to expose the students to site work
hands-on EXPERIENCE
EMPATHY
to understand the work of labourers
to see a building being built in real
to understand alternate building materials
to understand sustainable & eco buildings
BUILDING MATERIAL & CONSTRUCTION
1 2 3 4 5 6
MECHANICS OF STRUCTURE
Learning theory subject through LIVE PROJECT
640 Sq. Ft.
Materials used:
- Bamboo & Thatch
roofing
- Bamboo Walls
- Bamboo & Concrete foundation
1320 Sq. Ft.
Materials used:
- Bamboo & Thatch
roofing
- Rammed Earth & CSEB Walls
- Random Rubble foundation with bamboo reinforcement
340 Sq. Ft.
Materials used:
- Bamboo & Thatch
roofing
- Rammed Earth & CSEB Walls
- Random Rubble foundation with bamboo reinforcement
300 Sq. Ft.
Materials used:
- Bamboo & Thatch
roofing
- Thatch Walls
- Random Rubble foundation
" Gia Mantra Global Village is an initiative started by an Architect Donald Seugvera from Mumbai where he envisions in creating and building a community overlooking the Arunachala Mountain in Tiruvannamalai.
The global village aims to break barriers and create a community that is not differentiated by tags of class, caste, race, creed, religion or nationality. The way of life, spirituality and sustainable living determines the main objectives of the global village.
" In the advent of this holistic community, they envision building with natural materials such as bamboo and earth. The community building workshops that create these natural earth buildings are the first step in this holistic communitarian approach.
" The Natural Building Workshop was to get hands on training with the construction with earth and bamboo. Single dwelling spaces that were designed were executed in different sites. The students worked on five sites in total where they got a holistic understanding of the building a built form. They got a hands on training in Pit foundation, random rubble foundation, knotting of bamboo, bamboo and thatch roofing, building walls with CSEB and rammed earth, pointing and finishing a CSEB wall, cement and oxide flooring and experimented with alternate building material ferrocement.
A well established architect who has practiced in Mumbai for decades and has experience in the field of architecture ranges from producing good functional designs to management of site etc. He is well versed in high rise buildings.
He also has experience in producing BBC documentaries from around the World and has travelled across the globe for the same gathering precious experience along the way. His spiritual journey has brought him to Thirvanamalai and he has been an active part of GIA MANTRA GLOBAL VILLAGE.
A sound engineer from background, she has found her passion in simple living of sounth india. She conducts workshops and sessions on pottery, meditation etc.
A environmental consultant who worked in Swiss Energies where she worked in creating and ideating new ways of energy systems that are sustainable.
Ms. Rose van dam
Ms. DANIELA BOMATTER
Ms. Linda is a foreigner who has travelled alot and settled in Thiruvanamalai to create a wonderful community living site called ACHALAM.
An artist and a mask maker who has had a career change at the age of 70.
A mental heath professional who goes around spreading smiles in hospitals and care homes with her clowning act.
A talented musician who plays both indian classical flute and western classical flute.
Mr. John Wobenhorst
Mr. Dennis Stillwell
Ms. Fif
Ms. Linda
Mr. Srinivasan Rajamani
Mr. Manikandan Elumalai
Mr. Arul Elumalai
Mr. Suriyabagavan Govindha
Ms. Anitha Ranjith
Ms. Aditi
Mr. Aatmaram
Ms. Abitha Duraimurugan
Mr. Seenuvasan Palani (Jadeja)
Ms. Sarla Duraimurugan
“Ar. Naveen is a recent graduate from RVS Chennai, who has immense drive and people's skills to work in site in a team. He is taking up projects for design and execution and working as an architect in GIA MANTRA.
“Ar. Apoorva is a recent graduate from RVS Chennai. She has been of the sort after student in college and is pursuing practicing with alternative materials. She worked under the tutlege of Benny Kuriakose in his fim and now is working in GIA MANTRA GLOBAL VILLAGE. She loves teaching and inspiring young minds.
“Ar. Abhishek is a recent graduate from RVS Chennai, who has great interest in working with alternative and sustainable materials. He has attended various workshops for this cause and is working as an architect in GIA MANTRA for the same.
“Ar. Raman with more than 15 Years of experience has been associated with top architecture firms like Cheralathan Associates, Architect support group, Citadines and etc. He has been in the design and execution of various projects like 5 Star hotels, shopping malls, cinema theatres and many multi-storey buildings across Tamilnadu.”
