"AMAZON PINK DOLPHIN": Amplifying Selva-Vida sin Fronteras' Institutional Voice
Find "Amazon Pink Dolphin" Exclusively on Iamselva.org
Article published: 10/03/2024
Architecture, often considered a reflection of a civilization's philosophical underpinnings, offers valuable insights into societal values and priorities.
Today, in 2024, housing accounts for a significant portion of global resource consumption, including 17% of the world's fresh water supply, 25% of wood harvests, and 40% of fossil fuels and manufactured materials.
This reality underscores the profound impact of architecture on environmental challenges, particularly concerning climate change and global warming. Issues such as declining water
tables, soil erosion from industrial expansion, rampant deforestation, and rising global temperatures are all intricately linked to architectural practices.
Amidst these pressing concerns, SELVA-Vida Sin Fronteras' housing and construction program operates within a landscape of architectural innovation. Our design standards prioritize
ecological responsibility and resource efficiency, addressing the urgent need for sustainable practices. Additionally, our approach integrates the socio-economic, cultural, and aesthetic considerations of Amazon Indigenous and smallholder communities, ensuring
designs that are both environmentally sound and culturally sensitive.
Why Bamboo?
Bamboo has emerged as a sustainable building material with profound environmental benefits, making it a key focus for SELVA-Vida Sin Fronteras.
Bamboo Guadua Augustifolia
Bamboo, particularly the guadua species, offers unique advantages that set it apart as a preferred construction material. With its astonishing growth rate of 13-15 centimeters per
day, guadua reaches maturity in just 3-5 years. Notably, guadua outperforms other plants by releasing 30% more oxygen and absorbing up to 55 tons of CO2 per hectare, making it a potent ally in combating climate change. Moreover, guadua's robust properties
extend to erosion control, river purification, and vital support for Amazonian ecosystems, showcasing its multifaceted ecological value.
Project Drawdown, a comprehensive research initiative, identified the most effective solutions to reverse global warming, offering a roadmap for achieving drawdown—the point when greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere begin to decline. Very significantly the research highlighted bamboo guadua as one of the 39 critical solutions in mitigating climate change, invaluable for environmental sustainability.
Building Properties of Bamboo Guadua
The building properties of bamboo guadua present a compelling case when compared to commonly used materials like steel and lumber, particularly spruce.
From an environmental standpoint, guadua's eco-friendliness outperforms steel, which is a major contributor to carbon emissions. Moreover, guadua's tightly packed molecular structure confers it impressive strength, surpassing steel in tensile strength by 5,000 pounds per square inch. Similar advantages are seen in comparison to spruce, with guadua exhibiting superior modulus of elasticity and strength in compression, tension, binding, and shear.
These environmental and technical advantages position guadua as an ideal building material, meeting certification standards like KOMO in the Netherlands.
The SELVA-Vida Sin Fronteras (Selva) Housing Project
The SELVA Housing Project is a priority institutional endeavor to help resolve the urgent needs of Ancestral Indigenous communities in the Amazon Rainforest.
Historically, these communities thrived as guardians of the rainforest, living in harmony with nature as hunters and gatherers. However, their transition to semi-sedentary family economies, forced upon them by colonizing development processes fueled by extractive industries, drastically disrupted their traditional way of life. No longer solely reliant on the rainforest to satisfy their basic needs, they now grapple with unfamiliar challenges brought upon them by industries such as oil and mining, monocrop agriculture, and logging. Introduced diseases, loss of ancestral land, and forced into semi-slave labour conditions in different historical periods such as the rubber boom, have ravaged these communities, leading to alarming mortality rates in the Amazon.
Over the past three decades, SELVA has tirelessly worked to alleviate the extreme poverty plaguing these communities. Progress has been made in vital areas like health, nutrition,
alternative income sources, extractive industry monitoring, and reforestation efforts. However, the dire living conditions persist, making housing a paramount concern.
SELVA believes that providing decent housing, tailored to the cultural specificity of the Amazon indigenous communities, is crucial. Such housing initiatives not only address immediate needs but
also foster a sense of pride and belonging, motivating the communities to protect and defend their territories. By prioritizing this fundamental aspect of well-being, SELVA aims to empower the communities and enhance their resilience in the face of ongoing challenges.
The "scissor tail eagle" pilot bamboo construction on SELVA's Amazon Reserve for Peace-Aguas Negras.
Why did we christen our pilot bamboo construction "Scissor Tail Eagle"? It all began during the phase of roof fitting. Each day, without fail, a magnificent scissored white eagle would soar overhead, drawn by the gleaming reflection of the re-cycled zinc roof. For two weeks straight, it graced us with its presence, yet not as a passive observer. No, this majestic creature, mistaking our drone for a rival bird encroaching on its domain, launched fierce attacks to defend its territory. In those moments of aerial skirmishes, amidst the hum of construction and the eagle's piercing cries, the name took hold—symbolizing both the grace of nature and the intrigue of the Amazon and its inhabitants. Thus, "Scissor Tail Eagle" became more than a name; it embodied the fusion of our architecture with the untamed spirit of the wild.
A step by step visual guide.
Selection of guadua and bamboo purchased in licensed Miguel de los Bancos plantation.
2. Bamboo and guadua soaked in SELVA's Immunization pool on the Ilalo: 2 weeks
3. Natural Drying with Andean breeze and processing to flat pack: 3 months
4. Constructing base - 2 weeks: extreme weather conditions required cement and iron rod base
5. Building the structure: 2 weeks
6. Roofing: 2 weeks
7. Internal walls, windows, doors and divisions: 2 weeks
8. The Scissored White Eagle one month before completion & the SELVA building team.
Design & coordidation: Bernardo Tipantiza, left in the photo.
9. Final Remarks
While the visual guide to the building of the 'Scissor Tail Eagle' pilot on SELVA's Amazon Reserve for Peace-Aguas Negras illustrates the progress being made, architects and artists understand the importance of presenting a finished product to truly capture its beauty. SELVA's 124m2 'Scissored White Eagle' design, once completed with windows, doors, roof paint, balconies, and the main entrance, will be a visually stunning testament to sustainable architecture. Equipped with water-harvesting and solar energy systems, it represents both innovation and environmental responsibility.
Additionally, SELVA plans to construct three more designs within the Cuyabeno corridor to serve the Indigenous Park Guard Service and local communities. Your support is invaluable to our mission.
To contribute, please use the donation button on our new official web Iamselva.org. For further information, feel free to reach out to SELVA-NL's Alexandra van Maasdijk and Frank Pon at Alex@iamselva.org & Frank@iamselva.org."
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