's worthwhile finding out how to better use it.

[@kungfusing1]

Lorem Ipsum yes it is using primitive technology. It’s also extremely labour intensive and produces a far more comfortable and enjoyable home than the cheap garbage we live in today. You see there is a distinction to be made between primitive technology and primitive living environments. A mud brick home is far superior to a modern timber structure building for example.

[@benjaminlevine7623]

Where does she live?

So is using Iron (did you heard about "Iron Age"? ;-) (Nice trolling btw.)

[@rayedaislam532]

I'm an architecture student from Bangladesh. I was just exploring mud architecture related videos on youtube and found this without knowing it's about our very own METI school. You've no idea how motivating it was for me to study more about rural architecture and mud architecture. Thank you so much, Anna.

[@georgeb9977]

What an amazing point of view, and amazing innovative way of thinking. I love her dream and hope she achieves it.

[@joannot6706]

Not only is it fonctional and cheap, but it's also very beautiful!!! I am totally impressed!

[@lindafnichris]

Joannot Fampionona That's right. We want to sell our house and build a cob home. I've looked into this alot and these homes are very economical, very strong, environment friendly, can be built any shape, are beautiful homes in every aspect.

[@saifulislamMarketer]

I'm see this from Bangladesh. Im fan of Anna Heringer

[@mnulfateh]

When you help someone, contentment inhale in you as that is the natural phenomenon. Great work by Anna.

[@locouk]

I’ve always wondered why in the U.S. the main domestic house building material is wood, price and aesthetics. It still makes me wonder even more when there are tornados, hurricanes and as just recently in California, wild fires. Surely now would be a good time for those who have to rebuild to consider a fireproof building material such as earth or bricks? Good luck with giving people an insight to a hopefully new but ancient possibility.

[@JMTgpro]

Old message, but the answer. Tradition, but the tradition began because the US needed to expand its housing to supply its demand, and building with wood was cheaper and faster. That way they could supply many more people of housing. (Think about that when you see a wooden house costing $ 900,000 or more than a brick one.xD)

[@IsYitzach]

Some questions which were not answered: How does it do in earthquakes? If it does poorly unaltered, what would it take to make it do well? Otherwise, excellent and interesting.

[@danielaheredia7867]

One of the best Ted talks I've seen this year and the one that gives me again this idea of having my own.. Someday. I was born and race in one old house made of mud bricks and its still standing as new. So many ancient knowledge are being forgotten within the new generations.

[@yelenayegorova9836]

We should pay attention to this amazing message. I had experience to live in a house like that. I would recommend everybody to try it!

[@brendarua01]

Is it interesting that this follows the presentation yesterday about future tech bringing benefits of city life anywhere?

[@mirabdullahalmamunbhuiyan4129]

Dear Anna Heringer, thanks a lot and highly proud of you for your amazing creative idea, and feeling grateful for your hard, challenging and incredible project such a remote area of my country Bangladesh.

[@Syrkyth]

That is mind-boggling. Sustainable structures built with local materials lacking only the know-how to make them a more wide spread phenomenon. Mind-boggling.

[@Jaszczurka29]

100 year ago a mud houses were very popular in Polish country since clay is a very cheap material. Now it it different but you can still find a houses made of clay which are very old. I live in a home-made of clay in Bieszczady mountains. When it is really hot outside in my house is fresh air and humidity is about 60% which is very good for humans.

[@darshankworld]

She is remarkable lady and we need architects like her to change the world .

[@jeeyongyow3306]

More people need to know this.

[@carolinekattee7041]

Impressive!

[@skarp911]

great ideas, great person

[@davidhewitt2158]

Inspiring thankyou

[@kohnfutner9637]

Wow you need to write a book to teach me how to do that. Puh-lllllleeeeeaaaassseeee!! I wish there's video of them putting this together.

[@WintaAssefa]

this shouldn't be so crazy, but it is. Thank you for your crazy, Anna

[@jeyaratnamnirupan2566]

great work

[@AtelierFleur]

fantastic!!