“Ar. Prithvi Mahadevan is a young architect with an increasing love for ecology and the social aspects of the society. She has been involved in research and mapping of ecology of the city of Chennai, with special focus on the water resources. She is also actively involved in using the research projects as a container to conduct the Urban design Studio.”
“Er Sethupathi P, a structural engineer passionate towards design of structures complying new innovations. He is interested to explore the areas of steel practices which comply with futuristic perspectives. He is qualified to carry over Masters project at CSIR-SERC in the field of transmission line towers at Chennai. He is planning for future work towards steel framed structures for his doctorate. “
COTTAGE
2 BAMBOO EARTH COTTAGE rEST ROOMS
Bamboo
SITE 1
Duplex
Cottage
SITE 2
Bamboo Earth
Cottage
SITE 3
Linear Earth
Cottage
SITE 4
Restrooms
CONSTRUCTION YARD
BAMBOO KNOTS
BAMBOO THATCH
BAMBOO FOUNDATION
" The Bamboo Duplex Cottage is a 320 sq.ft. per floor cottage designed completely with bamboo. The bamboo structure has bamboo frames and bamboo roof with coconut leaves thatch roof. The cottage ooverlooks the Arunachala Mountain giving divine views to the hillock.
" Bamboo is frequently referred as a highly renewable and high-strength alternative material to timber and, occasionally as a 'strong-as-steel' reinforcement for concrete.
Our students learnt how to create bamboo foundation from ground up. They prepared the bamboo and created the concrete base for the same.
" The concrete bamboo foundation is a done so that the organic charachter of bamboo can be protected.
Bamboo has students worked on the bamboo foundations in two sites and built the framework on these bamboo posts.
BUILDING BAMBOO FOUNDATION
BAMBOO FOUNDATION
BAMBOO FOUNDATION
BAMBOO FOUNDATION
Palm leaves are widely used because they are so plentiful and because they are innately suitable for roofing. They are simple to process and easy to fix to a roof structure. They are excellent for temporary structures.
The leaves are used for roofing either in their natural form, as they are cut from the tree, or alternatively, the leaf blades are made up into mats. There are several ways of making these mats.
" Bamboo poles can be tied together using any of the traditional lashing knots, such as the square lashing, round lashing, diagonal lashing, shear lashing, tripod lashing, floor lashing, or ladder lashing.
There are multiple way in which bamboo can be tied together to form the framework of the built structure.
" The Bamboo and Earth Cottage is a 340 sq.ft. cottage designed in a semi circular plan. It is designed to have a separate toilet and has rammed earth and CSEB walls with bamboo and coconut leaves thatch. The building faces the Arunachala hillock with amazing views from the attic space in the roof.
LEARNING
" Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge, rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof.
The students were involved in gathering the leaves from the trees and knitted it into matts and left it to dry. The dried leaves were uses to tie the roof in place with the leaf fibres itself. These fibres when loose water become as hard as steel.
MIXING MORTAR
" Pointing is the finishing of mortar joints in brick or stone masonry construction. Pointing is the implementing of joints to a depth of 10 mm to 20 mm and filling it with better quality mortar in desired shape. The mortar is packed tightly in thin layers and tooled to a smooth, concave, finished surface.
The joints are raked out 13 to 20 mm deep, and space is filled by appropriate mortar in the desired shape. Different types of pointing are used for brick masonry and stone masonry work which we will discuss in this post.
MATERIAL STUDYRAMMED EARTH
BUILDING RAMMED EARTH WALLS
MATERIAL STUDYCSEB BLOCKS
BUILDING CSEB WALLS
CREATING REINFORCEMENTS & BINDER
BUILDING RR FOUNDATION
TOTAL AREA - 1376 SQ.FT
SCALE - 1:150
DESIGN AND DRAWN BY
Ar . K.NAVEEN KUMAR
" The Linear Earth Cottage is a 1320 sq. ft. set of three cottages designed as a multi-purpose space that can accomodate single/double occupancy. The outer walls are constructed with rammed earth walls giving the structure a lot of charachter. The inbetween walls are made of CSEB blocks. The units have separate toilets and will be having deck space in the mezzanine floor under the coconut leaves thatch roof.
Ar . ABHISHEK GADADOSS
DATE : 10.04.2021
SRINIVASAN ( SITE MANAGER)
ARUL ( SITE ELEC ENG.)
