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 [...]

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 [...]

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.

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]