[@chinmaypandit9875]

Incredible

[@thramagen]

Thats cool, I'm building a non traditional house on a budget. I don't know what speakers and bloggers and have against charts. They give you all the info in one place so you can focus and make comparative analysis and not be emotionally manipulated.

[@tomalthakur9118]

Wow!

[@ironfire4234]

It is awesome

[@faiza7533]

Great talk!

[@Lunareon]

Amazing creations can be made from the simplest materials. I wish people would put this much creativity into buildings made out of steel and cement, too, so that we'd have more interesting designs instead of these unimaginative gray boxes of today!

[@vaidhiyanathanpanchapagesa4832]

Wonderful.... Best is the money circulates within the community....

[@BenTheThird]

Cool!

[@perfectlyimperfect1914]

The ancient Harappa & Mohanjodaro civilization was also built up of muds & bamboo shoots...In Asia & Africa Continents it's very much common in country sides...

[@leveljoe]

What about seismically active areas?

[@lonniesorrell1028]

Would that work in a cold place like Bemedji MN?

[@vikram2548]

Am I the only one who noticed that her sleeveless top is made of recycled cloth?

[@zannatul23]

yay Bangladesh ❤❤

[@kavidusasmika]

For better world better future

[@elias1706]

Yay, let's get back to medieval level housing... \/^_^\/

[@rubenjimenez221]

How can I send pics of what I can do with just leaves from nature. In my community I'm an artist

[@piraterubberduck6056]

I'm now going to use this for inspiration for a ECO nursery building I am designing at uni. Thanks

[@joannot6706]

She should work with Elon musk for his mars project!

[@thanoscom]

Can you resist such a construction in a country as seismic as Chile?

[@youtubewatcher6854]

I want a mud couch in my house.

[@joannot6706]

We need mud house on Mars.

[@mnulfateh]

I think if Anna could have used these expertise in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Somalia and many other countries. West would not be facing the mass migration and less casualties despite knowing that people were not forced to move because of economics or shelter but war and unrest. Well done, Anna. Stay blessed.

[@kagirinaikisu]

These buildings wouldn't work in desert areas. They literally only work where the right type of bamboo grows. Vietnam and China regions. (And parts of south America) This building type won't stand desert storms, typhoons/hurricanes, earthquakes etc. So this video is only for one small area of the planet. >.

[@mnulfateh]

Bamboo are available in some areas not in very large quantity but there are many alternative to the bamboos. I really liked it and it is wonderful work by Anna.

[@221Dw]

Doesn't work so well in rainy and humid places though.

[@sathimanthamalalasekera968]

I would think so too... but Bangladesh sees some of the toughest rainy seasons in the world. Maybe there's another side to this story?

[@aminarahmanraisa9119]

If u see her video of rudrapur dipshikha school ,there she spoke about using straw inside the mud ,and in early periods the outer layer gets a lil bit damaged but not the inside and it's a thick mud wall construction and when the sun goes up it will dry eventually or people will add an extra layer of mud over the damage area and done !

[@khanhphuongtruong2741]

can you give me this video's transcript??

[@sathimanthamalalasekera968]

www.ted.com/talks/anna_heringer_the_warmth_and_wisdom_of_mud_buildings/transcript

[@ceeleegeetimes9245]

we have bahay kubo in the philippines

[@tarico4436]

Freud said those of us who appreciate civilization have one major player to thank for both war and the construction of skyscrapers: if men didn't pursue this avenue, even unto death sometimes, then we'd all still be living in caves and grass or mud huts. Mating like bunnies in those huts is what we'd be doing if everyone were into love as much as I am. But alas, first one and then another and then another of them put down a foot, and said: "Go kill that other man, take his money, bring his money back here, and then you can have what you want." Soon enough a grass hut wasn't enough, and now all civilized nests must be made of gold.

[@crazymonkeyassasin]

nice computer your posting on their chum, nice day not running from wolves wasnt it.

[@LughSummerson]

mook infamous You've got the knowledge of the world at your fingertips and you can't even be bothered to learn how to write properly? You're no better than a primitive.

