It’s all about the fishing—the life and livelihood of coastal fisherfolk. John Kurien filled us in on all things fishy. Turns out the fishermen hold the majority for highest percentage of the Kerala population—makes sense since it spans the southwestern part of the sub-continent along the Arabian Sea and is not a wide state. So every Keralite political group must have a representative from the fisherfolk if they want their candidate to be elected. Nice way to make sure that the needs of the many don't fall on deaf ears....or be completely ignored.
Architect P.B. Sajan spoke about the choice of building materials and that we need to balance building demand with building consumption. The Laurie Baker Center focus is on sustainable housing at a cost effective price. The components of a building are the foundation, the superstructure, finishing, and other miscellaneous incidentals. The only local renewable building materials are wood, bamboo, and seashells. I would add mud to that since a lot of their houses have a mud component either through cobbing, mud bricks, or compression. For those who don’t know bamboo has the same tensile strength as steel, does not take as much energy to produce, is safer for the environment, doesn’t cost as much, and doesn’t corrode (so says the US Navy). Too bad it’s not available in the mid-west!
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