00:01Earth is definitely perceived as the material of the poor,
00:04and so it contributes to the perception that earth buildings don't last, they will collapse.
00:08But the reality is we have actually lost the memory of how to build with earth.
00:14In some of the hottest places on earth, architecture is more than design, it's survival.
00:19My name is Mariam Isufu, I'm an architect based in Niger and in New York.
00:23In Niger, where temperatures can reach 45 degrees Celsius,
00:27architect Mariam Isufu is turning to one of the oldest materials on earth to shape the future.
00:33In Niger, for example, we're very fortunate to have cities that are pre-colonial,
00:38that are several hundred years old.
00:40The buildings are still standing, people are still living in them,
00:42they've been living in there for 10 generations, you know,
00:45and these are standing and they're made out of earth.
00:47Her work challenges a deeply rooted perception that building with earth is outdated,
00:52fragile or based in poverty.
00:54She's demonstrated in Niame that earth works.
00:57From market spaces in rural Niger to a new mosque dome and housing in fast-growing cities,
01:04her architecture is both practical and radical.
01:07But it is often met with this belief.
01:09When I first showed the renderings of what we were thinking about for this project,
01:13and the question was, this is going to be for here.
01:16But that hasn't changed Isufu's trust in the material that is abundantly available in her country.
01:23What is valuable about earth, it's not that it's an identity marker.
01:29It's that it's a thermal mass that allows us to decrease energy consumption,
01:34that allows for better health actually inside for the air that you breathe inside.
01:39It's more affordable, you know, to make it that way.
01:42This is what I find important.
01:44It's not an identity question.
01:45It's a logical and sort of pragmatic question.
01:49And this is where I see the opportunity by really bringing together new solutions,
01:55hybrid solutions, technologically enhanced solutions that can really push this forward.
02:00After studying in the U.S., she returned to Niger.
02:04But in 2023, a coup d'etat in the country brought her projects to a halt.
02:09Since then, she hasn't been able to return home, continuing her work remotely between Zurich and New York.
02:15So it had sort of catastrophic impact both economically, geopolitically, security-wise and on the country.
02:24And I think this is why this might take a little bit of time to resolve itself.
02:29So this is incredibly difficult.
02:31But I want to stay positive and think that this is just, you know, sort of a little parenthesis.
02:36And this will pass and we'll be able to return and resume the work.
02:40The office is still in Niger.
02:43We're working remotely.
02:45Thankfully, it's working very well from that point of view.
02:48But I hope to be able to return soon.
02:49But it is difficult.
02:52Yusofu has new projects planned inspired by traditional huts.
02:56In a world searching for sustainable answers, her work offers a simple idea.
03:01The future of building may already exist in the knowledge we once forgot.
