Archives for August 2007
Brickmaker in Nepal
Please click on the above picture to see an adobe brickmaker in action. These people have been making bricks for generation. They can make upto 500 bricks a day. Its ironic they make so many sun dried bricks in a day yet its hard to buy the bricks , its because all these bricks are later burnt in a kiln. Since burnt bricks are more expensive then the sun dried bricks (almost 1000% more), brickmakers are reluctant to see them. Sun dried bricks alone, are unfortunately not used in construction anymore. Burnt bricks consume lots of energy to make and obviously during the process they produce lots of smoke. Furthermore, heat retaining capacity of clay die out when they are burnt. So the sun dried bricks are better thermally and ecologically then the burnt bricks.
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National Mission For Bamboo Application
National Mission for Bamboo Application (NMBA), an autonomous organization under the umbrella of Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India has done a lot of progress in developing bamboo housing technology. They have developed bamboo house with engineered bamboo panels. The houses are tested for various standards. These houses are said to be resistance to high wind pressure and very cold climate.
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Thatchted Roof
courtesy: Egr. Pratik Lohani
Here is an example of a thatched roof from Japan. Thatched roof tradition is a somewhat in danger of getting lost because it requires very intricate skills to install. However, properly put thatched roof can last for more then 30 years. The advantages of thatched roof include very good insulation, available local resources, natural beauty and cost effectiveness. The disadvantages include high skills. If not properly installed it can invite mice and bird problems and require high maintenance.
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Bamboo Temporary Shelter
Here is an example of a temporary shelter built by Abari in Janakpur Nepal. It is built as a storage place for all the bamboo that we have treated for the construction. It was designed in order to resist dampness and provide enough air circulation to store and dry the bamboo.
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Bamboo in Laos
A rice field in Harsar, Laos. The elevated bamboo houses are very common in this part of the world. The advantages of elevated houses are protection against flood, snakes, rats. The space in the bottom are also used for storage space.
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A Yurt in Motion
Here is a picture from our archive during the construction of “Gobidobe” in Mongolia. The modern resources has changed how people move, earlier nomads used to travel via camel. Now people can carry more stuff as they move, which might be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you ask.
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Bamboo Treatment
Here is a picture of our low cost, high efficient bamboo treatment plant. Our focus has been, apart from using bamboo as a modern building material, to teach local people, especially women and marginalized people, about our technology so that they can use it themselves. Our patent pending, revolutionary small treatment plant has successfully treated more then 1200 bamboo in a month.
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