Collection of photographs compiled by Savitha Hira; photographs courtesy of Shigeru Ban, architects and traces The project that ar. Shigeru Ban is working on in Nepal, which has been impacted by a natural catastrophe, and his answer to the shortage of temporary housing which might be modified to be used in developing nations like India… Nepal had an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale when it was occurring on April 25, 2015. As a result of the veteran architect’s awareness of the successful and ongoing involvement of Japan-based architect Shigeru Ban in disaster relief projects all over the world over the course of the past two decades, he was inundated with a multitude of requests for assistance from individuals and organizations, both known and unknown. Between the 31st of May and the 2nd of June in 2015, ar. ban traveled to Nepal, where he conducted extensive study on the local materials, marketplaces, and traditional construction methods. He also discovered challenges that were specific to the local locations. The majority of the buildings that fell had walls that were roughly fifty centimeters thick. These buildings were constructed using simple frameworks formed by stacking layers of sun-dried and baked bricks. After the horrific experience of the earthquake, even individuals whose homes had not completely fallen disliked living in brick-made houses and opted to live in tents instead. The neighborhood expressed to the architect that they would never want to live in a home made of masonry under any circumstances. An other significant discovery made by ar. ban was that the accident site was weighed down by bricks that had been thrown over and collected in the ruins; these bricks needed to be disposed of. As he was examining the local and traditional Nepalese architecture of the structures that were still standing, he became aware of the existence of carved wooden frames that were embedded into the brick walls. In addition to that, he saw wood craftsmen who were creating window and door frames with the use of basic equipment. He was swift and rapid in his answer, which was inspired: It was suggested by ar. ban that a wall system might be constructed by joining modular timber frames measuring three feet by seven feet or ninety centimeters by two hundred and twenty centimeters and then filling them with rubbled bricks. His deduction is that this straightforward method of construction makes it possible for anyone to put together the wooden frames in a very short amount of time. Furthermore, if a roof, which is a truss made of local paper tubes, is secured on top of the wooden structure, and the plastic sheet is placed over it, then people can immediately begin to inhabit the shelters. Following that, individuals may gradually finish the building on their own by stacking the shattered bricks within the wooden frames until they are finished. He is of the opinion that “the structural integrity of this temporary home resides essentially in the timber frame,” and that “even if the walls are to be infilled with rubbled bricks, the masonry itself works as a secondary structural system.” In the event of a structure with two stories, it is possible to put a plywood panel within the wooden frame in order to increase the building’s structural strength. To be completed by the end of August is the construction of the first prototype. Ar. Ban is now working on developing low-cost prefabricated houses, which has already started in the Philippines. In the meanwhile, these efforts are ongoing. Immediately after the earthquake that occurred in Japan in 2011, when it became evident that there was a shortage of temporary housing, this project was initiated. Ar. Ban has developed a low-cost prefabricated home that may be constructed in poor nations like as the Philippines and India, and then erected in catastrophe affected zones, if the need arises. This is done in order to prevent a lack of housing during future disasters. The framework of these prefabricated dwellings is made up of wall assemblies that are constructed using sandwich panels made of foam-board and fiber-reinforced plastic materials. This initiative not only generates temporary housing of a higher quality in a short amount of time, but it also generates local job opportunities in underdeveloped nations by establishing factories that produce these dwellings. Moreover, the purpose of this system is to enhance the living standards of low-income groups in countries that are still in the process of development. There is already a prototype home that has been manufactured and put together at a facility in the Philippines. To see the photographs of the temporary dwelling constructions that can be found on indiaartndesign.com, please click here.
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