Ulu Papar

Articles Tagged with: Ulu Papar

14 September, 2015

Buayan: A Story of Serendipity

Buayan is situated in the Crocker Range Biosphere Reserve and is on the famous Salt Trail route which makes it a huge potential to be developed into a tourist attraction. The idea of a homestay and tourist visiting is not an uncommon occurrence to the community in Buayan. However, the Bio-Cultural Centre aims to further enhance Buayan as a favorable tourism destination which offers not only beautiful nature sights and scene but also the chance to learn the local’s culture. The centre serves as a place for Buayan and its surrounding communities to gather, perform, practice, learn and share their cultures with each other and also visitors.

Back in 2013, Arkitrek first collaborated with the Global Diversity Foundation and a team of design students from Edinburgh, UK to design and build a Bio-Cultural Centre. The team came up with the perfect design for the centre and got to work immediately with the construction of the building.

At the end of their 6 weeks, they had designed and built the entirety of the super-structure alongside some additional fun details which includes the bamboo peep wall, earthbag formed concrete amphitheatre and a floating bamboo staircase. Because of some tough challenges they had faced along the way, the project was not completed on time and were left in the hands of the community and other future volunteers to carry on the construction work.

That same year, a group of young enthusiastic Malaysian volunteers supervised by Arkitrekker Tom Henderson-Schwartz and Nadhira then took on the project by constructing the walls of the Bio-Cultural Heritage Centre while the village men continue with the roof. The team also managed to lay almost the entirety of the building with the treated bamboo for the floor which was another great addition to the building’s progress.

The following year, another group of volunteers known as Dissolva, a group of students from Gakushuin University, Japan visited Buayan to help out with the construction of the Bio-Cultural Heritage Centre. They were supervised by Arkitrekker Nurfilzah Jamjam. During their stay at Buayan, they helped to build a toilet, plaster the Biocrete walls and weave bamboo window/wall panels for the building. Though they had no experience with the work, they were able to get the job done and accomplished a lot.

Just recently, another Dissolva team visited Buayan to carry out volunteer work to construct the Bio-Cultural Heritage Centre and it was lovely that Arkitrek was given another opportunity to collaborate with them again. The 10 day programme that consisted of workshops, presentations and building work with the group went smoothly and resulted in satisfactory completion of the Bio-Cultural Heritage Centre.

Filzah, who has been handling the project for over two years now has seen how the project progressed since the time it was only a conceptual idea. She said, “It is such a warm feeling to see the community using the building fully. They talk about organising a weaving workshop, putting up the history information board with pictures and the craft work.”

Having to see a project bud from the ground until its completion is always such a rewarding experience for an Arkitrekker but what is most fulfilling is having the opportunity to form lasting friendships along the way with the communities Arkitrek works with and knowing that the project will benefit them in the long-run. Not only that, but Filzah also mentioned how the project has taught her a lot and motivated her into staying in the architecture field.

“I now wonder what if the project had finished as planned two year ago instead? Would I still feel the same? Would I come back to work here in Arkitrek? Would Tom do a different dissertation paper?” were just some of the questions that loomed above Filzah’s head at the aftermath of the project’s success. Let’s just say that maybe the delay of our Bio-Cultural Heritage Centre project was Filzah’s ‘serendipity’.

Many thanks to all who in one way or another were involved in this project! It’s safe to say all efforts big or small definitely paid off- Even if it took 3 years to complete, it was all worth the time 🙂

17 November, 2014

7 Lessons in (design/build) Architecture

By Thomas Henderson-Schwartz

It has now been over a year since I first embarked upon the Design and Build of the bio-cultural heritage centre with the team Lewis and I had formed from Edinburgh University and Filzah. I spent a total of 8 months living in Kampung Buayan, which changed my outlook on not only architecture and design, but my life. I put together a talk, reflecting on my time in Buayan and the things I learnt about the design build process, which can be found on Youtube

Here is a summary of the “7 Lessons Learned” that I used to organise the lecture.

Lesson 1: Leave your ego at the airport

Working in a team is hard. Working in a team of design students, all with their own ideas, motivations, experiences and egos is really, really hard. When coming up with an idea for a project and then presenting it to the team you need to try your best to distance yourself from what was your initial idea. Once that sketch concept has been explained and everyone gets it then you have finished that role. Your next role is now to make connections between all the contributions from the team and see which ideas work well together and which combination will form the best whole. Maybe something you initially proposed will make it through, but maybe not as you first imagined it. Or maybe nothing you first proposed got into the design but you saw a connection between a couple of other things that were proposed and improved them by combining them. This is still design!! Make sure your individual contribution is about negotiating the whole rather than forcing a tacking on of “your idea”.

Lesson 2: Builders are smarter than those dumb architects!!!

In the lecture I relate this specifically to looking at what local builders have done in terms of things like jointing and dimensions of things. In the Buayan project the initial design failed to address the strong driving rain that exists in the rainforest. The overhangs were not sufficient to keep the heavy rain out. Had we looked more carefully at the local buildings we would have quickly noticed how large the overhangs were and could have avoided this mistake.

