Projects

PAVILION, HARSAR
June 2008
Background: Bamboo is found in abundance in the mid-eastern regions of Nepal. Unlike other parts of the country where bamboo are only grown in the degraded lands, in the mid-western regions, one can see intermittent bamboo groves even in the rice fields. Majority of the traditional houses are made by woven bamboo strips, which are then plastered with mud. The tradition of using bamboo, however, is being relegated as being unmodern, poor because of perceived infallibility of the modern material like cement. Read more…

BAMBOO TREATMENT
Date: Jan-Sept 2007
Background: Though bamboo has many versatile uses, from cooking to building big structures, very high starch content make them susceptible to pest attacks. People have tried different techniques to increase its durability, like soaking it in water, using only mature bamboo, choosing the right harvesting period etc. Read more

JIVAN CENTER
Harsar, Janakpur
Oct 2007- present
Background: Harsar, located in the southern plains of Kathmandu has a very productive agricultural land and a very scenic landscape, yet it is still mired in the circles of poverty and feudalism. Vices like child marriage and dowry system are still prevalent now as they were in the medieval ages. read more

JANSEWA SCHOOL, BHEDETAR
August 2007
Background: In Nepal, it is still a harsh reality, that many villages do not have an access to roads. Among other things, the inaccessibility makes it particularly difficult to build schools, hospitals or other infrastructure using modern material. Recently, people of Bhedetar VDC, completed a school by carrying bags of cement and steel for hours in a very rough mountainous terrain.  read more

GOBIDOBI
Background: After the economic liberalization of early 90’s, the price of the felt (the traditional building material made of sheep wool) got expensive, and the Mongolian nomads were looking for an alternative material to build their yurts. New Zealand Nature Institute had been exploring strawbale, but due to its scarcity it was not faring well. Soon after, Abari proposed a woodless construction method using adobe (sun dried bricks) with the stone foundation because these materials were local and were the prominent building materials up to the 1920’s.  read more
BAMBOO TRAINING
Hongsa, Laos
June, 2007
Background: Abari is not only limited to research and construction, its staffs are equally apt in weaving. Abari duo Nripal Adhikary and Shishir Gairhe went to Hongsa, Laos to learn bamboo weaving techniques, which they have applied to their construction and art works

BAMBOO GUITAR
Engineering College, Lalitpur
Feb. 2007
Background: This bamboo guitar built for a popular MTV award winning rock band, was our seminal work. It laid a platform to our future works. It was 40 meters wide and 10 meters tall. This temporary structure was built with as bamboo as frames and light was installed on read more