[@tarico4436]

Thank you, Lugh Summerson. I was trying to think of a nice way to put that, but couldn't. New topic. mook's content. I could be wrong, but it's like mook is saying that progress is great, and mook thinks I'm just blanket complaining about progress, and I'm doing so without offering something better as a replacement. Which is not where I was going. I was saying that progress has been great up to a point: women are seven percent of workplace deaths, and women are 20% of suicides. If we lower their suicides to ten percent or five percent or even less, that's progress; if we lower female workplace deaths to five percent, or three percent or even less, that, too, would be progress. And men would never complain. Because we can't look past our noses if our noses are all up in that stinky fishy smelling stuff. Where we put our life-giving tool. If she'll let us. We men are sooooo blind and sooooooo stupid.

[@hombo88]

This video deserves more than a million views...I'm interested in such a project in north east India...I need help though because I'm not an architect Yes we need mud skyscrapers

[@innazhurav9622]

I wouldn't mind to live in a house made of mud, although I couldn`t feel safety. Just in case her dream about skyscraper in the center of Manhattan will come tru, I`ll think about it more carefully.

[@akram4179]

I literally cried while listening to this talk

[@Stallnig]

Mud is the future! Invest now!

[@meaghangallagher6020]

This is very interesting and I like this idea. But, not to be cynical, who will pay $60,000 to go Harvard and use their architecture degree to build mud homes where the payoff is tiny? Of course there will be a few whose passion for sustainable buildings is greater than their desire for a high salary, but when I think of architecture I think of skyscrapers and earthquake-resistant buildings. Secondly, does emphasizing mud buildings prevent any mitigation of poverty? People in wealthier countries will want to live in brick or stone homes, not mud. So is building mud comes condemning people to poverty? I really am curious to see if this mud idea is practical because it seems to have so many benefits and sounds great, but what are the realistic expectations?

[@domingo2977]

Thank you for comments. Please keep commenting other comments are just compliments or insults but yours is critical and detailed. Thank you

[@swordwaker7749]

But can this style compete with metamaterials? Ultra lightweight and many more capable of building a kilometer tall. Genius and futuristic 3d design. While saving cost by using only things like carbon and many technologies.

[@timsisserson3673]

Sure, and what percent of the population can afford those?

[@swordwaker7749]

Tim Sisserson Microlattice is 99.99% air so in theory it can be super cheap. Graphene is made off graphite the same as carbon nanotube.

[@Provoker7]

Why not build it out of quantum superwafers or genetic crystal? Oh right those things don't exist and the school needs to get built today.

[@swordwaker7749]

Algeron Waterschoot Good argument. But graphene and microlattice are both already out. Sure it's still expensive but soon could be made cheap. Graphene can now be made through used cooking oil. Although only few centimeters per piece, you can bypass that using triangle shape and build a high skyscraper. Microlattice can be added later when it get cheap. Maybe we'd enter market in 20 years. Well done by them, I just don't think it would be the material of the future.

[@Provoker7]

That kinda makes your first comment very misleading. But I don't want to hate; it's a cool vision of the future and I hope we see it sooner rather than later.

[@matildabryant8398]

Define mud.

[@mxkrueger]

Anna Heringer's architectural idealism risks becoming an egotistical endeavor, with aesthetics overshadowing substance. Susceptible to neocolonial undertones, her sustainability emphasis seems more marketable branding than genuine commitment. True community empowerment is overshadowed by a patronizing approach, limiting authentic progress.

[@causewayeffects7425]

birds do the same using only there beaks

[@Creator_Nater]

is this kosher?

[@leveljoe]

Mud hut hospital?

[@rawstarmusic]

The wisdom of mud. Go on to the next video.

[@the_number_one]

Refugees need you

[@OmarMeah]

16th

[@ChelenieHoward]

So the mud came from Bangladesh? Yes you created that project for the who Israel Oh yes you said you didn't use them

[@papulrocks794]

Build them like dem Hobbitses house.

[@Bulletproof..]

After world War3

[@StrangerHappened]

*This is a seriously cool lady.* She talks some real stuff, not about SJW virtue signaling. She is obviously a progressive and a feminist, but an actual one, meaning the second, not the third wave feminist.

