Shortsighted El Rama Update May 2014

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 03 // 16-05-2014 // [email protected]


ACT ION ! ! !THE CONSTRUCTION SITE OF THE MODEL HOUSE

El Rama, 16-05-2014

We are proud to share that our engine is running on its full potential!

The foundation of the house is completed, bamboos are drying, many pieces are ready to work with; the water tank is under construction, wood-connection-pieces are made. We divided the activities in three groups: BICU, EL RECREO and ATELIER BAMBÚ SOCIAL, and they are happening at the same time, which made the entire process more efficient.

During a two week workshop of two professionals, Sherman Tam and Sheila Oroschin, we have been re-organizing and taking the project to a next level. It is very motivating to see the progress and it brings a lot of enthusiasm to all of us.

‘‘BAMBÚ SOCIAL’’ became our name in El Rama, a name that the Ramanese people can connect with and remember. We notice that it sticks very well, even the taxi drivers already know where to go when we mention it. With a new name, we have a new logo:

http://www.shortsightedarchitecture.com/works/el-rama/


LOCAT IONS EL RECREO ATELIER

BICU

EL RECREO

BICU

ATELIER

EL RECREO IS THE PLACE WERE WE CUT, CLEAN, TREAT AND DRY ALL THE BAMBOO NEEDED FOR THE HOUSE

THE CONSTRUCTION SITE IS LOCATED AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE LOCAL UNIVERSITY BICU

AT THE ATELIER - A BEAUTIFUL LOFT PUT TO OUR DISPOSAL BY THE MUNICIPALITY - WE DO NOT ONLY CREATE BAMBOO CONNECTIONS, BUT IT’S ALSO OUR HOME AND THE PLACE WE HAVE ALL OUR

INSPIRING BRAINSTORMS.


EL RECREOApe rnEL RECREO



ON THE WAY TO CUT BAMBOO - INTA


EL RECREO

INTA, Instituto Nicaragüense de Tecnología Agropecuaria is in El Recreo, located 15km from Rama, is our main bamboo supplier. Next to bamboo, the INTA cultivates amongst others cacao, coconuts and rubber. As we have mentioned before, we are using two different species of bamboo in this project: Dendrocalamus Asper and Bambusa Gigantochloa. Due to their characteristics they are used for different functions in the construction. The process of cutting, treating and preparing for the construction requires different expertises.

The Dendrocalamus Asper is known as giant bamboo, it presents 20-30 meters height and the diameter of the bottom part can reach 15-20 centimeter with 2-4 centimeters wall thickness. This means it can be heavy (and sometimes a bit dangerous) to work with it. For the people who are reading well: Send us an email with the approximate weight of one beam of Asper. The answer that’s closest will receive a Shortsighted designed Bamboo amplifyer! Despite the conicity, the specie is highly recommended for construction purpose. This is why we are using the Asper for the structural columms of the house. The left overs are used for division panels with strips and ‘esterillas’ (crushed bamboo mats). The cutting process required four strong men and a chainsaw worker with experience. It grows on clumb and the bars are usually entangled with branches and leaves, which makes it harder to be taken out.

The clumbs of which we have cutted Asper were close to the river, so the Nicaraguans taught us how to take advantage of this local resource. They tied the pieces together and made a floating boat to reach the place of cleaning, treating and drying. It was an amazing experience to experience this river journey. To treat the batch we digged two pillas and used a 5% borax and boric acid solution. The bamboos are drying in a protected area, and are transported in parts to El Rama.

The Bambusa Gigantochloa has about the same height but the pieces are thinner, which makes it much easier to work with. The bottom part diameter reaches 5-10 cm, with about 2 centimeters wall thickness, which makes it still strong for construction. We use them for beams, rafter and bracing. We have used two methods to treat: capilarity and soaking. The capilarity consists of putting three meter pieces vertically in a barrel with borax and boric acid solution within several hours after cutting, therewith the plant sucks up the solution. It is very simple and easy to do. After drying, the pieces have been transported to Atelier Bambu Social, where the beams are being pre-fabricated.



WORK ING WITH DENDROCAL AMUS ASPER

4 men: 1 bamboo

Feeling the power of the nature

TREATMENT BATH

TAKING OUT

CLEANING

SOAKING

SOLUTION

TRANSPORTING

DRYING

CUTTING

TRANSPORTING

BAMBOO

DRYING


Lighter and easier to work with, but still going strong.

GIGANTOCLHOA

CAPILARITY

CUTTING

TREATMENT

TRANSPORT

SOAKING

CLEANING

DRYING

TEAM

WORK ING WITH BAMBUSA G IGANTOCHLOA



B ICU



B ICU - CONSTRUCT ION S ITE

On the 14th of April we started the construction of the model house. It is settled in the very front of BICU - Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University. The plot has been relocated from the BICU’S farm to the El Rama campus, which brought more visibility to the project and allowed more students and the local community to follow the step by step process of the construction.

