This man has built over 50 beautiful rammed earth and bamboo buildings in Nepal

0:00 - On the way to Narayan's house
0:29 - People's initial reaction to the idea
1:14 - Inspiration from South India
1:47 - About Narayan Acharya and his house
2:45 - Rammed earth building house
3:44 - Permaculture and site tour
4:18 - House tour
9:36 - Naomi's perspective regarding security
10:46 - Benefits of rammed earth house
10:52 - A home for everyone
11:57 - 'Sustainable Future', the company

How many old traditional houses do you get to see nowadays in Kathmandu? No doubt, they can be counted on fingers. And, it is no secret that the valley has already become a dense jungle of concrete. In Nepal, a sustainable design technique called ‘rammed earth’ design is gaining popularity among artisans & architecture enthusiasts, but the design is more than just an environmental fad.

Amidst this scenario, Narayan Acharya is on a mission to build eco-friendly and sustainable green buildings in the country through his startup named Sustainable Future.

Narayan Acharya is a beekeeper, organic farmer, and builder. A year ago, he purchased a plot of land in Godavari and set to work building one of Kathmandu’s most distinctive homes—constructed largely from rammed earth and bamboo.

Acharya corralled workers from Jumla, his hometown, to train Nepalis uninitiated in the architectural craft. He spent more than a year procuring the materials, testing the soil, training the labourers, and at last, building the home. But the biggest challenge was simply explaining what he was doing.

Acharya has now constructed over 50 buildings ranging from small to big within five years of operation. He uses rammed earth technology to construct the buildings. These techniques were used by his ancestors to build their houses. "We just improvised the techniques used by them for the better output that suits modern needs”, says Acharya.

Sustainable Future manages raw materials like clay, stone, soil required for the construction from the site area only. An eco-friendly house made by this startup has its own aesthetic value and nature. “This house maintains the heat, controls moisture, and offers breathability itself inside the house,” informs Acharya.

The walls of such buildings are 16 to 18 inch thick. And, the buildings are no more than two storeys. Such eco-friendly buildings are made using 20-30 per cent clay, locally available sand-mixed soil, stone chips, and 4-5 per cent cement, without using any machinery.

Acharya argues the avoidance of machinery serves two purposes: no pollution, and employment opportunities to the workers.

“But, we had to mix the cement in our construction as the building code of Nepal says so. But, we mainly follow the building code of New Zealand,” Acharya says, “… because very few things about this type of building construction are mentioned in the code here.”

Acharya, who is originally from Jumla, came to Kathmandu and worked on many environment-related projects. The man, who is 50 now, even worked on one of the projects of the United Nations in the beekeeping and resource management area in Somalia for two years.

Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi. We publish news and analysis on issues that deal with sustainable development, which we scan through the eyes of science and environment.

[safaltagrg]

This is my dream, to have a natural and sustainable house on the village, living peacefully with my family, a small kitchen garden, a little orchard, a little farm and just peace. ❤

[sabnamgurung]

Namaste dai, I live in uk but planing to live in Nepal once kids grow up n looking for mud house design for a long time n thinking if anyone in Nepal know how to build it n finally I found you. So happy n excited. In future I will definitely come n look for you. Keep up the good work n thank you for sharing this video

[WildBanana]

I am so envious of your rammed earth home Mr Narayan its really unique and well conceived home. I currently watch all the rammed earth and natural home construction videos of Indian and Tibetian homes to gain knowledge on how to build my own structure using the best combination of modern materials and ancient natural clay soil materials etc to build a energy efficient sustainable house that has all the common modern appliances and plumbing etc.

[margolyn]

Just beautiful..organic as it gets..loved this💯⭐⭐⭐

[sleyaraze]

Cheaper, more convenient and looks aesthetically superior than cement houses. I want to make one too.

[broadlover]

Not New York, Shanghai and Dubai's high rise buildings and skyscrapers
These buildings and mixture of nature looking fascinating ❤️❤️

[hariparajuli]

I was so eagerly waiting to see Narayan dai's house for a long time. Finally got to see it from inside and really appreciate the aesthetic work he has done to his house.

[SaileshMaharjan-ylub]

Narayan Dai you're making a difference in the community and more. Proud of you dai

[theflyingpostmane]

Wish you were in Sierra Leone. Your knowledge and enthusiasm for natural buildings is infectious.

[rekhakhanal]

This is awesome... what a nature blessed man👍

[thomascowley]

Thanks for sharing " some amazing structures " please share some more 👍

[sagarkochar]

What an amazing achievement this couple has done in their lives. I feel I'm doing nothing as compared to them. I wanted to do something similar but couldn't!

[bharatk]

Seeing this, it becomes my dream to build this kind of house👍🏻

[DP-wbmd]

Please give us the cost estimation also. We will be very thankful.

[samanyamanav]

I found it very hard to prevent bamboos from insect attack. I tried a lot but couldn't get the genuine solution to treat bamboos to make the structures more durable. I would be very grateful if he could demonstrate or just tell how he treats his bamboos to prevent it from insect attack. Some said, you need to know the exact timing to cut down bamboos, some said strong enamel coloring helps. I tried all but nothing really worked. Bamboos structures looks pretty, its easily available everywhere and its not very difficult to work with but i don't think bamboo' s structures are long lasting. Mud houses are great to live in. But i don't agree that they are using only organic local materials. They have used plenty of iron rods and also concrete. I think the way they did it is very costly. This is not possible for average Nepali.

The real skills, techniques and hard work behind his work are the poor village people from Jumla. Acharya Sir invested, hired skilled labors from rural villages and mobilized them. I really appreciate his effort. BUT these rammed Earth houses are just a dream for people who don't have more than a million dollar in their bank account.

I asked a question to myself, ' Could he become successful in building these luxury mud houses and establishing this Company if he wasn't appreciated, supported and helped by a rich British woman who ended up becoming her wife' ?? I think no.

The main person behind Acharya Ji's success is her wife. When you are born in a very struggling working class/middle class family in one of the least developed and poor country in the world then you must need some push, some appreciation, some help, especially financial help, to create something really beautiful and unique.

However I'am happy for Acharya Ji that Universe helped him connect with people who believed in him and invested in his dream project. I wish i was as fortunate as him. I have been trying to make some impact from last few years in Nepal. I have been working following the ethics and principle of permaculture. I'am working with plants, soil, available natural resources, reusing, making no waste, documenting my work, sharing in medias to inspire and help others connect and work with nature. Unfortunately i failed to reach out to people who would understand me, my passion, believe in me and my vision. I know there are some few people in this world who would like to collaborate with me. But unfortunately i couldn't reach out to them. Now i'am failing, i'am left with not much choice but to go anywhere abroad and do any work that pays me good enough, so that i can pay all my loans and save some money and start a new permaculture, earth healing projects in future. I won't give up that easily, i know people want results. People who die trying will be forgotten, but i will make sure that i will make people remember and appreciate my tireless selfless efforts to make some real good change in the world.

[Gkeagle]

Wow it really takes a hardwork but he's already trained for it loved it.

[zaingamingyt]

Hi Narayan, loved your house and rammed earth building. Can you please provide step by step building techniques at each stage so that more people can follow building their houses in the same way like yours. i am eagerly waiting any response from you.

[sanchitsingh]

Lovely man congrats!!! You are living my dream 😍

[sawantraja]

Govt should push eco friendly culture, to build house and adopt pharmaculture.

[drsamjhanastha]

This looks so graceful. Much kudos.its a work of art .I dream to build such rammed house on the laps of hills in Nepal 💜