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, act local” It is built in a remote village called Harsar in the southern plains of Nepal. According to our calculation, the structure costs more than half compared to concrete and steel. Moreover, the structure has become pride of this impoverished but ambitious little village.

The work in Janakpur had stalled for various political reasons, one being kidnapping of our overseer. Well! That all seem pretty normal these days. Anyways, the villagers put all their effort to resume the work. It just heartbreaking to see, how much love and effort people have put into this project. We not only see work in Harsar as our seminal work because we have an opportunity to try out different construction methodologies like rammed earth, stablized earth blocks, adobe and cob but the social aspect of working with the community has just priceless.

This is a section of a wall with a high stone plinth and foundation, two layers of burnt bricks, adobe wall for thermal mass vertical and horizonatal bamboo reinforcement against earthquake which are all topped off with cob wall for a better adobe and bamboo connection.

We had been “underground” in Harsar trying to finish the work at for CareNepal. Here is the first installation of our truss. This is just a training for bamboo connection to the local craftsmen. The real thing is yet to come!! The current unrest has put a hold in the progress, lets pray that the work will resume soon.

Pictures from Construction at our site in Janakpur.

The work in Janakpur has finally started after much unavoidable delay. Abari team just got back from laying the foundation. Below ground level, stones are dry stacked. We have very high plinth level (3 feet) and we have used little bit of cement for bonding and as moisture barrier. Dried stack foundation are used a lot in traditional construction. They are believed to absorb seismic shock, since there is room for lateral movements. Frank Llyod Wright was inspired by this kind of foundation, as used in Japan. He used them for his seismically resistant buildings.

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.

 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.

In the Pokhara region, stones are stacked up like this without (or very less) mortar. It has, however, thick mud plaster from the inside. Pokhara is one of the wettest cities in the world. A thick thachted roof, depening on the pitch, thickness and workmanship can last anywhere from 5-20 years. Foundation is made with river rocks. River rocks placed without mortar is an effective way to resist earthquake, because of the gap inbetween the rocks causes the earthquake shock to dissapate.