Raw earth for building has been used worldwide for millennia but, during the 20th century, most of the skills of earth builders were lost and building with earth became marginal. The new development with earth construction really started in the nineteen fifties, with the technology of compressed stabilised earth blocks (CSEB). Auroville is attempting to revive these traditional skills and to demonstrate that earth is still a noble building material which can be used for manifesting modern, harmonious and progressive architecture.