In a recent 101 in 101 video, Ronald Rael, a professor of architecture and art department chair at Berkeley, discussed the potential of earthen architecture for future construction. The series challenges experts to explain their fields in 101 seconds.

Rael emphasizes the versatility of soil as a building material, highlighting its varied composition worldwide and diverse techniques like wattle and daub, compressed earth, and adobe. His latest project, Muddy Robots, explores using 3D printing robots to construct with earth.

"I think it’s interesting to think about not only artificial intelligence today, but also ancestral intelligence," Rael states. He aims to draw from "our 10,000-year-old heritage of building with Earth."

Rael's interest is deeply personal. "My family has probably lived continuously in buildings made of earth for several thousand years," he shares, noting that this is true for many people globally.

He points out numerous examples of earthen architecture throughout history. "Ronald Reagan’s Western White House...was an adobe building," Rael mentions. He adds that architects like Rudolf Schindler and Frank Lloyd Wright also utilized earth in their work.

With increasing megafires across the Western U.S., Rael underscores the importance of understanding the non-toxic and non-flammable properties of earth as a building material.

The video is part of a series featuring UC Berkeley faculty and experts discussing various topics.