In earlier days people used to live in mud houses. Although those houses were of one storey, you would be surprised to know that there is a city where there are more than 500 skyscrapers made from mud.
These buildings are nothing short of miracles because neither rain nor storms have any effect on them. They were built almost five centuries ago, and have remained largely unchanged since.
Shibam city in Yemen is an incredible piece of engineering from a historical point of view. It is famous all over the world only because of its buildings.
This city with high-rise buildings made of clay is called ‘Chicago of the desert’ or ‘Manhattan of the desert’. The city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. However, in 2015, a civil war broke out in Yemen, due to which the buildings here were severely damaged and because of this, UNESCO listed it as ‘Cultural Heritage at Risk’ in the same year.
It is said that in 1530 AD there was a terrible flood which destroyed the whole city. Construction of these earthen buildings commenced after the flood. According to historians, when the buildings received the fierce heat of the desert, the mud turned into brick. However, wood has also been used for strengthening at some places.
Notably, Mudbrick has a higher heat capacity and lower conductivity than concrete, which means it slows the rate at which the temperature within the building changes. It’s also cheap to produce – labour costs are the only real costs involved – and is eco-friendly. Not only does the production of sun-dried bricks involve an polluting emissions, the bricks are also reusable.
Considered to be a wonder of the world, this city has the tallest clay buildings in the world. Although the average temperature here is 28 ° C, the rooms inside the buildings are as cold as an air conditioned room as mud absorbs heat. Because of this people living here do not have to face much heat.