Bambú Social Update July 2014 by BAMBÚ SOCIAL

INAUGURACIÓN

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

HANDING OUT CERTIFICATE DIRECTOR BICU RAFAEL ACEVEDO STUDENT JOSE ANTONIO SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 04 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

STUDENTS ENGEL, GIOVANY AND OCTAVIO SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

WHAT T O EXPECT? El Rama, 04-08-2014 We have oficially finalized the project BAMBÚ SOCIAL! A quick overview: •

Last Monday, the 21st of July we had the official opening of the ‘’BAMBU SOCIAL MODEL HOUSE’’. Speeches were given, Certificates handed out, contracts signed, but above all, the official opening of the house and finalization of the project was celebrated by more then a hundred involved enthusiastic students, volunteers, investors, workers, and oficials. The house was cleaned, presented and explained and the first compost-toilet-manual-drawings were put to the test.

•

The construction has advanced rapidly. The walls are almost finished, the windows and doors are being installed, the electricity is almost working and the water pipes are being framed in the walls.

•

The project has officially ended,but we have not. With a smaller groups of energetic professionals we are putting ‘the dots on the i’ at the construction, creating a visual manual, a report and are ensuring the continuation of the rise of sustainable and affordable construction in the bamboo belt around the world.

•

We said goodbye to Diana Gonzalez and Juan Carlos Gaviria Moreno and welcomed the new energy of Sylvia Machgeels, Arie van Ziel and Sheila Oroschin. Read on and enjoy!

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TH E GR AN D PULLIN G THE RIBBON BY

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OP EN ING SHEIL A OR OSCHIN

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JULY 21 2014

OPENING RAFAEL ACEVEDO SPEECHES

BLESSING THE HOUSE

PRESENTS FROM THE MUNICIPALITY

SIGNING THE CONTRACTS

EXPOSTITION HOUSE

‘‘The house is not the

you

project, are the project!’’ J.C. Gaviria Moreno

THE DESIGN PROPOSAL

CERTIFICATES FROM THE MUNICIPALITY

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE HOUSE

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

BAMBOO PLANTATION CEREMONY

BAMBOO NAPKIN HOLDERS AS PRESENTS FOR ALL THE PARTICIPANTS

DAY OF THE IN AUGURATION Last Monday, the 21st of July we had the official inauguration of the ‘BAMBÚ SOCIAL CASA MODELO’. Speeches were given by o.a. the Rector of the BICU, the vice Mayor of El Rama, of course our own Juan Carlos, Sheila Oroschin and the principal of the BICU Rafael Acevedo. We handed out the certificates to the students of the courses ‘’Construcción Sostenible’’ and the course ‘Artesanias con Bambú’, we blessed the house under the guidance of a local priest, we sang the national anthem of Nicaragua and we signed the contracts in order to formalize the donation, to guaranty the continuity of the project and the maintenance of the house, but above all, we celebrated the official opening of the house and finalization of the project with more then a hundred involved enthusiastic students, volunteers, investors, workers, and officials. We made sure that they didn’t get hungry by baking ‘Dutch’ pancakes with a very sweet (and local) mango syrup. The Municipality surprised us with Nicaraguan gifts and certificates for all the team members. After a morning of speeches, presentations and handing out of certificates, Sheila Oroschin cut (or pulled, to be more precise) the ribbon to officially open the building. The house was cleaned, presented and the design explained. The first compost-toilet-manual-drawings were put to the test. To end the day we held a bamboo planting ceremony with the Director and Rector of the BICU to represent the project BAMBÚ SOCIAL as a baby plant that has just started to grow...

Thanks to everyone who joined us this day!

