Adobe and Bamboo Research Institute

It is a ritual in many Asian countries, to fix one’s roof before every monsoon, and to plaster the whole house after it. Maintaining one’s house every year before and after monsoon is seen as a ritual and not as a sign of poverty. Nepalis knew of glazed tiles yet they still insisted on burnt clay tiles or thatched roof, as they understood that the roof also needs to “breath.” The illusionary quest for the ultimate waterproof material, with “zero maintainance” has brought us to the age of plastic and steel.  The major flaw of modern architecture, in my opinion, has been to move away from pitched roofs to flat roofs, because we “discovered” the ultimate water-resistance capability in concrete. Pitched roofs regulat temperature, they also protect outer walls  with their long overhanging eaves. We have seen many development in the fields of natural walls, like adobe, rammed earth, compressed earth blocks, strawbale etc. but the roof and foundations still need more research. It defeats the purpose of having thick earthen walls, if we have to put galvanized steel, or concrete roofs as they have very poor thermal qualities.  The good old thacthed roofs, needs to be encouraged more. They have exquisite thermal quality and sexy aesthetic appeal. Unfortunately, durability (in wet climates), fire and mice problems still deter people from using this roofing materials.

Above is the picture from Laos, where people are fixing their thached roof. Look how many people can bamboo rafters hold!!

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