Natural material shelter, Philippine lowlands

[lambertiana]

You only need three things:

Bamboo (found everywhere)

Nipa palm (found in swampy areas everywhere)

Abaca, the source of manila hemp (sorry I couldn't get any pictures in the field, it is found scattered around, but not terribly plentiful)

Start by cutting abaca and pounding out the stems to retrieve fiber to make cordage. Then cut bamboo for poles, and also cut a lot of bamboo into strips. Some strips need to be 1", others need to be 1/2" wide, others only 1/16" or less. Cut nipa fronds. Now the work starts.

Build the frame with bamboo poles. The corners are connected by inserting pins and lashing together at the ends (sorry I couldn't get a closeup of natural fiber for the lashing):

Put in flooring over the frame, using the 1" bamboo strips, and weave the 1/2" bamboo into the siding

Then sew together nipa fronds with the thin bamboo strips, and attach them to the frame for the roof using bamboo strips:

When you are done, it should look something like this

 

[mtnfolk mike]

wow.. cool pics.. i have always loved those little huts... are you currently in the Philippine's?? or are you already back...

 

[lambertiana]

I just got back Sunday.

 

[Fonly]

I just got back Sunday.

ass:grumpy:

Haha, just kiddin man, looks awesome.

 

[Bushman5]

my kind of home! thanks for the pics

 

[baldtaco-II]

Bamboo, brilliant stuff. I was reading not so long ago about building very tall structures from it and some of the advantages it had with flexing compared to building materials that are familiar here in some extreme wind conditions.

Very much enjoyed your photos from this trip in the pics thread.

 

[Fiddleback]

Man, thats neato. What a resource bamboo is.

 

[halo2]

Thanks for sharing!

I've logged a few days - not many, but a few - in so called 'nipa huts.' They're very comfy.

If I recall, there are two types of bamboo used. The main beams are of the larger stuff and is thick walled, perhaps 5/8" thick and is also used for outriggers on bancas (boats.) The thinner stuff is also used for flooring, walls and the smaller parts.

Some of the bamboo yields water in the sections.

And the bamboo shoots are very tasty. Just watch out for the snakes while harvesting

Great thread!

 

[k_estela]

My father's homeland. Thanks for sharing. I love all things Pinoy but more importantly, all things Pinay! If only I could travel to where my father grew up. One day.

Thanks again!

 

[vic2367]

very nice pics,,,

 

[lambertiana]

My father's homeland. Thanks for sharing. I love all things Pinoy but more importantly, all things Pinay! If only I could travel to where my father grew up. One day.

Thanks again!

You would enjoy it a lot, if you like all things Pinay. Everywhere I went, girls young and old would greet me with a big, warm smile. I don't usually get that here.

 

[pict]

Very cool, thanks for posting that. In Brazil we have loads of bamboo. Almost every old homestead has a grove planted nearby. Often you come across old home sites in the bush that will have a bamboo grove, mango, jabuticaba, acerola, papya, trees planted nearby. Everything you would need.

Mac

 

[dumdeedum]

where in the Philippines are you originally from?... I grew up in Tomay (Bahong barangay), Benguet, close to Baguio City, and spent lots of time Bakun and Kapangan... it's awesome seeing these pictures you've taken... gets me all sentimental and whatnot...

p.s. if you have any more pictures of Baguio, I'd love to see them posted up here as well

 

[K Williams]

Do they use rattan for building houses or just for furniture(and arnis sticks, of course!)? I've always wanted to go to the Philippines. Almost went to the WEKAF tournament(spectator, not as a competitor) in 2000, but it didn't pan out.

 

[lambertiana]

I didn't see any structures made from rattan, but it is popular for furniture. And speaking of arnis sticks, I got some made from Kamagong. Talk about hard hitting.

My wife is from Dagupan, and we stayed there. I'll have to see about uploading some more pictures of Baguio. I really enjoyed the bus ride down Kennon Road, I did it twice. It's a spectacular canyon, but the bus was going so fast on that winding road that I couldn't get any decent pictures out the window the first time, and the second time it was raining hard and I couldn't get any pictures at all.