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COLL AGE OF THE DAY

MAYLING MAKES PANCAKES

FIRST PEOPLE ARRIVE

RECTOR BICU GUSTAVO CASTRO JO

PRESENT FROM THE MUNICIPALITY

FLAG FOR THE ANTHEM

DUTCH PANCAKES

ARRIVAL OF GROUP ARTESANIAS JAVIER BALMACEDA & LLOYDA

ONIEL HERMANAMIENTO RAMA & SHEILA ‘DON CHIMINO’ HOTEL OASIS

SYLVIA & ARIE

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STUDENTS JOSE ANTONIO

DIANA & DOÑA CANDIDA

OPEN HOUSE

REP. MUNICIPALITY EL RAMA

GOODBYE DIANA & WORKERS LAURENS, MAX & JUAN

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DOÑA LUISA & JOSSELY

IT’S OF F I C IA L

During the festive inauguration of the Casa Modello, official contracts were openly signed to ensure the sustainable use, the semi public character and maintenance of the house as well as the intention to continue the BAMBÚ SOCIAL project. The ‘Asemblea de constitución del proyecto’, a document that states the vision, mission, scope, goals, participants and official board of the project was signed by all the BAMBÚ SOCIAL members. The first contract ‘Convenio de cooperación’ describes besides, the arrangements for cooperation between the four participating partners and their contribution to the project during the past six months, the intention to continue to work together in the field of sustainable building and providing courses. The second contract ’Contracto de donación’ states the official donation of the house and garden to the BICU university, with it’s dimensions, materials and costs. It also describes, amongst others, in detail the obligation of the BICU for maintenance and the supervising role of the municipality and the ‘Hermanamiento El Rama’. Both contracts were signed by the Mayor of El Rama, Mercedez Lorenzo Alaniz, the director of Hermanamiento El Rama, William Oniel Toledo Urbina, the rector of the BICU, Gustavo Castro Jo, and the representative of Shortsighted Architecture, Max Verhoeven. Special thanks to our local lawyer and notary: Tatiana

CONVENIO DE COOPERACION

CONTRATO DE DONACIÓN

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SPEECHES

BE AU TIFU L W O R D S BY B E AU T I F U L P E OP LE

RECTOR BICU GUSTAVO CASTRO JO

VICE MAYOR ROSITA CASTILLO

‘‘Ladies and gentlemen, friends, we are here

reunited today because we are BAMBÚ SOCIAL. From the largest involved institution untill our friend Samual, a boy with challanges that has been with us for six month. This house is not BAMBÚ SOCIAL, nor the 1000 houses that will be built with bamboo...

You are BAMBÚ SOCIAL, we are BAMBÚ SOCIAL. And

today we come together not only to conclude this period, but to lay the foundation for the promotion of sustainable, integral and affordable construction in this beautiful town.’’ Opening speech Juan Carlos Gaviria Moreno

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ABOVE: BLESSINGS BY LOCAL PRIEST UNDER: PARTICIPANTS OF THE COURSE ARTESANIAS

PROJECT COORDINATOR JUAN CARLOS GAVIRIA MORENO

‘‘Even though I don’t speak your language, we understand each other. We all speak the universal language of love.’’ Initiator

Sheila Oroschin

‘‘BAMBÚ SOCIAL has opened the eyes of the BICU for new opportunities and has formed a group of enthoustiac students to explore them.’’

Director BICU El Rama, Rafael Acevedo

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

THE S TUDENT S Fifteen students (out of 18) successfully made it through the course ‘Construcción Sostenible’ given and organized by BAMBÚ SOCIAL. In twelve weeks time of intensive theoretical classes and practical workshops, the participants learned all about construction with sustainable materials and experienced the entire process, from selecting, cutting, cleaning, treating and drying bamboo until pouring concrete footings, making bamboo connections and screwing on the roof. The students were evaluated on their obtained knowledge through a written examination, their degree of participation and their presence. Because of our collaboration with the BICU University, we are able to hand out official ‘Certificados’ signed by the Mayor, of El Rama, the general secretary of the BICU and the coordinator of BAMBÚ SOCIAL. It makes us very happy to notice that the students are really proud of their certificate. They are even changing their facebook profile pictures and have shared with us that the certificates contribute to finding jobs in the area. ALMOST ALL THE STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED THEIR CERTIFICATE FOR THE COURSE SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

GIOVANY

OCTAVIO ENGEL

JAMIR

‘‘The house is ou r baby’’

