i'd rather build my house with my own earth than go into debt, Green Architecture, Africa

We turn the soil, the bricks, the building into something beautiful. Beautiful without any contradictions. I take everything from the ground. I turn it into bricks and bricks. Ceilings is the most problematic aspect of architecture, as it costs the most. Where global economy does not allow individuals to have surplus to fund any project using concrete and steel, to build a roof is painfully expensive. Compared to building a ceiling using domes and vaults in mud bricks or stone. For a simple comparison, a room that is 4m x 4m will cost around €600 for a concrete and steel ceiling and only €100 for a dome ceiling. I believe that natural vernacular architecture materials have longer lifespan compared to concrete and steel. We do not really need to use concrete, as it needs too much power to produce in a world that is having a shortage of energy sources. It produces a huge amount of pollution. Gypsum mortar, on the other hand, is very inexpensive material and it does not need energy to produce. Mixed with sand, it's a very long life material to use to strengthen mud bricks. We successfully developed a new brick here in Cairo and in Faiyun County, a very strong brick and in the same time waterproof, which was really needed to develop something that is worldwide aspired for, a style of architecture that is eco-friendly. Especially after this huge amount of pollution we already created in this world, as we know, manufacturing cement alone is responsible for 7.5% of CO2 emissions. So why are we now making a documentary about green architecture? We are hoping for a generation of youth that believes in green architecture, a generation that has enough conviction and knowledge to build their own house, the only house that they live in, their main address, using green architecture, where they can feel comfortable, feel at home. A house that is 60% less expensive than cement architecture. Natural building materials like mud, gypsum and stone have natural capabilities of keeping the heat out during daytime in the summer, transferring heat into the house hours later at night time when it is needed in winter, so it cools down houses in the summer and it warms up houses in the winter. Natural building materials can be finished on the inside with whatever finish you wish for. It could be high-end finishing if you wish. Binding material or mortar should be of the same constituency as the brick or stone. White gypsum and sand mortar go well with sandstone. Mortar made of lime, clay and sand is suitable for our newly developed mud bricks. I really want to say something important here. In developed countries, one sack of cement costs 20 euros, where a labour wage for a day is only 10 euros. So one person should spend all his life working to get enough cement to build his house. And this is the catastrophic reality. I say in developing countries we have to go back to using natural building materials. Historically, we have very rich examples of vernacular architecture that still stands. We have to go back to our traditions to learn from, but in the same time keeping up with the immense scientific progress, so that a person from the 21st century can enjoy modern life commodities. Examples from south of France and Germany. They survive hundreds of years. The Great Wall of China, a giant structure, all built using mud bricks and rammed earth. Ancient Egyptians built gigantic structures with mud bricks. The grain stores built by Ramesses III is actually more than 3,000 years old. I myself built training centres, schools and community centres using mud bricks in Kenya, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Egypt and Somalia more than 40 years ago. And they are still now in perfect condition. We definitely cannot ignore progress, as we need the comfort it provides. So we have to find the balance between tradition and progress. We have to create that bridge that connects cultures of the world with the immense scientific progress in building materials and finishes in the hope of introducing an architectural style for the future, an environmentally friendly style of architecture to use in new compounds and developments in deserts and remote areas, as well as using renewable energy sources and simple technologies like wind power and wind catchers, a human standard for comfortable living, living aesthetically and economically comfortable. If we have all these in a community, I am sure it will be a happy, productive community. When we first saw these beach compounds, we fell in love with them. We did not mistake this architectural style for mausoleums or cults' burial sites. It may look like adobe, but it really is built using reinforced concrete and red bricks. While this level of beauty and modernity can still be achieved by using natural materials, maintaining these spherical-shaped roof tomes and vaults will reflect light and heat away, insulating the heat during daytime and releasing the heat into the house at night, keeping the house warm all night. Two important factors need to be achieved if we are to have a healthy future. First, we need a contractor investor who has enough courage and ability to pioneer building an all-integrated eco-community compound, establishing an architectural building style that is practical to build and viable to maintain, on a large scale. And as well, the young generation that believes in living outside the big cities like Cairo in a house that is beautiful and costs less. In new developments, not in high-rise city housings with tinted glass, steel and concrete, this courageous contractor will be a winner because this is the future. This pioneer community is going to act as an architectural role model for a happier future. In Egypt and globally as well, a model that is economical, ecological and modern, with all the benefits of a modern house, with solar and wind power, a human style, architecture that is close to the heart of human beings.