Studies of Phnom Penh windows and roof shapes

Bamboo "Island Bar" in Siem Reap's night market

A good source of inspiration and worth of visit was the Island bar at Siem Reap's Angkor Nightmarket. Unfortunately we visited the place after dark but hopefully you can still get an idea of the structures!

Komitu at Nerd Night Phnom Penh

Nerd Night Phnom Penh is a Pecha Kucha -evening where you can present your ideas in 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide. Komitu talked about Participatory design process in Kouk Khleang Youth Center.

School building made out of bamboo

In Siem Reap we visited School run by Khmer for Khmer Organization (KKO). School was built from Chinese bamboo and it had several activities such as moto-repair, sewing and english teaching.

Siem Reap Plastic bottle house

In Siem Reap the NGO Husk has done a very interesting project with building a Health Center out of recycle plastic bottles. From outside one can't tell what the house is made of except from the "tree" which they left visible for educational purposes. 

Bamboo bungaloos in Chi Phat

Sothun Lodge- Bamboo bungaloos on a small island in Chi Phat

Bamboo was used in more traditional way in bungaloos than in the center. Beautiful bugaloos had nice cool feeling inside. We entered the island with bamboo raft ride.

Bamboo species: Chinese bamboo for construction

The so-called Chinese bamboo is the bamboo species used for construction in the Chi Phat CBET Visitor Center. It grows strong and thick enough to be used as a bearing structure. One can easily recognize the right species from the "hairy" surface and the "spikes" by knots.

Treating bamboo

In Chi Phat we also learned about working with bamboo.
Before you treat the bamboos with Borax/boric acid immersion
you need to make hole through the whole bamboo.

Working out the structures with UPDF students

On Tuesday morning 10.1. we had a happy visit from students from the Mekong University studying engineering and architecture. Together with the organisation The Urban Poor Development Fund (UPDF) the team would also be interested in the construction.

Visiting a bamboo project in Chi Pat CBET

Inari, Noora, Sinikka and two Cambodian engineering students travelled to the forests near Koh Kong 12.-14.1. to visit the Community Based Eco Tourism (CBET) project in the Chi Pat village. In the visitors' center of the village bamboo has been used very beautifully as a bearing structure.

The buildings of the visitors' center were designed by Ahti Westphal, Farid Rakun and Selin Maner, with Jörg Stamm as visiting bamboo expert. More information in Ahti Westphal's page.

The building was finished two years ago and until now there were no visible damage in the structures.

Bamboo structures in CBET-Center

Studying Bamboo at the Sovann Komar

On Sunday 8.1. we joined the City in Transition students for a trip to the Sovann Komar - Golden Childern Orphanage designed by the Kerry Hill Architects. We were very happy to be accompanied also by David Thorng from the construction company LBL International who has built the project.

The site and the buidings are very beautiful and according to the manager, created a nice home-like environment for the orphans, but unfortunately they have faced serious problems in the sustainability of the shading bamboo structures.

Bicycle Library Workshop in Kouk Khleang

On Saturday 7.1 three students from the previous City in Crisis-courses in 2010 and 2011 organized a Re-cycle workshop in Kouk Khleang together with students from Royal University of Fine Arts (Rufa) and with members from the Kouk Khleang Youth Committee.

A great, happy day ending with a delicious meal cooked by the neighbouring restaurant!

You can read more of the workshop and City in Crisis feedback trip here: http://www.urbanmurmur.blogspot.com/

Visiting Sra Pou Vocational School and Oudong Community Center

 

Even though the Sra Pou Vocational School has not survived quite in the original shape it was super nice to visit the school and meet the 10 happy ladies sewing upstairs.

Busy days in Phnom Penh!

Noora and Inari landed all well and the work has started very efficiently - but as we are running from one meeting to another there has not really been any time to update the blog. Hopefully there'll be more frequent updates in the future!

















Visiting a construction site with CVS, KKKHRDA and the contractor.

Meeting and dinner at Kouk Khleang with KKKHRDA.

Presenting the Youth Center together with City in Crisis students from last year at the Meta House.