Africans building mud huts love them, because the grainy soil inside is just the right consistency for hard-packed floors. And of course, to aardvarks and other insectivores they are giant helpings of baked alaska. Now, Africa is paying an offbeat tribute to these ugly towers of bug-holed mud. Harare's newest office complex is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound. That's no mean feat.
Termite mounds are marvels of engineering.
Deep inside, the insects farm a fungus, their only food. It must be kept at exactly 87 degrees, while the temperatures on the African veld outside range from 35 degrees at night to 104 degrees during the day. They do it by venting breezes in at the base of the mound, down into chambers cooled by wet mud carried up from water tables far below, and up through a flue to the peak. Toiling with the tireless, compulsive work ethic of all ants, they constantly dig new vents and plug old ones to regulate the temperature. Temperature regulation is a struggle familiar to any architect.