Lesson 3: Nature is stronger than those weak architects!!!

This is about looking after your materials. Particularly in the context of the rainforest things have a tendency to rot and really fast. Make sure you look after your materials and take into account the sequence of assembly. How long will it take to get a roof over those exposed trusses? Could we build things in stages so that we can treat materials on a rolling basis etc… In Buayan we had a lot of wood in the system which has since needed to be strengthened or replaced.

Lesson 4: Money doesn’t grow on trees, but it might on bamboo….

Money on design and build projects is generally tight! They often end up being design and build projects to offset the cost of hiring professional labour. First of all be aware how much money you have and how much things cost. You will be surprised by how quickly budgets spiral out of control with simple things like paying for transport of materials to site (for the Buayan project I estimate this accounted for at least 20% of the total construction cost!). However we managed to start to re-coup some of this overspend by setting up the Build-cation programme, providing skills workshops (such as bamboo furniture making) to interested people, run by the local villagers. Not only did this have the benefit of bringing money in for the project but it also started to engage with the projects primary purpose of promoting the cultural heritage and biodiversity of the region.

Lesson 5: Mixing Child Labour, Alcohol and Construction is not always bad?

Community participation is a long term investment of time and effort. Trying to get help on site was probably one of the most challenging aspects of my time in Buayan. Instead of trying to do everything by yourself for a day with no help, go find some of the local guys and have a drink with them. By becoming their friends and a part of the community, you will find that people are much more likely to come and help you out the next day.

Health and safety on site is also a massive head-ache for the western design-builder; used to helmets and barriers and not having kids running around barefoot or having drunken teenagers as labourers. There is no easy answer but if you are in charge: find your own line of acceptable risk. I made a rule, for example, that if you were drunk you weren’t allowed to work on the roof (the job which for some reason unknown to me seemed to hold the most glory or just general fun). Getting the young kids involved with simple tasks such as collecting stones or picking up rubbish I also hoped would give them a greater sense of pride in the building and encourage them to look after it for years to come.

Lesson 6: Mistakes are ok (scratch that) – important!!

If it is your first design-build project then making mistakes is going to be expected. If it is your tenth design-build project then mistakes are still be expected. It is because we are human, and because circumstances change and because (particularly in the jungle environment) you can’t control everything. One major mistake we made when designing the bio-cultural heritage centre was not considering the bracing. All our walls were off the structural grid making it very difficult to brace the building without destroying the internal layout. We came up with a solution which was to create diamond shaped fixes on the intersection between the posts and beams. These will later be clad in bamboo panels representing the villages of the region. The point here is not that despite coming up with quite a poetic solution we were right not to consider the bracing earlier, but that all mistakes are solvable and that in finding solutions you are actually learning.

Lesson 7: Real architects cry

My final point relates to a soppy story which I go into a bit more detail in the lecture. Basically architects should not only understand their clients but also care for them. In doing so I believe better architecture results and the process of designing and constructing become a part of the building and creates a narrative from which the end users can start to add to with their occupation. All in all my time in Buayan was an unforgettable experience and I feel I’ve left a little piece of me behind….

Thomas Henderson Schwartz

13 October, 2014

The Bio-Cultural Heritage building in Kg Buayan gets a toilet

In August we were joined again by the Dissolva group from Japan. They had helped at the beginning of construction of the Bio-Cultural Heritage building, and returned this year to help with some additions. Nurfilzah Jamjam writes about their stay in Kg Buayan.

The group is called Dissolva. It is an abbreviation of Diverse and Sustainable Solution-Seeking Voluntary Action. Coming far away from Japan, this group share their love and passion for sustainable living, while also helping out a good cause- voluntary in Buayan. Remember the Bio-Cultural Heritage Centre? Yes, that one.

While in Buayan, they helped building a toilet, plastering a bio-crete wall and weaving a bamboo window/wall panel. Having no experience in building work, these kind of tasks are not as easy as we (architecture background people) might think it is. Collecting gravel and sand from the river, carrying it across the hanging bridge, digging a 1.7 metre deep hole for septic tank, stripping bamboo and cleaning them for weaving are just a few of the jobs they sweated over.

But overall it is a great fun! The group also got experience of collecting veggies, going fishing and preparing dinner and lunch, Dusun style- yeah, everyday!

It is astounding (at least for me) to see how people coming from different region and different cultures share and spend their time learning about each other. Of course there’s an awkward moment, a confused look and the ‘aaaa’ and ‘what’ situation, but it’s funny in a beautiful way. You know by then that languages aren’t really a barrier to communication.

So that how me and the group spent our ten days in Buayan. It was a vacation where we learnt, we built and tried to make a difference to create a sustainable world. Yeah, i know. It’s baby steps!

