A type of primitive composite material in Vietnam

We can name an area of human civilization by the accommodation. 

In the pre-history, cavemen built nothing but made use of cave, sometimes adapted a little bit to stay in, that's why they got the name "cavemen".

Then human beings built their very first buildings like tents or cottages with materials available in the nature like wood, grass, leave, stone.

Then, they develop to a higher level when they could process the raw materials in the nature to make new artificial building material. They baked clay to make brick, they mixed volcano ashes or wood ashes with clays to make plaster or grout - a basic form of cement.

Then, to a higher level, we manufacture synthesis material through complicated process like glass made from sand, cement made from limestone, clay, metal made from ore.

Now, even nanomaterials are more and more available and affordable. In the future, maybe new materials processed at scale of atom will be developed for super quality that no one now can imagine.

We just stop and have a look at the era of cottage and I would like to introduce a type of primitive composite material in Vietnam - cottage make out of bamboo, mud and straw.

When I was a young boy at the turn of 21st century, several cottages still existed. But now they are complete wiped out.

These cottages have pillars and beams make out of wood. We fix the bamboo stick to form walls. Then we add chopped straw with wet mud to fill the wall at at both surface, in and outside the house. When the mud rice, the walls become hard and fixed. The roof is usually cover with a variety of leave and grass or straw.

Vietnam people strongly attach with rice so mud and rice straw are always available. Composite material made from mud and straw is simple and cheap but useful. They can stand heavy rains. Cottage made from this material is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Quangngai, November, 23rd, 2022