MOKHA ART FOR ARCHITECTURE

NEPALI WOMEN HELP REVIVE A DISAPPEARING ARCHITECTURAL ART FORM
By: Mokha master artists Shanti Chaudhari and Khedni Chaudhari, Rotary Club of Itahari Past-President Ramesh Tamraker and Canadian architect Stanley Britton
THE ART
Tharu is the indigenous culture of the Terai plains east of the Koshi River between the Himalaya foothills and Nepal’s southeast border with India. Many families [...]

Kitchen Interior

Here is the interior of the kitchen.  Its 8 meters high, 10 meters wide and 15 meters long. Who says you can not make large structure out of bamboo? You can do anything that cement and concrete can and that too in an ecological, economical and a beautiful way.

Finished Kitchen

After long and arduous battle our kitchen is finished. The tiles looks awesome. They are made on site! They have no embodied energy what so ever- meaning they are not burnt.
During this construction, we have followed a very conventional philosophy i.e. a sound hat and a sound boot is all what you need for protection. [...]

Bamboo Kitchen

 

Prefabricated Bamboo Housing

Here is an overview of the housing sector of Nepal prepared by Ujjwal Pokhrel (SNV Nepal), and the potential fabricated bamboo can do to aid the current housing problems of the country.

Bamboo Kitchen

Happy New Year to everyone.
May this be the year of bamboo and mud. Our cantina is in its final stage. The trusses are complete. The structure is about 120 sq. meters in area. It uses locally harvested, locally treated bamboo which are constructed using local labor. Its a nice execution of our motto “think global, [...]

Chuli Building

The more we work with bamboo, more confident we become on the strength and beauty of this  vegetal steel. It  makes one wonder, why isn’t this material used more in the modern construction, as there is nothing it cant do that steel would. Yet, its cheaper, available, beautiful and yet many times more ecological. Here [...]

Bamboo Truss

 

Bamboo Truss

Here is the latest of our creation from Janakpur. Its part of a bigger structure which will be complete in only a few more weeks.  This is our first truss that is so huge. It uses combination of cement and steel for connection.

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 [...]

keep looking »