New York architect Marc Thorpe has developed a prototype house made from earth bricks, to house the makers of Moroso's M'Afrique furniture collection.

The Dakar Houses are planned for a site on the outskirts of the capital of Senegal.

For more than 10 years, Italian furniture brand Moroso has been promoting the craft skills of the Dakar region through its M'Afrique furniture collection.

The range features designs by the like of Patricia Urquiola and Sebastian Herkner, as well as Thorpe himself, all handmade by Sengalese craftspeople.

Thorpe hopes to support this local industry by building a small community of Dakar Houses.

Each building consists of three units – two apartments and a studio in between. The idea is that a whole family would be able to live and work within each one.

"The units are designed to house the workers as well as various parts of the manufacturing process of M'Afrique's furniture, such as the handcraft work of welding and weaving," explained Thorpe.

"The intention was to create a work-based community, allowing a village to develop around a central economic constituent."

The Dakar Houses are characterised by angular, pointed roofs. There are designed to reference traditional patterns found in African textiles and paintings.

The walls and roofs of the structures will all be made using compressed earth bricks.

A common material in Senegal, earth bricks are made using soil that is sourced locally, making them both cheap and environmentally friendly to produce.

The earth is simply packed into a mould and cured over several weeks. Each morning they are soaked in water, then left to dry through the day beneath a tarpaulin.

"The process of producing earth blocks dates back to over 5,000 years ago," Thorpe told Dezeen.

"The blocks are produced directly from the red soil of Senegal, which reduces the need for importing building materials and zero CO2 emissions in its production."

Thorpe works across different disciplines, with projects spanning architecture, interiors, furniture and products.

His design for the M'Afrique collection, unveiled in 2015, is the Husk armchair. Designed to resemble an ear of corn, the chair has a curving shape that is available with either a low or a high backrest.

The commission for the Dakar Houses came from Senegalese designer and artist Abdou Salam Gaye, who is married to Moroso founder Patrizia Moroso and oversees the M'Afrique collection.

The project is currently under planning review.

Visualisation is by Truetopia.