Busy, busy, busy! Across the street a new villa is being built. Since my arrival last week, the rebar has been laid and the edges of the new slab have been formed up, including the stairs. Yesterday they poured the concrete. Note in these photos several unusual things, relative to American construction. See the men wearing their Afghan suits? Just like the one I bought. I can't tell who's got sandals on and who's got rubber shoes on. See the landing on the staircase is semi-circular? It is formed with loose stacked mud bricks. See how the landing is propped up with 3 slender stilts? See other props made from the limbs and trunks of small trees. See the concrete mixed below from sacks and a pile of sand and gravel. I think the mud brick wall below the landing will be removed when the beam they support has cured. This is construction with the most minimal use of formwork and falsework. This is green construction.
Today I wish I had my camera when I was outside on our terrace. We had guests arriving and I forgot to go back up there for pictures. Anyway, a man was on the roof with a garden hose, wetting the concrete. A little girl in a red jumper was up there too... splashing in the puddles. She must have been 4 or 5. Sorry the pictures are really big... I wanted you to see all the detail.
2 comments:
Hi! I've been thinking about you and wondering how things are going. Interesting stuff. I bet the little girl was cute!
Mike - thanks for posting. It's great reading. I like getting an architect's view of the world. Keep up the good work.
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