MANIKANDAN ( SITE CIVIL ENG.)
APPROVED BY
DONALD SEQUIERA
" Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method.
The availability of suitable soil and a building design appropriate for local climatic conditions are the factors that favour its use.
RAMMING IN PROGRESS
MIXING THE MIXTURE
RAMMED EARTH WALL
RAMMED EARTH WALL
CHECKING THE WALL THE WALL REVEAL
" A compressed earth block (CEB), also known as a pressed earth block or a compressed soil block, is a building material made primarily from damp soil compressed at high pressure to form blocks. Compressed earth blocks use a mechanical press to form blocks out of an appropriate mix of fairly dry inorganic subsoil, non-expansive clay and aggregate.
CEBs are assembled onto walls using standard bricklaying and masonry techniques.
" Random rubble masonry foundation is ancient stone foundation method where rough, uneven stones are used to make the foundations. It is cost effective and environment friendly construction technology as it does not require energy intensive materials like cement and steel.
Random rubble masonry foundation is environment friendly construction technology since as it does not require energy intensive materials like cement and steel. It is very strong, durable and weather resistant.
RUBBLE FOUNDATION
FORMING PLINTH
MIXING MORTAR
CREATING PLINTH BEAM
MAKING STIRRUPS
BAMBOO REINFORCEMENT
FERROCEMENT
MIXING
OXIDE
FLOORING
FERROCEMENT
APPLICATION
TINTED OXIDE
FLOORING
" Ferrocement or ferro-cement is a system of construction using reinforced mortar or plaster (lime or cement, sand, and water) applied over an "armature" of metal mesh, woven, expanded metal, or metalfibers, and closely spaced thin steel rods such as rebar. The metal commonly used is iron or some type of steel, and the mesh is made with wire with a diameter between 0.5 mm and 1 mm.
" Our students experimented with ferrocement in creating a kennel for a dog in the site. They tried and used the materials they have been learning from to create the kennel.
" Oxide flooring (Kaaviyidal – red) is an age-old practice of using oxide colours (primary colours) in various combinations for flooring. This may be with lime, mud or cement.
Coloured oxide floors not only look good but bring back a little bit of the past into our lives. They are also eco-friendly and when done properly can last a lifetime and beyond.
CREATING FLOORING
OXIDE FLOORING
OXIDE FLOORING
CREATING GROUND
" The Building Materials and Construction is a subject to understand materials and construction methodology of the same. The Live Project is a culmination of almost all units from the theory subject of BMC 1. The ARCHIDOODLE book will be a culmination of all learnings from BMC book as a repositery of technical sheets of the subject.
An exclusive sketchbook that is designed for the RVS students by the insitutiton for sketching and creating documentation of the project for their Building Materials and Construction subject.
" Centreline drawing and marking on the site is one of the first things done during execution of a building. The students were exposed to a hands-on experience of how the marking of a building is done on site.
The mentors showed one part of the building that was marked and the students did the other side with the help of the mentors.
1. Mud house hut - single dwelling space
2. Rammed Earth - Rubble Duplex house
3. Pyramid Gathering Space
4. Mud hut Kitchen
" Achalam is a space where traditional earth architecture is practiced. LINDA is a traveller who has resided in many parts of the world, mainly Hong Kong.
She arrived to Thiruvanamalai in the search of spirituality. On reaching here and witnessing the Arunachala in the guidance of her Guru, she settled here for peace, happiness and a sustainable way of life.
The complex is designed to have a meditation hut where about 50 people can sit for sessions. The complex also has a common kitchen and mud huts and stabilised earth buildings for people to stay. It also includes a rubble masonry building where LINDA stays in the site. The site is filled with trees and shrubs and vegetation. It is scattered with places to sit.
HYDROLOGY
" Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability.
Hydrology is the study of the distribution and movement of water both on and below the Earth's surface, as well as the impact of human activity on water availability and conditions.
In its widest sense, hydrology encompasses the study of the occurrence, movement, and physical and chemical characteristics of water in all its forms within Earth's hydrosphere.
" Hydrologists work in managing, monitoring and protecting water and water resources. They use detailed data sources, computer modeling and other resources to collect, analyse and interpret data.
They ensure the safe, sustainable and environmentally sound management of water resources.
In practice, hydrologists usually restrict their studies to waters close to the land surface of Earth.