 

[stitch_paradox]

Great pictures lambertiana! Nice to see pictures of the Philippines. What part/s of the Philippines did you visit? I also grew up in the Philippines but in the capital city though. However My wife grew up in the provincial area and she lived in one of those bamboo shelters called nipa huts. She tells me stories of her child hood, and they have to learn survival in a very early age. I also remember staying in one of those nipa huts whenever we visit my grandmother's province in the Visayan area. It's very cozy inside specially during the summer because the warm summer breeze would just circulate around the hut. Top it off with a hammock and fresh, golden, ripe mangoes, now that's life!

My father who is military official there showed me a lot of survival use for the bamboo. He can boil water in it and even cook rice in it. It can also be used to collect water and food. It can also be used as a spear or fishing rod. It can be used as a raft. And as we can see above it is great for shelter. And some young bamboos can actually be eaten.

My father's homeland. Thanks for sharing. I love all things Pinoy but more importantly, all things Pinay! If only I could travel to where my father grew up. One day.

Thanks again!

k_estela, you mean to tell me you have never been to the Philippines?! What the...you missing out big time, man! It's an adventure I tell you, it has everything from nature to city nightlife. There are so many things to do there. I specially like all the outdoors fun you can do there. You can be up in the mountains in the morning enjoying the sunrise and be at a beautiful beach by sunset. Or you can always go Island hoping, this is where you go from one island to the next island riding on a native man made boat called "Banka", you can go snorkeling, cave exploration or just enjoy the fine white beaches. Maybe you should go with me sometime. :thumbup:

And like you, man, I love all things Pinay! That's why I love my wife so much.

 

[stitch_paradox]

I didn't see any structures made from rattan, but it is popular for furniture. And speaking of arnis sticks, I got some made from Kamagong. Talk about hard hitting.

My wife is from Dagupan, and we stayed there. I'll have to see about uploading some more pictures of Baguio. I really enjoyed the bus ride down Kennon Road, I did it twice. It's a spectacular canyon, but the bus was going so fast on that winding road that I couldn't get any decent pictures out the window the first time, and the second time it was raining hard and I couldn't get any pictures at all.

Dagupan? My wife is from Malasiqui, which is near Dagupan. That means your wife and my wife are from the same province of Panggasinan! That's is cool. Is this your first time visit to the Philippines?

Rattan are not meant to be used as shelter building materials. But like you said its popular for furniture and such. I do remember my dad having a rattan stick as our "disciplining rod", which he broke on my buttocks when I was younger As for the Kamagong Arnis, that is one hellofa stick. Who wouldn't love it, almost like a lead pipe.

 

[dumdeedum]

umm... yeah... about those bus rides up and down Kennon Road... every time I've been on them I've felt two wheels leave the ground at least once every few minutes... scared the crap out of my five-year-old self back in the day... I'm guessing that the experience will be different nowadays, though

as for the nipa huts... well, it's actually only a slight coincidence, but one of the few times I remember staying in them was in Pangasinan too... got bitten by some large bug, but it was too dark to see so I went back to sleep... or maybe that was just part of a dream... it was a long time ago, so I'm not sure anymore

 

[lambertiana]

This was my first time to visit the Philippines, and we are already making plans for the next time. I really enjoyed it.

We passed through Malisiqui a couple times. You should have told me, we could have dropped in on your in-laws.

My wife grew up in a nipa hut. She tells me stories about getting bitten by the giant centipedes that would frequently get inside. And one of her jobs was to polish the bamboo floor, using coconuts (whole, with the husk) that were cut in half to expose the ends of all the fibers in the husk. She would stand on the two halves and slide around on the floor.

The bus ride down Kennon road is still exciting. Those bus drivers don't mess around.

 

[raylaconico]

I really want to go there to visit. I was born in Cebu and my family moved to the U.S. in 1982. I have never been back.