In the south of Algeria, many indigenous settlements have been built using local earth construction techniques, whilst in the north, despite the availability of suitable earth, only a few rural contemporary settlements have been built using ‘improved’ earth construction. This paper adopts a case study approach to examine and compare structural deficiencies of two earth-built housing settlements in different regions in Algeria. In the indigenous earth settlement in the south, where adobe was used in combination with local timber and stones, the dwellings exhibited many structural defects. Stabilisation of the soil and introduction of modern materials in the contemporary rammed earth settlement in the north, have not however helped produce structurally adequate dwellings. These also exhibited many cracks and de-bonding of rendering, and thus not fulfilling the requirements and aspirations of their occupants. The study concludes for a potentially successful earth building scheme there are inter-related factors that should be considered, including: selection of appropriate soil and construction technique, implementing suitable design, construction and post completion processes, availability of relevant skills and provision of adequate training on the construction technique