Oh, and their names are Futa, Kitaro, Chieko, Mariko, Yu, Tsukuru, Hiro, Saya, Cathy, Marina, Rieka, Kurumi, Demu, Kataken, Ko, Fuyuko, Ben and their best lecturer Dr. Shinobu Majima. Cheers.

5 May, 2014

Bambooing in Buayan

by Aida Rahman

I was fortunate to be sent to Kg Buayan by Camp Borneo to participate in the Ulu Papar Bamboo Masterclass, one of the Masterclass Series by Arkitrek in February 2014.

This was my second trip to Kg Buayan within these last two years and it is indeed a magical place. Too bad that the whole valley where Kg Buayan is situated is going to be drowned once the Kaiduan Dam is built (when its built).

Nevertheless, the experience I gained was a valuable one. The mysteries behind making those beautiful bamboo baskets, the solid structures of bamboo slats and those sturdy bamboo furnitures was unravelled in just 5 wonderful days! I have been fascinated by bamboo in general for a while but it has puzzled me in the past on how are those hollow tube like pieces can be made into beautiful, wonderful and functional objects of desire.

Armed with a few ‘parangs’ (machetes) and a ‘pais’ (a small sheath of a knife) the master bamboo craftman, Jowitt, had showed us how to split, strip, slice, peel, shape, shave and sharpen pieces of bamboo into bits to make lampshades, racks and tables.

In time I shall impart the knowledge I have gained by training the Camp Borneo staff who had unfortunately missed attending the course themselves. I am now determined to continue with my own little bamboo projects and who knows when the time comes I may be able to build my own dream bamboo treehouse… 🙂

Those interested in participating in the next Masterclass Series can also help complete the magnificent Bio-Cultural Heritage Centre building in Kg Buayan alongside Tom and Nadhira the ever dedicated Arkitrek interns. I promise you it would be an experience to remember if not a reason to be converted… to a sustainable builder.

14 April, 2014

Ulu Papar Sustainable Livelihoods Programme

Cover photo by Chai Ming Yang
Download this Sustainable Livelihoods Concept Paper

Ulu Papar is a community of several villages not far from Kota Kinabalu, the State Capital of Sabah. In one of the villages, Kampung Buayan, Arkitrek have been building the Ulu Papar Bio-cultural Heritage Centre. Ulu Papar was until recently only accessible by foot and this isolation has preserved a traditional culture based on shifting rice cultivation. As the influence of urbanisation and industrial agriculture begin to penetrate the region, the question is: how will the locals adapt their livelihoods in a way that upholds their identity and culture?

Community Research What (what we’ve achieved so far)

A Global Diversity Foundation (GDF) programme of participatory research and interactive training has allowed the Ulu Papar community to document and evaluate their indigenous knowlege and cultural heritage. This self awareness and the skills learned are intended to support sustainable livelihoods based on traditional knowledge. Now, at the conclusion of this programme, there is a need to switch from direct training to indirect support and partnerships that will allow the community to develop these livelihoods under their own initiative.

Bio-cultural Heritage Centre (Kick-starting Sustainable Livelihoods)

The first stage in the Sustainable Livelihoods process has been kick-started by the design and construction of a Bio-cultural Heritage Centre, which was designed, project managed and funded by Arkitrek, with additional funding raised by GDF.

Of MYR60,000 spent on construction to date, approximately MYR28,000 went directly to community members for transport and construction services, with an additional MYR17,000 in direct income from homestay services provided for international volunteers working on the project. During the construction process Arkitrek trained community members to adapt their traditional skills and materials to contemporary building design. These skills provide opportunity for sustainable future livelihoods.

To date, Arkitrek has also contributed pro-bono design and construction management services to the value of MYR40,000 to the Bio-Cultural Centre project.

How Can Arkitrek Continue to Help?

First, we need to raise funds to complete the Bio-cultural Centre and recruit volunteers to work alongside local craftsmen to get the job done. Remember that this is not just a building, but also a training programme in sustainable building techniques and a source of income for local craftsmen and homestays.

Secondly, we can provide additional pro-bono design services through our Arkitrek Camp design/build programme. These programmes help to train the next generation of socially responsible designers. We are looking for funds so that we can provide scholarships to outstanding Malaysian students.

Thirdly, we have developed a masterclass programme for Ulu Papar craftsmen to pass on their traditional skills and contemporary green-building expertise to eco-warriors, do-it-youself enthusiasts, scholars and designers.

All of these activities provide an opportunity to trek through the beautiful Crocker Range National Park and to experience the natural wonders of Ulu Papar, guided by the people who know it best: the locals.

Legacy (Savvy locals proud of their heritage)

The hard skills and knowledge gained from GDF and Arkitrek programmes have equipped the Ulu Papar community to deliver a range of goods and services, whose focus on natural and cultural heritage is increasingly in demand by urban society.
To get involved in our Sustainable Livelihoods Programme for Ulu Papar, please contact us.
Download this Sustainable Livelihoods Concept Paper