In order to share knowledge and expertise, Shortsighted Architecture is providing a course named “Curso de Construcción Sostenible” - Sustainable Construction Course. The classes are located at the BICU for a group of BICU students and people of the community of El Rama. The course consists of theoretical and practical classes, in which the participants are able to discuss and understand the relevant aspects of a sustainable house.

The execution of the model house is part of the practical classes and it has been a real exchange of experience on the day by day activities. It is a nice opportunity to learn about construction in Nicaragua and it reinforces the friendship with the participants.

The execution of the house is taking place as we write and the foundation is successfully completed. We have finished twenty concrete shoes for the house as well as the foundation for the water tank and the floor for the kitchen.

We would like to share the first day of pouring concrete, it was an unforgetable experience.

It was already late, 16:30, however we decide to do it. At the same time that the machine started to mix the materials, the hearts started to beating faster and all of us started to pulsate on the same rythm: “Agua, Agua, Agua...” one screamed very loud, and so did the others, untill the water reached the place where it was required. Buckets of stones, sand, bags of cement were circulating in a synchronized working rythm. The strengh of the students working mixed with the blood, sweat and happiness contaminated the site with a radiant energy. That day we worked till 22:00.

WORKING DAY ON THE CONSTRUCTION

1, 2, 3 - GO!



APRIL 14TH, 2014

MAY 16TH, 2014


B ICU ACT IV I T I ES

COURSE FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

CONCRETING

TEAM

WATER FILTER WORKSHOP

CLEANING

LEVEL

COLUMM

WATER FILTER WORKSHOP

CONCRETE MIX

FORMALETAS

SITE

The construction has been a real

exchange of experience, every

day again.


ATEL IER BAMBU SOC IAL



ATEL IER BAMBU SOC IALTHE FLOOR EXPERIMENT

We continue working in and around the house, graced by the sign of Bambu Social. The last few weeks we had a number of small projects taking place here.

Floor experiment

After the interviews in the community, we noticed that the Ramanese people prefer an ´easy to clean´ floor made of concrete or tiles, over a more open and ´dust retaining´ natural wooden or bamboo floor. Taking this into account we have developed a new floor that includes a bamboo construction topped with a ferro/plastocement mix, which consist of three thin layers of cement-sand mixture (1:3) that sandwich a layer of chicken wire and a plastic sheet with small holes. It is the first time that it is done (or at least the first time it is documented well enough to be able to find it on Google). We are waiting eight days for the floor to dry after which we are going to test it with a little party on top. After the party we will make up our mind based on the results!

Mold for bamboo beams:

Another project that has been going on in Bambu Social is the creation and testing of two molds for making beams of bamboo. Bamboo is very strong material however also flexible. A good property in case of earthquakes, but it might not be interesting to have your floor to bounce up and down when you walk on it. In order to create beams out of bamboo that can hold a concrete or wooden floor without bending too much, we are using double beams. This means we have to connect two bamboo pieces securely together, so that they act as one beam. Because the bamboo is often not completely straight, we made the molds to be able to prefabricate these beams (we need a lot!). A fun fact is they are made completely of the wood that we previously used for the formwork for the foundation. The individual bamboos are connected using only bamboo by connected them with (also homemade) bamboo pegs.



ACT IV I T I ES AT THE ATEL IER BAMBU SOC IAL

COURSE

FLOOR EXPERIMENT

REBAR

BAMBOO PEGS

DESING

REBAR

FLOOR EXPERIMENT

GICANTOCHLOA BEAMS

FLOOR EXPERIMENT

REBAR

Experiment:to test the floor

piece, we intend to do a small

party!



WATER TANK FOR RAIN WATER STORAGE

Water tank for rainwater storage

Last week we worked on the water tank that is going to be used to collect and store rainwater for drinking and cooking. The water tank consists of a bamboo structure with a cement plaster. The design is from INBAR - International Network for Bamboo and Rattan - that we adjusted slightly, because the original design was for a smaller tank.

We are proud to share that the bamboo structure and foundation for the tank are ready. We based the design on the INBAR’s guide, but we notice that many details and connections have to be invented on the spot because the guide is not very detailed. For instance, the images showed that it is necessary to have a bamboo dome as the covering for the roof structure, however it does not show the step by step process. We came up with a solution of binding them with iron wire in a similar fashion as making the rebar for the foundation. In this way, we managed to create a bamboo dome. The proof test was that the water tank dome supported Jezabel and Ties on top at the same time!

