The Kaza Eco-Community Centre

Auroville Today spoke to Lara and Satprem about this unique project.

How did you happen to take up this project?

Satprem: I have a long-standing relationship with Spiti Projects Charity, a UK-based NGO with local partners who funded the project. Spiti Projects headed by Joan Pollock has been working for the past 23 years to meet the basic health needs of the local people and preserve their culture of the place. They were asked by the local people to build a community center. As AVEI has done small building projects in the valley since 2004 using Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) in the Spiti Valley, Joan invited us to build the Kaza Eco-Community Center.The project was in complete alignment with AVEI’s operating mission of linking “vernacular traditions of raw earth construction with the modern technology of stabilised earth.”

Spiti Projects wanted us to revitalize the local culture by using traditional building techniques, such as the rammed earth technique called “Gyang,” earthquake resistant features, namely embedding bamboo or branches into the earth walls for resistance, use of lime plaster etc.We were, of course, happy to do this. Essentially, AVEI introduced modest innovations and quality control into traditional building practices to reinvigorate acceptance of these methods, which these days are easily discarded because of the onslaught of the concrete industry.

What was the most challenging moment for you?

Lara: There were so many, but when you are solving problems moment to moment, it is hard to pinpoint the most challenging one! To begin with, there is the harsh climatic conditions of the region. Summer temperatures are as high as + 35 deg C and winters go down to -35 deg C. So you have only 4 months to work from June-September. And during this short period, our local workers leave for a month to harvest peas!

In mid-July, before the monsoon rolled in, we had to ensure that the half-constructed building of rammed earth was covered and capped properly, otherwise the rains would wash it away. And then again, the same in September, to protect it from the snows of winter.

The sun is harsh. It really hurts the eyes. And being outside in high heat to oversee the project is not easy. Then you are shivering at nights, unable to sleep because of the cold. While we analyzed the soil before making the CSEBs, we had to rely on local knowledge to decide on where to excavate, for in this mountainous, seismic region, one can create landslides if one starts to dig in the wrong place. The valley has been deforested for many years, and many resources like wood and glass had to be brought all the way from Chandigarh, through hair-pin bends and treacherous mountain passes on overloaded trucks!

Electricity was scarce and unreliable. So you had to really plan and phase your work – pumping the water, getting the carpenters to plane the wood and using other power tools – to make the most of it when it was there.

Perhaps my most challenging moment was when I was getting ready to leave in the first season and one of AVEI’s head masons was supposed to replace me as the site supervisor. But the poor guy had high-altitude sickness, so he could not stay. He came back with me, and we had to leave a young, relatively inexperienced, architect, Swati, in-charge, but she did a fantastic job!

Satprem: For me, it was the shock that I had got the design of formwork wrong. I had not fully researched the details of the Gyang technology. The earth they use in this technology is much wetter than what is used in modern rammed-earth techniques. There were changes that we had to make in the process of the building.

Lara: We understood much better the details of the local building techniques during the process of the construction.

Then there were personally challenging moments. I got a lung infection from the construction dust and was really sick and miserable. Satprem was in Auroville, and he was going through one of the most difficult times of his life, embroiled in a conflict with Kottakarai villagers. And up at Kaza, I did not have any cell phone network for 5 days, so we could not even reach out to each other for support.

Also, another sad thing. After the project was over, we had this skilled Nepali mason who went back to Nepal right before the massive earthquake. We heard that while he and his family survived the quake, all but two houses in his village were destroyed. We wanted to reach out with some funds to help him, but it was too complex to get the money to him. I have not been able to connect with him.

What was the most inspiring moment for you?

Lara: Working with the local masons. These people are really practicing Buddhists. There was always so much to do, and I could get quite stressed and frantic trying to ensure that the building was relatively completed and secured before winter set in. But these people were always so calm. They would do what needed to be done with such peace and grace. It was really learning to balance deadlines while just being in the moment.

Do you feel you have influenced local building practices in the area?

Lara: Some people there now know how to make CSEBs. But honestly, given the trend towards building in concrete, our influence is marginal. We deliberately did not plaster some inside walls of the building so that people could see that this impressive modern-looking building was basically made of rammed earth. It is a modern exhibition which will hopefully get people to rethink their own traditions.

My impression is that the local population gradually got to accept us, a team of foreign architects, and to understand that we were re-packaging their traditional knowledge into a modern form. I felt that they took pride in that.

What are the ways in which you think this community centre will serve the local people?

Lara: It remains to be seen how the community uses the building. Maybe in a year from now, I can better answer that. But yes, even before it was completed, local people, monks, builders, would pass by and ask us questions. At the inauguration ceremony, local Buddhist monks blessed the building with a ritualistic dance. I was touched.

I find it heartening that the building will offer lodging to people from outlying villages who travel over 50 km to Kaza for health care. We stayed at the local hospital during the construction of the building. Doctors would visit only for a few days each month, but word would go around, and the hospital courtyard would then fill with over a hundred people waiting to see the doctor. Not all of them had a place to stay in Kaza. So this community centre is for them to use.

Why do you think this building won the low carbon award? What were the criteria?

Lara: Actually, if it weren’t for the insistence of the Auroville Green Practices group, we would not even have applied for this award. I think Construction 21 was looking for a wide range of sustainability criteria, including social sustainability criteria such as engaging local stakeholders. Many awards that go to green buildings, which have long-term operational sustainability, actually have a high carbon footprint and embodied energy. And awards go to modern techniques and contemporary architecture rather than honouring fundamental principles and traditional techniques. We were doing something different.