JAVIER

J.C. Ruiz

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ELIEL

CERTIFICADO EL RAMA NICARAGUA - LUNES 21 DE JULIO 2014

Johanna Ramon Flores Ortega Eddy Manuel Sandoval Alfredo Quijano Javier Antonio Rodrigues Angel teodoro Gutierrez Torrez Giovany Flores Octavio Latinos Juan carlos Ruiz Jamir Raudes Jose Armando Ruiz Jose Antonio Montoya Engel villata Juan Rafael Rosa Moreno eliel Altamirano

Este certificado demuestra que el señor ANGEL TEODORO GUTIERREZ TORREZ termino de manera satisfactoria tanto la parte teórica como la práctica del curso: Construcción Sostenible. En él se vieron los siguientes temas según el folleto educativo: La construcción con bambú, la sostenibilidad en general, las bases de la ventilación pasiva, la creación de filtros de agua y el proceso de selección, corte, curado y secado de bambú. Mercedez Lorenzo Alaniz ALCALDE DE MUNICIPIO EL RAMA

Juan Carlos Gaviria Moreno COORDINADOR DEL PROYECTO

Rene Alfonso Casells Martinez SECRETARIO GENERAL BICU

CERTIFICATE OF TEODORO, READY TO BE SIGNED BY THE MAYOR, JUAN CARLOS AND THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE BICU

JUAN CARLOS

ALFREDO

JUAN RAFAE L

JOSE ANTONIO

EDDY MANUEL

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ARMANDO

CONS TR U CT I ON PR OGRESS R OOF/WALL S/DOORS/ WINDO WS/ELECTRICIT Y/WATER

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

CONS TR UCTION The last couple of weeks we have put all our forces in getting the house ready for the inauguration on the 21st of July. We got the water running, the wall frames ready, the roof finished, and the front door sliding. There has been a change in the organization on the construction site, as we went from a slightly disorganized site and the lack of a clear construction coordinator (due to our notion of working as equals with everyone and lack of experience when it comes to constructing), to an organized construction site and necessary strict hand from our new team member Arie van Ziel. A clear acceleration process has taken place under the guidance of Sheila Oroschin, which led to a visible increase of productivity and a clear deadline for the final touches of the house: the 9th of August. As you can see in the pictures, the roof is finished and the wall panels are put in place. We have chosen for a ‘sandwich panel’ for the main floor, which consists of a layering of a wooden frame, with plycem-panels and a layer of paint on the outside and layers of esterilla (flattened bamboo), chicken mesh, cement-sand-chalk-mixture, ‘pasta lisa’ and a final layer of ‘daylight white’ on the inside. As it is a model house, we have laid open one wall to show the construction process of all the layers.

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5 days left MAKING OF THE PANELS

WOODEN PANELS FIRST FLOOR

EXHIBITION WALL

PORCH WITH SLIDING DOOR

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THE WATER IS RUNNING

THE FIN AL T OUCH PATT ERNS AND D E TA IL S

ROOF PANELS 1ST FLOOR

CLOSE UP ROOF PANEL

BAMBOO WALL ADJACENT TO STAIRCASE

WINDOW FRAME

DETAIL OPTION

FLOOR IN PROGRESS

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

CUTTING ASPERMus ma veles as entur? Iquiamus si

CONNECTION DETAIL

The walls on the first floor consist of denser and finer wooden panels to keep direct contact with the environment create a play of light and shadow and to strengthen the ventilation of the room, without jeopardizing the privacy of the room. The wooden panels on the main floor and the first floor have proven to add significantly to the rigidity of the building. Next to the walls our experienced Dutch carpenter, Jan van Mulken has installed a smooth sliding -2,5 meter wide- front door, Henky Borgstein has finished the beautiful wooden (guapinol) staircase and our local carpenter Juan Rafael has put in all the window frames and shutters. The first water is running and the water tank is full and working like a charm! We will adjust some last details to make sure there won’t be any leakages or collapses in the system (or the house) and Arie is going to be coordinating the making of the grey water system with different layers of stones and banana plants. Meanwhile the entire building is being scrubbed, polished and treated with linseed oil to ensure the durability. The finalization of the toilet and the kitchen is a fact. The walls one the first floor consist of denser and finer wooden panels, to keep direct contact with the environment, create a play of light and shadow and to strengthen the ventilation of the room, without jeopardizing the privacy of the room. The wooden panels at the main floor and the first floor have proven to add a lot to the stiffness of the building. Next to the walls our experienced Dutch carpenter, Jan van Mulken has installed a smooth sliding – 2,5 meter wide- front door, Henky Borgstein has finished the beautiful wooden (guapinol) stairs and our local carpenter Juan Rafael has put in all the window frames and shutters. Also the first water is running and the water tank is full and working like a charm! Henky will adjust some last details to make sure there won’t be any leakages or collapes in the system (or the house) and Arie is going to be coordinating the making of the grey water system with different layers of stones and banana plants. Meanwhile the entire building is being scrubbed and polished and treated with linseed oil to ensure the durability and the last touches are being layed on the toilet and the kitchen.

