Archives for October 2008
Bamboo Gate
Gate in many cultures symbolize invitation. Gates were (are) built on seas, mountains, rivers and streets to welcome the gods. In festivals seasons, Nepalis still build large structured gates, which almost look like bridges. Here is an example of a large bamboo temporary gate, built for the harvest season. Notwithstanding the cultural value, its an engineering feat in itself: connected with simple ropes and built without any foundation, they withstand heavy loads and fierce winds. Moreover, these massive structures are built with no more than four people.
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democratic pavilion
It is sometimes strange how design can reinforce or dismantle hierarchy. We weaved a traditional khatiya in our recently built pavilion, and this has been a center of attraction in the whole village. People sit on it irrespective of their caste, class or gender distinction. In a village like harsar, which is still mired in traditional caste system, for everyone to sit on one bench is indeed an achievment. Had we put a normal “modern” chair the reaction would have been totally different; as chairs, interestingly enough, connotate hierarchy.
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The spring is here, and so is our work. Here is our studio in Janakpur. We will churning our more trusses this spring and winter. People interested in learning about (or with) please write to us.
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Stone masonary
There are two kinds of stones- river bed stone and quary stones. Quary stones can be chiseled into any shape and sizes. It is a living tradition and there still are multi-story houses that are earthquake resistant which are built using this technique.
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COB
The unevenness of bamboo can be compensated by using cob. Cob is mixture of cowdung, wheat husk and clay which are left to ferment for atleast 24 hours. Fermentation is known to produce lactic acid, (a polymer base) which also makes it . We have used cob with adobe which enables us to place bamboo vertically and/or horizontally without any problem in addition of having beautiful plastered surfaces.
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Handigaunko Jatra
This is what the structure mentioned in the previous post looks like.
The legend tells that the old lichhavi king in order to impress the gods challenged himself to build a noble kind movable structure that no one has every dared! He inverted the traditional temple (which usually has shrines on the bottom) and rotated it on its axis. This structure is somewhat of a magnified version of a buddhist prayer wheel. It is also rotated only on a clock wise direction. The rotating wheel will spread the words of wisdom to all the places where the wind blows. The wheel is accompanied by music, and every neighborhood has a peculiar tune. In a particular intersection, no music is played and no wheel is rotated. The wheels and the music (which also can contain silence) are supposed to provoke certain mood and spirit which are different in every neighborhood.
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Bamboo and hinduism
Bamboo and hinduism has a very interesting connection. It is said that bamboo shoot should not be harvested by a brahmin, as it is compared to a killing child of the family. Similarly brahmins should not plant bamboo or a banana, they usually hire a people of other caste to do so. But on the other hand, on all brahmin wedding, bamboo and a banana are mandatory, and the deads are always carried on a bamboo stretcher.
In kathmandu, bamboo should not be harvested on Sundays or wednesdays and on a new moon night or a full moon night, while in the eastern nepal bamboo are not harvested on mondays.
On the other hand, bamboo and a banana are mandatory in a hindu wedding. One should always carry a dead body on a bamboo stretcher.
It is believed that whereever buddhism went, bamboo went along. Bamboo and buddhism were intrically associated. As the buddhism spread, it is believed that hindus got scared and started attacking buddhist beliefs. And since buddhism was intricately tied to bamboo, they started by attacking bamboo. Perhaps that is why, the traditional skilled craftsmen of nepal are not the brahmins but of other groups.
But in the modern days, things are changing, as the caste system is being replaced by the class. Now there is a class bias against bamboo, as it is considered sign of poverty and backwardness to live in a bamboo house.
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Handigaunko Jatra
There is so much indigenous construction knowledge out there with the people, which unfortunately is not documented or even explored by the academic or the professional world. We just “discovered” a very interesting bamboo connection and structural technique, practiced by the newars of Kathmandu. Please take a look at the pictures. These lightweight structures are used to rotate heavy structures during the famous ritual of handigaun ko jatra. If we can properly study these structure, we think, they can be appropriated in modern designs. At an initial observation, it looks like these structures can be adapted to make structures likes domes, bridges, roofs etc..
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