Adobe and Bamboo Research Institute

Pictures from Construction at our site in Janakpur.

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Here is a full article on our treatment process.

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We would like to thank our webmaster Kurt Gardella from Germany for doing wonderful work with our website. The new gallery set up is making our website even more informative. Thanks to this great website, we have been very visible on the web.

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Pictures of Harsar in added in the Gallery section. Please take a look.

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Harsar, a tiny village near Janakpur, is where our construction is taking place. It is a small impoverished Maithili village, which has a mix of Hindu and Muslim community who are living in a relative harmony.  However, the vices of untouchability, child marriage, superstition and inequality still haunts this village. Most of the people make their living through farming, but the young people are migrating to India and Gulf countries for better paying jobs. The area is rich in natural resources mainly in bamboo, mango, eucalyptus trees etc. CareNepal is trying to promote bamboo as a modern construction material, and they have chosen Abari do so. We are using the old materials but with modern connection and bending techniques.

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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.

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Please click on the above picture to see an adobe brickmaker in action. These people have been making bricks for generation. They can make upto 500 bricks a day. Its ironic they make so many sun dried bricks in a day yet its hard to buy the bricks , its because all these bricks are later burnt in a kiln. Since burnt bricks are more expensive then the sun dried bricks (almost 1000% more), brickmakers are reluctant to see them. Sun dried bricks alone, are unfortunately not used in construction anymore. Burnt bricks consume lots of energy to make and obviously during the process they produce lots of smoke. Furthermore, heat retaining capacity of clay die out when they are burnt. So the sun dried bricks are better thermally and ecologically then the burnt bricks.

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National Mission for Bamboo Application (NMBA), an autonomous organization under the umbrella of Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India has done a lot of progress in developing bamboo housing technology. They have developed bamboo house with engineered bamboo panels. The houses are tested for various standards. These houses are said to be resistance to high wind pressure and very cold climate.

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courtesy: Egr. Pratik Lohani

Here is an example of a thatched roof from Japan. Thatched roof tradition is a somewhat in danger of getting lost because it requires very intricate skills to install. However, properly put thatched roof can last for more then 30 years. The advantages of thatched roof include very good insulation, available local resources, natural beauty and cost effectiveness. The disadvantages include high skills. If not properly installed it can invite mice and bird problems and require high maintenance.

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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.

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