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

CUTTING ASPERMus ma veles as entur? Iquiamus si

kin

go bra ff h cin e la gs s up t po rt

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CUTTING ASPERMus ma veles as entur? Iquiamus si

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THE MAKING OF W OR KING AND LE A R N I NG

CELEBRATING THE NEW STAIRS

TOILET COVER

MAKING OF TOILET COVER

PLASTERING OF THE KITCHEN WALLS

TREATMENT OF BAMBOO WITH LINSEED OIL

PLASTERING THE OUTSIDE WALLS

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TREATING THE BAMBOO WITH LINSEED OIL

CUTTING ASPERMus ma veles as entur? Iquiamus si

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CUTTING ASPERMus ma veles as entur? Iquiamus si

TH E GA R D E N BY D IAN A GON ZALE Z

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CUTTING ASPERMus ma veles as entur? Iquiamus si

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MADRE TIERRA THE S U N O F O U R T E A M

PATHWAY ‘PIEDRA CANTERA’ & GREEN CENTRE

FIRST GREENS

SEPERATION AND PROTECTION BY BANANA TRUNKS

‘It was a great learning experience to coordinate a team of workers’ Diana Gonzalez FERTILE ‘BEDS’ FOR HERBS, VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

SEPERATION AND PROTECTION BY BANANA TRUNKS

THE MAGICAL NUMBER OP PI

FIRST HERBS POPPING OUT SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

REPLANTING FRESHLY GEMINATED HERBS

THE ENTRANCE PATH, ACCOMPANIED BY HIPERADOBES AND A WHITE HORSE

Based on the principles of permaculture, Diana Gonzalez made a design for the (quite large) area around the house. The design of the garden started with the orientation of the house in relation to the passing roads and natural circumstances, as the wind direction, sun and rainfall. She created a rounded access path, which organically connects the main road with the entrance road of the BICU and passes the house until it slowly touches the staircase at the entrance. This path, made of two lines ‘pedra cantera’ with a green center, roughly divides the area in two parts. Crossing the main path gutters have been dug to drain the huge amounts of water during the rain season. The drainage system leads to a further and lower situated area near the river and makes sure the construction site is not flooded during the rain season. The ditches also serve as further division lines, dividing the terrain in more manageable parts, which are again divided further in small ‘human scaled’ areas that have had a ‘soil makeover’ to serve as fertile ground for herbs, fruits and vegetables. A grey water system with banana trees is on its way. Diana is working on a full report to explain (the systems of) the garden and to provide a step by step plan, accompanied by a cost calculation, which will be included in the upcoming manual.

THANK YOU DIANA!

