Secret of good bamboo structure is supply of good bamboo. Over the years in many countries we have worked with many different species of bamboo, and the joy in construction of bamboo comes when bamboo is off good quality- straight, thick wall thickness, smaller internodes. Not all bamboo is as strong as steel and not all bamboo is good for construction. Yet every bamboo can be harnessed in different ways to serve our needs in sustainable ways. Bamboo which are not good for construction, might be good for weaving, eating or to make bamboo flute. Over the years we have collected many species of bamboo including blue bamboo, black bamboo, creeper bamboo, bamboo of the americas in our nursery. Now we are taking a next step to do commercial plantation. This we are not doing as a private entrepreneur, we have teamed up with a community who will plant bamboo along river bed so their land is protected against flood and also they will have extra source of income. We will help them add value to their bamboo by making bamboo based products. As an experiment we are planting 400 bamboo of bambusa balcooa, bambusa nutan and dendrocalamus asper.

Price: Nrs. 11,000.

A training hall under construction- designed and built by INBAR‘s Nepali-Colombian architect duo Nripal Adhikary and Juan Carlos Jaramillo. This 2200 sq. meter building is the largest bamboo structure in East Africa. It is part of an initiative of INBAR to introduce bamboo- ubiquitous but under utilized material- in East Africa. This is built in Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, using local bamboo and local human resources. The cost is estimated to be 30-35% cheaper than conventional material.

Photo: K. Tamang

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 are farmers and labourers. Houses are often built of bamboo-lattice with mud-plaster walls. Mokha art is their architectural heritage.

Mokha art’s sculpted bas-relief designs aim to attract visitors and welcome guests. During Tihar, the annual Festival of Lights, Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of Wealth, is said to enter these houses and bless the inhabitants. In anticipation the art is revitalised annually.

The wall plasters are layered mixes of mud, cow dung and straw. Read more

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.

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 is delicate, its vulnerable but if used properly can be hardy and durable. 

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.