" An experential session with Ar. Donald was on understanding, sensing and feeling materials. The session started with a meditation session to feel and sense the surrondings. During the meditation session a grape was given to each student where they were asked to guess the item.
" An experential session with Ar. Donald was on understanding, sensing and feeling materials.
Even though many people identified the grape but shared that intensity with which they tasted it was much more Following the session, the students were given different materials from the site to identify and to sense. All kinds of materials such as sand, bamboo, cement, ferrocemnt, coconut leaves, plastic pipes etc. were given for them to feel and understand.
Similarly the students were also taken to the fields behind to sense and understand the earth and the land. The students rolled, stretched, smelt and even crawled to get a feel of the site and the land.
Walking in trust
Sensing
To sum up we had a debriefing session where the students enthusiastically shared their experience.
Walking blindfolded experience
" Creative expression through junk art was one of the sessions that was initiated by Ms. Asma. The brief was to create a human like figurine with all kind of scrap available in the site.
The students freaked out a bit with this one as each of them built a very creative set of figurines. It was hearty to see how they were trying to fix different options in designing, building and re-building the figurines. The structures of it were carefully thought and executed.
" Mr. Kamalakannan is a farmer by background and does wide range of organic farming and leads a sustainable lifestyle. He has developed skills from various traditional and sustainable art forms like weaving with cocnut leaves and stick walking which he displayed for the students and made them do. He also spoke about the importance of living sustainabley in today's times.
Weaving of coconut to create baskets and other items is a endangered skill. The weaving can also be used as a means of origami in creating patterns and shapes.
Walking in stilts is also another art form that is dying. It requires great skill and focus that helps you in acheiving the walk. Some ofour students tried it and succeeded immensely.
Walking in stilts is also another art form that is dying. It requires great skill and focus that helps you in acheiving the walk. Some ofour students tried it and succeeded immensely.
Weaving of coconut to create baskets and other items is a endangered skill. The weaving can also be used as a means of origami in creating patterns and shapes.
" An experential session with Ar. Donald was on out of the world creative expression
The students brough out some really amazing ideas and executed it with no inhibitions and shame.
Some great peformers were identified through this processes. It was a fun and an amazing excercise to make everyone laugh.
" A creative expression is way of bringing out the freaky side of oneself to the outside. This session with Ar. Donald with a brief. The brief included the students to create a 2 min skit with the most crazy and whacky ideas.
The only rule was there were no rules. The skit had to be and needed to be completely non sensical.
Mr. Denise Stillwell
Artist
Ms. Fif Clown Artist
Mr. Mohan
Ms. Daniela Mr. Marimuthu
" In this session of sustainability
Ms. Danielle an expert from Swiss Energies had an interactive session to understand and discuss the nature of non-renewable and renewable energies alongwith the three main factors and influences of sustainability. These are the SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL & ECONOMICAL factors that affect sustainability and gets heavily affected by it. She explained this with venn diagram and various examples across the globe from her work. The session was a great knowledge gain for the students.
" Mr. Marimuthu is a local from Thiruvanamalai who after several years of work in the UK has decided to set base here. In this process he built a sustainble home only with CSEB and Rammed Earth walls. He shared his experience of building and living in a sustainable home. He also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the same.
Ms. Daniela Bomatter
" Mr. Mohan is a farmer in and out. In his session he elucidated about organic farming, its benefits and challenges. He also explained how the organic farming can change the way we intake food and the good properties of the same. It was a very informative session.
" In this session Jaya Amma and Shreeni sir spoke about their nursery in the campus alongwith the basics of gardening. They also spoke about the importance of gardening and how it can be done with ease. Jaya Amma specifically shared what are the species of plants that can be planted in terrace and places with less space.
" In this session Jaya Amma and Shreeno sir spoke about their nursery in the campus alongwith the basics of gardening. They also spoke about the importance of gardening and how it can be done with ease. Jaya Amma specifically shared what are the species of plants that can be planted in terrace and places with less space.
is a head practitioner of building sustainable buildings with earth and mainly bamboo. He has been practicing this building methodology for the past 30 years. In his session he shared his experience in building with natural materials like bamboo and earth. He also shared the challenges and limitations that come with working with these elements.
The felicitation program on the last day was held where the students and the accomapanying faculty members were awarded with participation certificates. The session also had students, faculties and mentors sharing testimonials of their experience and what they have leart through this process. The session ended with the students showing their works proudly to Director Sir and Academic Head.
