RURAL BUILDING PRACTICES

Priyamvada bagalGinisha bhiseSayali borgePrashant chavan

MBARU NIANG

Wae Rebo Village, Flores Island, IndonesiaLocation: Wae Rebo Village, Flores Island, Indonesia (South-East Asia)Architect: Rumah Asuh/Yori Antar, Tangerang, IndonesiaClient: Wae Rebo Community

A group of young Indonesian architects in the habit of touring a part of Indonesia each year arrived to find four of the last surviving examples of these houses, two of which were in need of renovation.

Conical houses of ‘worok’ wood and bamboo in tied-together rattan construction with thatched roofs are the archetypal buildings of this remote island village. 

The villagers are guardians of this culture but the necessary building skills, having traditionally been handed down, from generation to generation .

The architects initiated and facilitated a community-led revival of traditional techniques enabling all the original houses to be rebuilt.

construction views show an incredible scale and use of locally available materials.

Leti 360 / studio Mumbai, bijoy jain.

Leti 360 is a small resort set on a high land in the Indian Himalayas. Situated at 2300 meters above sea level and nine kilometers from the nearest motorable road, the site is accessed along a narrow walking path.

Set into existing agricultural terraces, five stone, wood and glass structures open out onto expansive views of mountains, forests and river valleys.

Leti 360, resort is perched on a cliff in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas.

The design of the resort was influenced by the inherent constraints of building in the area, concerns of environmental impact and cultural sensitivity.

The buildings are constructed primarily of dry-stacked stone, in the tradition of the area. Glazed walls framed in teakwood have been introduced to let in natural light.

Stone was quarried locally and carried to site by porters and mules; all other building materials, including teak wood, glass, aluminum, copper, and canvas – along with custom-made furniture – arrived on site in the same manner.

I think it is the responsibility of the designers to think about the bigger picture and the impact their designs have on the environment. And this is a great example of that where they are using local materials, thinking about transportation for the materials … and it does really use materials in a way that doesn’t detract but actually adds to the experience and it makes one aware of the bigger environment.– Paul Priestman

The project was constructed with the help of more than 70 village masons, carpenters, and craftsmen.

The project is envisioned as a temporary settlement designed to be dismantled in ten years, leaving a minimal impact on its natural surroundings.

Volontariat Orphanage , Anupama kundoo

This project in Pondicherry was built using a rare technology pioneered by Ray Meeker of Golden Bridge pottery, which consists of baking a mud house insitu, after constructing it.

A fired house or a fire-stabilised mud house is in principle, a mud house built with mud bricks and mud mortar that is cooked after building as a whole to achieve the strength of brick.

To avoid use of valuable wood to fire the structure as in the previous cases, coal dust was introduced into the clay mixture itself.

The interior space is stuffed with further mud bricks or other products, and fired as if it were a kiln. The strength of brick would be achieved for the price of mud. Hence, the cement in the mortar mix would become unnecessary.

The project uses many unconventional materials as well as absorbs urban waste. Bicycles wheel frames were used asformwork for windows and later as window grills. Glass bottles were used as structural units for masonry in the toilet and wet areas.

Glass chai cups were used to finish the openings at the top of the dome. 

This highly experimental project is an example of radical thinking that is being explored to approach the problem of affordability of housing for all, and more over integrally sustainable in all its aspects.

The Green School, Bandung, Bali, Indonesia.Architect : PT bamboo.

The Green School, built by PT Bambu, is located on a sustainable campus spanning both sides of the Ayung River in Sibang Kaja, Bali, within a lush jungle with native plants and trees growing alongside sustainable organic gardens.

The School develops plantations of bamboo plants through presenting bamboo seedlings to local rice farmers.

The school prepares students to be stewards of the environment, teaching them to be critical thinkers, who achieve the sustainability of the world and the environment.

The school’s buildings are built primarily from renewable resources including bamboo, local grass, and traditional mud walls. The primarily-Bamboo construction of the campus has also been reported upon as an example of large-scale building potential of bamboo architecture.

The core is a 60 Meter long stilt-structure constructed with 2500 bamboo poles. The school also utilizes renewable building materials for its other needs, and everything - even the desks - is made of bamboo.

The campus is powered by a number of alternative energy sources, including a bamboo sawdust hot water and cooking system, a hydro-powered vortex generator and solar panels. 

The campus is so designed on an “organic permaculture system” intended to work with the natural ecology of the land.