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CONTI NU I T Y

SHARING KNO WLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, DESIGNS, DOCUMENTATION AND T-SHIR T S

SHA RING

KNO WLEDGE AND EXPER TISE UCA/CAN A L 10/BL UEFIELDS

BAMBÚ SOCIAL BROADCASTED LIVE ON CANAL 10

SPREADING THE W ORD In this last stage of the project we have been putting a lot of attention to spreading the word in Nicaragua, to ensure one of our main principles and goals: ‘Share knowledge and Expertise’. Our last update was carried out in the form of a small Spanish spoken documentary, made by Sofia Caycedo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtM9vX-UHYA). We used this documentary to spread the word throughout Nicaragua. And guess what? One week later two members of the team were invited for a live interview at the main national television station ‘Canal 10’. This actually led to almost daily visits to the construction site, giving even more presentations and people asking for more information on building with bamboo. Next to our brief Nicaraguan ‘star moment’ we have been contacted by different educational institutions as the National University UCA (Universidad Centroamericana) from Managua and a delegation from Bluefields, consisting of representatives from amongst other the INTA, Prevenir, SPIC, GRACS, coordinated by Thomas Hellmann from the German GIZ. This delegation is mostly working on the creation of employment opportunities for people in the age range of 15-30 and are supporting and guiding the start ups of small local companies. They came to investigate if it is possible to (partly) copy BAMBÚ SOCIAL in Bluefields and to investigate the possibilities of setting up business based on and powered by the experiences we had in the last six months. We organized a day program starting with a presentation of the project, a meeting with representatives from the municipality, a meeting with a selection of our students, a visit to the building of BAMBÚ SOCIAL and the construction site of the Casa Modello. We are also putting our efforts in spreading the design for the social home; ‘Vivienda Social’, for which you can find the drawings and cost-calculation summary later in this update. A group of students is assisted with writing a plan to construct an example of this design. We are creating a manual for the entire process from cutting to construction, and will share this with the world, so everybody in the bamboo belt will be able to benefit! With the design of a durably printed bamboo T-shirt and the sale of the T-shirts, we want to collect new funds for the distribution of the manuals and provide locally print BAMBÚ SOCIAL T-shirts to the students.

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

UNIVERSIDAD CENTR OAMERICANO

R EV IE W OF VISIT S U C A M A N A G UA , M UN ICIPALIT Y E L RAM A , E L RE CRE O, B A MB Ú SO C IAL & T H E CO N S T R U C T I O N

MODEL DESIGN@UCA

PRESENTATION@UCA

SPEAKERS OF THE DAY@UCA

STUDENTS TRAVEL TO EL RAMA

CAMPUS@UCA

IN DEPTH PRES@TOWN HALL

UCA STUDENTS@TOWN HALL

ARRIVAL@EL RECREO

BAMBOO CLASS@EL RECREO

EXPERIMENTS@BAMBÚ SOCIAL

GOODBYE@CONTRUCTION

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

PROGRAMM OF UCA’S FORUM ‘OUR CITIES, OUR RISKS’

PR OMO TING B AMBOO AS ALTERN ATIVE Through a befriended Nicaraguan architect, Leyla Ortiz, we were asked by Martin Majewsky, the head of the Architecture Faculty of the ‘Universidad Centroamericano’, to share our experience in building with bamboo. They organized the forum ‘Our cities, Our risks’, which at the same time served as an exhibition day for the models of a project of graduation students. The challenge for the students was to design temporary, easy to make, cheap and safe shelter homes. The picture in the left upper corner shows one design of a group of motivated students who want to reuse ‘truck canvas’ as façade material. The UCA wants to research if bamboo is ‘the’ alternative for conventional construction materials as concrete and steel, in the earthquake sensitive zone Managua. As bamboo experts will know: Yes it is! We shared our knowledge and experience about building with bamboo and of course our vision on architecture and sustainability with the use of local resources. The students were very interested, which made the presentation quite interactive. The way of treating bamboo, how to connect the bamboo with the foundation and the prices of the beautiful material, all issues that have been discussed. A week later, twenty-six students of the UCA, Martin Majewsky and Professor Alberto Solorzano visited us in El Rama, during 2 days, for a tour of BAMBÚ SOCIAL. We started with a more in depth presentation on bamboo, followed by a visit to El Recreo, BAMBÚ SOCIAL and the ‘Casa Modello’. We fitted 12 weeks of the course Sustainable Construction in 2 days and are still in contact with the students and the UCA through facebook. We will continue sharing our knowledge and experience!

