Michael Mendes Santos

Building Characterization of Villages in Gorongosa National Park Michael Mendes Santos

This work consists of the characterization of the local traditional dwellings and the existing construction methods in the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. It is important to understand the solutions used, understanding their functioning in relation to the local climate, as well as their resistance and durability. The main objective will be to identify and characterize the building systems and organization of three villages in Gorongosa National Park. This characterization is intended to be constructive, from the point of view of materials and applied solutions, as well as mechanical through the characterization in terms of their strength and composition. The work presents the construction typologies found, namely constructions with earth walls that are recurrent in the country, and the most usual technology is the covering earth on timber structures with distinct geometries and pieces of different formats and dimensions. The results of the laboratory tests performed are also presented, which allowed analysing the qualities of the soil used in the construction.