Next week we will start plastering the tank at the construction site to make it stronger and impermeable.

WATER TANK WATER TANK WATER TANK


Karin Fernanda Schwambach

Jezabel Mejias Reyes

Diana Jimena Gonzalez

Henky Borgstein

Sherman Tam

Sheila Oroschin

Max Verhoeven

Juan Carlos Gaviria Moreno

Laurens van der Wal

Ties Temmink

Floor van Eijden

SSA TEAM



STUDENTS SUSTA INBLE CONSTRUCT ION COURSE

Ramon Flores Ortega

Eddy Manuel Sandoval

Alfredo Quijano

Javier Antonio Rodrigues

Angel Theodoro

Giovany Flores

Octavio Latinos

Johanna

Juan Carlos Ruiz

Jamir Raudes

Jose Armando Ruiz

Jose Antonio

Engel Villata

Juan Rafael Rosa Moreno

Eliel Altamirano



SPEC IAL THANKS TO HENKY BORGSTE IN

WOOD PIECE WORK ON PROGRESS FINAL WOOD CONNECTIONS



CLEANNING BAMBOO

SHORTSIGHTED ARCHITECTUREUPDATE 03

Coordenation Sheila Oroschin of External Communication

Marketing Sherman TamConsultant

Layout Max Verhoeven Karin Fernanda Schwambach

Text Karin Fernanda Schwambach Floor van Eijden Max Verhoeven Laurens van der Wal

Photos Max Verhoeven Floor van Eijden Jezabel Mejias Reyes Laurens van der Wal Karin Fernanda Schwambach Ties Temmink

Period 23/03/2014 - 16/05/2014

CRED ITS



SPONSORED BY

POURING CONCRETE FOR FOUNDATION



LOCAL PAR TNERS

SUPPORTED BY

WOOD CONNECTION PIECES




GRAC IAS POR SU CONTR IBUC IÓN !Jack ChenDavid KungRoletta LeeRogier VerhoevenFrank VerhoevenArdienne VerhoevenAnnemarie VerhoevenJaap van EijdenRita van WeteringCarla MollinkWieger van der WalTherese OroschinLinnemore NefdtMieke DamsmaH HazelCees HoefnagelsJochem en AnoukSheila OroschinSherman TamBrigitte DreezensSandra Figueroa Duarte M den OtterFrank Jurgen WijlensJ van TintelenRosan Pallada Danielle PeschSimon de LeeuwJP BoonRobbert BerendsenVeronique LovenMC den HeijerMikos PietersMargarita MorenoRachel JongenGloria Elena MorenoRemi op de WoertJurgo Mouthaan

Kamiel ZeegersCharlotte MeerstadtJaap OveralSofia CaycedoThomas & LenaK JaegerTim PrinsAndy van den DobbelsteenMatthias KroezenM Bakkers-van DijkJeanette OostijenRico DiscoCees BroosMarion en Toon Kuhne-PrinceRT JanissenGlenn Jr. WeiszPaul van DongenR SittonJ MyckeRick MuijenEva van der ZandWillem DrenthAndrea FitskieNicholas EmmersonMaya van der LandeJoris de FianeJack LelieveldBob Visser JezabelC BakkerM MiloBo HuM van EschMarij DeltrapW VoorhoeveShira RaberSara QuesadaSuzanne van Heerde

Jill JongenK.C. HobbelmanAnne van StijnNikki NijstenRenee SchoutenEmanuela VoorwindenArnout AartsJasmijn KokMatourbah DeltrapAnnabeth Hidding E van der KooijBo van NiekerkE van DijkC de MolJ de JongJF ChangJ BraunJ MommersA StoversW BosS GroenewoudV TreesMama EvaJolanda van Wijck EdelmanLuisa Maria Gaviria MorenoMarie SeckMaria ProvovskaRosa van der KaaijRoxanne DoyenBelma Hernandez FrancesBart ScheerenKoen FraijmanLogan Brecklin M. van AppevenMartine DuyvisIngrid HoebenR shizen

Marleen van der WurffErik van der WurffInge van der WurffBart van der WurffFrans van der WurffZac ColemanD van StaverenGuido BikRemco van SchadewijkDavid Ramirez Floortje van SandickRoy MeijerRosan PalladaRob SpreekenbrinkJacco VosHanna RusticusMinke KiersLizzy JanssenSophia WijnekusGusta WachterRavi MouthaanKoen HobelmanLourens AaldersAngeline OeiCharlotte RosEline StubertF de VriesBoukje VastbinderMyrthe TalsmaIvo JooreJet ten VoordeFelipe CunhaShira RaberRinske Hutten

ATELIER BAMBU SOCIAL


Shortsighted El Rama Update May 2014

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