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

BAMBOO SHIRTS BY SYLVIA MACHGEELS

VIVIENDA SOCIAL, MANUAL & T SHIR T S From our experiences of the past year we have designed a more affordable alternative for a social home with bamboo as the main construction material. We have shared this design amongst others with the ‘Frente Nacional de Trabajadores’ (FNT) and the municipality El Rama during a presentation a couple of weeks ago. The FNT and the municipality have joined forces to create a new neighborhood just over the bridge from El Rama. This neighborhood will consist of about a hundred homes of which 20 will be constructed for the poorest part of the population of El Rama. The municipality as well as the FNT is interested in using the design of the social home for at least these 20 homes and want to construct a model at the end of this year. We are guiding 4 students, that finished the course Sustainable Construction, in writing a plan, with which they can built this model house financially supported by the municipality. For further distribution of the design and the (construction)process of the Vivienda Social, we are creating a manual with the beautiful, clear and easy-to-understand drawings of our new team member Sylvia Machgeels. The first drawings are ready, as you can see on the following pages. This manual will explain in detail the process from selecting, cutting, cleaning, treating and drying bamboo until the making of the foundation and the setting of the windows. We have shared four drawings on our Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/shortsightedarchitecture?ref=ts&fref=ts, 3 days ago and we got a lot of great responses. We were even contacted by a bamboo professional in Mexico with the question if it was possible to buy the manuals. We are giving this information for free! To be able to spread the manual amongst the people who can use them best, and most often don’t have access to a computer, we are trying to generate new funds. We have found organically and socially responsible BAMBOO T-shirts and have asked Sylvia to make a design. The T-shirts will be printed by the ‘sustainable’ screen printing company Superette and will be available in a limited edition only.

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

THE CONSTRUCTION SITE OF THE MODEL HOUSE

ACTION!!! El Rama, 21-03-2014 Hola! and dry latrines. They also provide educational programs on WASH principles. During this first

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S HA R I NG D R AW I N G S BY SY LV I A

THE CONSTRUCTION SITE OF THE MODEL HOUSE

ACTION!!! El Rama, 21-03-2014 Hola! and dry latrines. They also provide educational programs on WASH principles. During this first

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

JARDIN TANQUE DE AGUA

BAÑO SECCO

DORM 2

X 9,6M 47 M2 MITORIOS E 12 M2 DIBLE EN CASA E Y FILTRO DE

6 M2

DUCHA

DORM 1 6 M2

COCINA 6 M2

SALA 12 M2

PORCHE 12 M2

BAMBÚ

ANDÉN CALLE

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

DESIGN ‘ VIVIENDA SOCIAL’ One of the main goals of the project is to improve the housing condition in El Rama, by offering a more affordable, healthier, safe and sustainable alternative for the concrete and corrugated-sheet building culture that has taken over the construction sector in Nicaragua. That is the reason why we felt it was very important to offer a design for a social home, made with local materials and resources. Now that the bamboo model house is ‘casi’ ready, we have learned from our bamboo research and 6 months of experience from experiments and construction work to be able to develop an improved and more affordable design. Although based on the model house, a few drastic changes have been made to lower the price and make the house accessible for the less fortunate. The house has been lowered from 7,3 meters to a bit more then four, which means the pressure of the wind has been reduced dramatically, resulting in a far slimmer version of the foundation, which was one of the most costly parts of the model home. Besides this, another major change is the lowering of the main floor. Although the raised main floor has an advantage in ventilation and reduction of moist in the home, it has been difficult to find an economic solution for creating an elevated floor. The ventilation principle in the roof remains the same, which means the house feels a lot cooler then the typical construction in El Rama. At the moment we are working on a detailed manual and extensive report to further explain the changes and step by step plan of the designs. If you would like to receive more information, please send an email to: info@shortsightedarchitecture.com

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

EL BAMBÚ

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

S HA R I NG D R AW I N G S BY SY LV I A

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SHARE WITH B AMBOO T-SHIR T S WITH O R GA N I C B A M B OO T S H I R T S W E H OP E T O SP RE AD TH E W ORD AND CO LL E C T F U N D S F O R D I R S TIB UTING M AN UAL S AN D T SH IR T S AR OU ND NI C A R A G UA

To generate extra funding for the distribution of the manual and locally printed T-shirts for the students, Sylvia’s design, representing the project BAMBÚ SOCIAL will be printed on beautiful 70% Bamboo viscose T-shirts by the ‘sustainable’ screen printing company ‘Superette’ in Amsterdam. We are printing a limited edition of 50 shirts. If you would like to receive one, please send an email to info@shortsightedarchitecture.com, with your preference of design and size and we will get back to you.

