Natural Building in Nepal

Nepal

JAN 17 TRIP POSTPONED, DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON

please contact Jeff for questions oikosdesign@gmail.com

Instructor: Jeff Empfield

http://http://sites.google.com/site/oikosdesign/Home

Tuition: $10/day as your guide. Other costs such as room, board, and transportation are remarkably inexpensive in Nepal.

Participants needed to assist in the establishment of a Natural Building Program in Nepal

Several opportunities exist in Nepal that point to the need for establishing a program focused on natural building. The primary needs are rural development, the problem of modern high-embodied energy materials replacing traditional natural materials in Nepal, and the world-wide need for a return to more natural, vernacular building systems. Rural development will come in the form of eco-tourist activity, a new destination (Natural Building Center) in a Himalayan trekking region, and a new form of income for guides and craftsman builders.

People from all over the world travel to Nepal and are impressed by the natural building traditions there. During a months-long visit this past winter I researched an article on timber framing and the masonry/timber building system of Nepal published this June in Timber Framing: The Journal of the Timber Framers Guild. The proposed program in Nepal will facilitate foreign travelers who want to learn more about natural building and it will help Nepali people see the value of their natural building traditions. It will do so simply by existing, by drawing attention to the appeal of naturally-built environments and building skills. Perhaps more significantly, it will provide income related to guiding, interpreting, guesthouse visitation, and natural building instruction.

In January the focus will be on a demonstration project at Seti Valley Integrated Organic Farm which is located 12km northwest of Pokhara (www.sadpnepal.org). Mr. Ramesh Sharma wants help building a demonstration cob building. Clay-based plaster and earthen ovens are traditional and still common in Nepal. Mr. Sharma reports that Nepali people are turning away from such traditional material in favor of concrete, however. He wants to construct a building as “demonstration so people can learn about the value of such building but it should be new and attractive design.”

I’ve recently been contacted by Mr. Gokul Gurung of the Annapurna Eco Village Resort, also near Pokhara, who has similar concerns and interest in developing natural buildings and education programs of some kind. More on that as communication continues.

I have established partnerships with several Nepalis who work in tourism and are interested in taking their industry and country in a better direction. One is from a family who operates a guesthouse in the Rolwaling area, west of the Everest region. This family guesthouse will serve as a Natural Building Center with a small library. It will be the base for natural building-themed treks with access to a network of area builders. During the first half of February, we will travel to Suri Dobhan village to do the initial research for establishing the center. Once established, it will provide information regarding what building projects are underway in the area as well as contact information for participating builders. They will constitute a network of area builders who will be Natural Building Center partners in working with visitors. The network of area craftspeople can provide demonstrations and explanations of what they do for a small fee and provide a year-round attraction for interested tourists. This network can also create income for locals who organize, guide, and translate for eco-tourists.

The Natural Building Program in Nepal will also include special programs organized periodically such as river trips that would take extra time to explore and document isolated villages. In the later half of February we will make a 270km trip on the Sunkosi river with extra days set aside for architectural exploration. Students of architecture and anthropology, architects, and architectural historians as well as natural builders would be interested in this “documenting villages river trip.” These architectural expeditions have the potential for leading to short documentary films and both popular and academic articles.

These are tentative plans with great potential. Participants can play a role in developing this program. Details are to be worked out depending on who gets involved. Come for the entire month and a half or for the weeks that interest you most. You will love Nepal.