How did mud walls find their way into urban designs?
How did clay walls find their way into urban design?
January 31, 2023 at 9:30 am
Last modified: January 31, 2023, 09:40 am
The Business Standard recently visited an apartment under construction in Gulshan 2 and met the project’s leader, Abdun Nime, the only person to use mud for urban design in Bangladesh
January 31, 2023 at 9:30 am
Last modified: January 31, 2023, 09:40 am
Photo: Noor-a-alam
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Photo: Noor-a-alam
Having grown up in a two-storey adobe house in a remote rural area of Bangladesh, the idea of using adobe for building is not new to me. But ran into a mud wall in the heart of Dhaka; in places like Gulshan, Banani or Dhanmondi; wasn’t something I expected.
The Business Standard recently visited an apartment under construction in Gulshan 2 at the invitation of Abdun Nime, the only person in Bangladesh to use mud for city designs. This is one of 46 projects Nime has been working on to cover mud walls for high-rise apartment buildings to install.
It was almost bizarre to see two walls of adobe, especially as it was being used for a glamorous five bedroom duplex with a swimming pool. The semi-finished solid wall in the living room looked almost like cement plaster, while that of yellowish-orange sunburned brick in the study resembled tile.
Pictured is Abdun Nimes project to build a complete spa resort in Kapashia, Gazipur in 2010. Photo: Noor-a-alam
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Pictured is Abdun Nimes project to build a complete spa resort in Kapashia, Gazipur in 2010. Photo: Noor-a-alam
Nime’s inspiration for using mud and locally available building materials came from his experience working with the famous German architect Anna Herigner.
Architect Khandaker Hasibul Kabir, who knew Nime through his company Trii Landscape – Earth Consultant, introduced him to Heringer, who was working with Bangladeshi NGO Dipshikha to build the METI Handmade School in Dinajpur. The project started in September and lasted until December 2005.
In 2007 the building was awarded the prestigious Aga Khan Prize, which made special mention of how “readily available local materials” were used to create a new model for the school that is “beautiful, simple and humane”.
Nime was a member of Heringer’s team. Working on this project opened up new horizons for him. Nime, along with the other team members, gained national and international recognition as a result. After the second week, in which Heringer won the Aga Khan award, he was offered to do a diploma in earth structure at the University of Linz.
Photo: Noor-a-alam
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Photo: Noor-a-alam
While in Austria, under the guidance of Martin Rauch, recognized as Europe’s Mud Guru, Nime developed a deep love and connection to the earth that he still carries in his heart.
“I was very shy and awkward in class because I was the only one from South Asia among the 36 students. Martin Rauch, seeing my hesitancy in our first class, pointed out to me that I had attended the earth structuring courses that I had attended in Austria hails from Asia. That made me very proud as I was the only Asian there,” said Nime.
Mud walls became part of the urban architecture in Dhaka when Nime returned from Austria in 2010. Through his work as a landscape architect, Nime met Nahas Ahmed Khalil, a prominent Bangladeshi architect, urban planner and educator.
Khalid Mahmud was looking for a rustic design for the interior of the Ajo Idea Space restaurant. Nahas, who served as the project’s chief consultant, commissioned Nime to build adobe walls using the rammed earth technique.
Photo: Courtesy
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Photo: Courtesy
Many people, including some experienced architects, were skeptical of the idea of using adobe walls in modern construction. However, the result surprised everyone. And in a very short time, many people wished for clay walls in their posh apartments and restaurants.
“Especially architects from Bangladesh were very interested in my work after my first project. They wanted to build mud walls for their designed projects. It was almost as if a mud wall storm swept over the community. Orders kept coming and I kept working.”
Nime, who likes to introduce himself as ‘Matir Karigor’ (clay craftsman), soon took on another project in 2010, namely the construction of a complete spa resort in Kapashia, Gazipur.
The customer had a requirement that all materials must be sourced locally. This was not a problem for Nime, who believes in using only locally sourced organic materials in his projects.
Photo: Courtesy
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Photo: Courtesy
Nime has so far found 16 different colored soils in Bangladesh, all of which he uses in his projects without mixing any chemicals. He found eight of these while building a holiday home for the owner of the Square Group in Moulvibazar, Sylhet. His mentor Martin Rauch works with only six colors.
“I always believed that I would find more color variety and much richer raw materials in Bangladesh. That’s why I left Europe and my job at Martin Rauch.”
In building the Spa Resort in Gazipur, he used three colors – red, yellow and grey. It took him almost nine months and a team of 12 people to complete the project.
While we were talking about this particular project, Nime showed us photos of the different stages of construction. And it surprised me how different these rammed earth houses look. It is a adobe house but with a very modern and urban look in contrast to the more traditional and outspoken looking adobe houses we see in rural Bangladesh.
Pictured is Abdun Nimes project to build a complete spa resort in Kapashia, Gazipur in 2010. Photo: Noor-a-alam
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Pictured is Abdun Nimes project to build a complete spa resort in Kapashia, Gazipur in 2010. Photo: Noor-a-alam
The gray wall we saw in the Gulshan 2 apartment under construction almost looked like a concrete wall until you got closer and felt the texture.
The touch of the surface gave off the naturally cool and smooth feel of the earth. But when finished, the walls look rustic yet very appealing. When asked how he got this particular result, Naim said he uses natural adhesives; made from boiling parts of local plants such as bijla, peepul, khagar, etc.; for the final touch.
“When the wall dries completely, bubbles and grains form in it. We use the glue to fill that up and protect the walls from water and moisture. We test the wall by spraying water on it. When the water soaks through quickly, it shows that we should apply more glue,” Nime said. “We apply glue as long as the wall soaks it in. We use different percentages of glue depending on whether we want a smooth and polished finish or want a rustic finish.”
For example, for the Gulshan 2 customer, he will only use 30% glue because he wants a more rustic and rough look for his wall.
All the materials used to build these mud walls and cottages are available locally. This makes these projects very cost-effective, which is perhaps another reason why adobe walls are finding their way back into modern urban architecture in Bangladesh.
Nime charged Tk33,000 for the 2,900 square foot spa resort he built in 2010. In this apartment in Gulshan 2, the marble tiles alone in a washroom cost Tk26,000, while the gray clay wall costs a little over Tk3,000, the material only cost him Tk6,500.
Earth structuring is very expensive in most places in the world. But in Bangladesh it is the cheapest option due to the abundance of natural resources.
“I charge my clients based on their wealth,” Nime said. “If someone can’t pay that much but wants a mud house, I’d love to work with them. I love working with people who love the earth.”
Nime dreams of bringing people back to their roots through his company Trii Landscape – Earth Consultant. Besides Ajo Idea Space, he also collaborated with restaurants like Oyster, Halda Valley Tea Lounge, Peda Ting Ting etc.
However, it remains to be seen whether his dream will persist only in the elitist aesthetics of urban architecture and the secluded holiday homes of the wealthy, or whether it will become a popular trend among the Bangladeshi general public.
