A Sustainable Builders Retreat
The materials we build with are governed by availability more than anything else..
With the unnaturally high demand for tourist housing across Leh, even the local construction methods themselves fall short of sustainability.
Material is not a choice, but an obligation.
Tourism leaves behind it a trail of waste. What if tourist architecture utilizes this abundant material and is seen as an opportunity to up-cycle this wasted resource?
Tourist dwellings needn’t be as permanent as the dwellings of a resident. A quick assembled form of construction could help fulfill the demand of dwelling units that will be inhabited for short durations. And some maybe used only during peak tourist season.
At the same time through innovative use of scrap metal, glass and tyres could help us create new forms of architecture that could have an appeal so novel that it attracts visitors.
Adobe blocks and timber are the go-to materials exhibited by the vernacular of the region. While it can deliver houses for the locals it would lead to the depletion of clayey soil and tree cover if every tourist expects to be housed in a traditional vernacular home. One cannot rely on a natural choice for an unnatural demand. It is no longer sustainable.
What if we could develop an aesthetic from the materials we find accumulating in the scrapyards thereby giving them a second chance in the structures we build ? The building then becomes a medium to express the tourist crisis that Leh finds itself in.
This found aesthetic will help add narrative layers to the architecture of the place. One can invoke the past memory of material while serving a completely new function.
The illusion of comfort and opulence is no longer sustainable
The only way to develop sustainability is to develop the consciousness of the visitor or tourist who is the end consumer in the entire system. He / she is to be made aware of the resource crunch, to become conscious of the landscape, the habitat and lifestyle that it can sustain. To understand, that there is an upper limit to the life bearing capacity of the mountainous desert.
There is a resource reality within which we exist, which is governed by the landscape we inhabit, and this needs to be understood by all those who live off of it. This requires a radical shift from the normal consumerist model, a pampering that we have gotten so used to, that we expect wherever we go.
Builders Camp
We have invited architects and artists to come brainstorm with us and help us create nine independent dwelling units for travellers.
These independent units will serve as a temporary shelter that fulfill the needs of travellers who visit Leh.
The camp will run from July to October and will be divided in three distinct phases. guiding the workshops. Each phase will be guided by three facilitators working on individual units simultaneously over a span of five weeks.
The hands on workshop will include a set of activities that are essential to realize our stated vision.
The course will immerse you in an experiential design journey with an architect who will be working on site to create a habitable living unit from the materials available.
You will learn to work with soil, gravel, sand, lime, metal scrap, tyres, timber, wool waste, natural fibres and other materials and understand how they come together to create a comfortable dwelling unit.
Materials we work with
Mud
Being next to a river, the soil is sandy-silty. Soil with higher clay content from different locations in Ladakh are used plasters, the top soil from agricultural land is used to making adobe blocks used in constructing load-bearing walls.
Metal
Automobile scrap such as worn tyres , vehicle bodies frame and chassis, windows, doors and windshields are available.
Wood
Local wood of poplar and willow are traditionally used as roofing materials. Salvaged timber, discarded wooden crates and doors and windows of varied sizes may be found.
Stone
River stones like basalt, baggar etc. igneous in nature are present on the site and can be dressed or used as rubble masonry with mud mortar as well as for building structurally strong elements like foundations.
Our Phase I Facilitators
Ujjval Gajjar
“If you can smile its good, If you can cry its great. If you can live with both its magic”
Vishnu T Kolleri
“I believe maintenance is the key to sustenance“
Tanvi Choudhari
“It is high time we mitigate the damage that our civilisation has caused to the environment”
Our Team
Masons
Our crew of seven masons hail from Udhampur and are experts of their craft. They are family and an integral part of the design process
Carpenters
The team of three hail from Bihar and have been with us for the last 5 years and have been trained to work with intricate joineries and methods.
Purnima Das
Keeping the team and vision together is the primary focus and building a future with sustainable narratives is the aim.
The Hearth Builds 