70% Bamboo

Viscose 30% Organic Cotton Fine Jersey 115g / 3.4oz.

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

70%

Viscose 150g / 4.

THE T-SHIRTS ARE PRODUCED WITH A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY WITH REGARD TO THE FOLLOWING SOCIAL CRITERIA:

% Bamboo

30% Organic Cotton Jersey .4oz.

NO USE OF CHILD LABOUR NO USE OF FORCED LABOUR SAFE AND HEALTHY WORKING CONDITIONS LEGAL LABOUR CONTRACTS PAYMENT OF LIVING WAGE FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND THE RIGHT TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST EMPLOYEES NO EXCESSIVE HOURS OF WORK

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

GOODBYE T O JUAN & DIAN A WEL COME (B ACK) SYLVIA , ARIE & SHEIL A Juan Carlos Gaviria Moreno is a Colombian born, Dutch Master student Real-Estate & Management at the TU Delft. Since the initiation of Shortsighted Architecture and Bambú Social last year May he has not only was an excellent project manager, but also contributed with bamboo research from Colombia, administration, as building coordinator, facilitator, teacher of the course ‘‘Construcción Sostenible’’, the face of the project in El Rama and since the broadcast of Canal 10, a celebrity in El Rama and Nicaragua. Thank you Juan!

Colombian architect Diana Gonzalez has been ‘‘het zonnetje in huis’’ since her arrival in May 2014. Her expertise in Perma Culture garden and her background and ambitions in building with earth has brought the project a beautiful integrated garden with home grown fruits and vegetables, a drainage system, a grey water system and of course: Bamboo. She has developed the garden design and solely coordinated the entire process with a team of dedicated workers. Thank you Diana and we wish you all the best on your next Mexican adventure!

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

WEL COME T O ARIE & SYLVIA AND WEL COME B ACK T O SHEIL A

In the final part of the project Arie van Ziel and Sylvia Machgeels joined BAMBÚ SOCIAL during one month. Arie is a young Dutch architect and owner of studio Content (www.studiocontent.org). He specializes in composting (toilets), wood constructions and local food production. Furthermore he is finding new ways in positioning the role of an architect and collaborating in groups. With his experience of the construction process he has taken over the coordination of the construction site from now to make sure we will have a beautiful finished model house. Sylvia Machgeels is from Holland as well and studies Industrial Design at the faculty of IO at the TU Delft. Her talent for drawing, documenting and experience with projects in Nicaragua has been put to use as she is responsible for a.o. the visualization of the manual for the ‘‘Vivienda Social’’ and the design of the Bamboo T-shirts. Sheila Oroschin has been with us before in May, when she restructured the organizational part of the team and helped us to redefine our way of working into a more feasible and professional manner. She had the initial idea of using bamboo for housing in El Rama during her trip with UNIFY last year April and she is back to help us reach our goals in the final part and to ensure the continuation of the development for sustainable and affordable living in the Bamboo belt around the world

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

CUTTING ASPERMus ma veles as entur? Iquiamus si

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

BAMBOO GARBAGE BIN - DESIGN BY JEZABEL

CREDIT S BAMBÚ SOCIAL UPDATE 07 Coordination Sheila Oroschin of External Max Verhoeven Communication Layout

Max Verhoeven Karin Fernanda Schwambach

Text

Max Verhoeven

Photos Syvlia Machgeels Laurens van der Wal Sheila Oroschin Arie van Ziel Max Verhoeven Period 04/07/2014 - 03/08/2014

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

SI LO PUEDES

So単ar LO PUEDES

HACER

SHORTSIGHTED EL RAMA // UPDATE 07 // 04-08-2014 // INFO@SHORTSIGHTEDARCHITECTURE.COM

DREAM WORKERS ALFREDO AND TEODORO

DETAIL WINDOW FRAME