[@kungfusing1]

This has nothing to do with feminism. It’s about environmentally sensitive architecture. But she is a very cool lady.

[@Umur64]

Oh, was expecting a black speaker

[@thabobuthelezi1102]

Star Sloth why

[@ThePayola123]

Thabo Buthelezi Mud people live in mud huts...!!!

[@thabobuthelezi1102]

Payhole Everdouche dude stop joking around, there are no "mud people"

[@thabobuthelezi1102]

Payhole Everdouche your username is something else, you should be a character in Rick and Morty

[@Tyler-uo6uo]

First am I cool yet?

[@dougmelbourne8343]

Tyler 56786 so cool

[@menumlor9432]

Super cool. I'm turned on by it.

[@VirajTakale]

You are so cool. I have hots for you, right now

[@eliorellana]

Congratulations on whitesplaning mud buildings

[@MrMrjwongy]

Spends $100.000 on a plot of land. Makes house from mud...

[@martaszewczak7515]

rust crumpet Exactly! With this you could even consider a more expensive piece of land ;)

[@sirajadil6391]

Iam second...huh?

[@kagirinaikisu]

Anyone else notice how she's pushing the mud only idea but completely pushes past and glosses over "concrete was used but only in the foundation" or the massssss use of bamboo? Bamboo isn't mud. This talk is titled wrong. It should be the warmth and wisdom of bamboo and brick buildings. (Bricks WERE mud once, duah.) Also bamboo is much more costly to produce and aquire for building materals, it's highly invasive and would destroy America's crops and natural forests. Also, Only very few bamboo species can even be used in building. Most Bamboo must be chemically treated (with borax and other strong chemicals) and undergo more processing than wood and if not will hardly last two years. I'd like to see that school two years from now. Google before you Ted talk crazy lady. Take this talk back to the third world, we do use mud, it's called bricks, we just got way better at using it. So we should go back in time, stop using iron and steel and live in primitive style buildings because others country's building style haven't advanced yett like ours? This Ted talk is offensive to all devolped and developing country's. If we follow this method she's describing we would all drown in termites (bamboo is highly starchy and attracts more termites than wood). This Lady undermines her own talk and contradicts herself several times. I hope intelligent people point out to her in real life how unrealistic and inaccurate she is. Is Ted not fact checking these idiots anymore? Please no one think this is legit. Google, encyclopedia, fact check bamboo yourself please, something, anything. Just don't buy this bull. It's totally unrealistic non-factual garbage.

[@kevingrisler4123]

Um... This is all correct. Googled it. :/

[@LughSummerson]

Fox Locke You read up on all of that in seven minutes?

[@kevingrisler4123]

Yup. Thank you Google.

[@tarico4436]

Yes, elegant sin, I also caught her slippin' it in--"Oh, we just use a little bit of concrete, pay no nevermind to the man behind the curtain." But you also missed the part about her coming back ten years later, building still up and kicking, and her having to have a man slap on some cosmetic mud in a couple few places. So ten years later? Two years more than those ten? What's the diff?

[@kagirinaikisu]

TAR ICO "Ten years later", sounds very unlikely. I extensively googled bamboo, the top half of that building, unless soaked in borax and other chemicals, will not last longer than two years. So either heavy industrial chemicals were used, or they rebuilt a few times in her ten year absence. Also when bamboo touches concrete it absorbs the moisture and cracks. On a final note, cutting and using bamboo is harmful to the earth. Bamboo releases a loooot more carbon dioxide into the earth than wood when cut and used, making the green house effect worse and adding to global warming. Bamboo simply isn't a viable building materal. It is only being used in extreme third world Vietnam and China, their the only country's that bamboo suitable for building even grows. All other Bamboo species can't be used in building, it's too brittle. So besides goin on n on about mud, refusing to point out so much more than mud was used, she didn't even acknowledge only two country's can even use bamboo. Making this video was useless to any country but china or Vietnam. It's just not feasible.

[@SquattingErudite]

No thanks, keep the mud.