Ancient buildings and adobes
One of the oldest building materials used was adobe. Natural resources like sand, clay, straw, and dung were utilized to construct these types of buildings. Additional materials are also utilized.
Bricks are made from adobe. After that, they are sun-dried in the same way that mud or cob bricks are. Extremely long-lasting structures are achieved. Their ability to retain coolness in the summer and release heat slowly in the winter makes them ideal for use in hot, dry areas.
When constructing a building out of dry adobe bricks, the same mixture—minus the straw—is utilized as mortar. Some, however, fortify their walls against the rain by plastering them with lime-based cement.
This building relies heavily on the adobe brick thickness. In the summer, this will keep the building cool, and in the winter, it will keep it warm.
Adobe built the Bam Citadel, the tallest building in the world. However, an earthquake in 2003 severely damaged it.
More than 100 million individual bricks went into the construction of Peru’s Huaca del Sol, another magnificent adobe building.
The construction of the citadel of Arg-e-Bam, the biggest adobe structure in the world, began around 500 BC.
Encircling Bam Citadel are walls that are 1815 meters long and 6-7 meters high, all made of aluminum. The area of the citadel is 180,000 square meters. No living thing was allowed entry to the city once its gates were locked. This city stands on its own; however, it shares its urban environment with nearby gardens and animals.
The process of putting a roof on a building made of adobe is slightly different. Roofs were originally constructed from wood or metal, but later dry adobe bricks were added on top and then plastered to ensure they stayed put.