THE GRAND REVEAL: Building the first Earthship Ashram with 30 Volu...

Welcome to the final part and grand reveal of the Earthship Rishikesh Yoga Ashram Workshop! If you didn't catch the last post, this is the story of Yogi Amitram's mission to build the first Off-Grid Earthship Yoga Ashram in the north on India. Yogi Amitram contacted me and asked for my help to assist him building this Earthship in 2014, and I happily agreed! This build was particularly special because the plan was to make a fully fledged Earthship with all the systems and self sufficiency that Earthships can have. Not only that but Yogi Amitram had NO money of his own to do this with, and was able to fund raise from friends and his many connections to fund the build. He never had the money upfront, but instead proceeded step by step, with faith and conviction that he would manage to raise enough to keep going.

The build was performed almost solely by unskilled volunteers for the initial stage of the build. It wasn't until we got to the roof and interior finishings that he needed to employ skilled workers. This means that the costs were reduced, and more importantly that we were able to train and teach around 40 people as we built. This created an incredible atmosphere, since everyone who attended was being taught hands on the most important skills for ecoBuilding, and at no cost to them. There are SO many courses and workshops, and they nearly all charge very significant amounts to attend. This means that many people who REALLY want to learn but don't have funds are unable to get the experience. I have always made my workshops free, and have even subsidised them with my own money to the tune of around $10,000 when I add up all the workshops that I have done. This is probably the best money i have spent, since my passion and conviction to spread this are second to none!

I often hear people complain about Earthship building as being really hard to do, and ramming tyres is indeed hard work. However, people are really not aware of the whole picture, and the fact that despite it being hard work it is possible to build the main load bearing walls in just a few weeks and with just about any helpers! I kid you not that I have trained and worked with children of 7 years age, and even an amazing lady who was 68 years old and very weak physically. We always found ways to make it work for them, and when people are not able to wield a large sledgehammer, we just used a small one instead. The tyre ramming is actually one of the quickest parts of the build, and usually completes within a few weeks on most builds. Contrast that with several months to get the rest of the house completed with mud plastering and all the finishings that are needed. Also, people should realise that it is the tyre walls that give an Earthship its incredible strength, performance and longevity with minimal maintenance. It is these tyre walls that allow an Earthship to achieve a NEGATIVE carbon footprint, and this could never be done using just Straw Bales etc.. Remember that you don't need to heat or cool an Earthship except in extreme conditions, as they self regulate using the huge thermal capacity of a tyre wall to provide a stable internal temperature. Therefore when we build using tyres we save a lifetime of heating or cooling, which is something that should not be sniffed at!

The atmosphere during this build was just divine! Even though we were working in SUCH harsh conditions, the mood of the group was incredibly positive. Just after we started I was informed that the government water supply had been turned off totally, and we only had a few thousand liters of water to perform the build with. This meant that none of us could wash after a hard days work, and we had to make do with drinking water that we bought in large containers to stay hydrated. Since we hardly use ANY cement or water for tyre pounding it was not a hindrance to the build itself. We were able to keep going with just dirt and grunt work, and of course plenty of refreshments from our infamous cook Amit. Had we been building with cob or mud we would have been stopped in our tracks on this build! The Earthship Biotecture approach is So simple and requires materials that are available almost everywhere in the world. We can use just about ANY dirt or soil and even sand and stones to compact into the tyres. Contrast that with cob where we need to find and mix a proper clay rich mix so that the walls hold together. That is very limiting, especially in areas that simply don't have clay soil!

The tyre work continued for around 7 days for the first main room, which is called a U. It is basically U shaped and is rounded rather than having sharp 90 degree corners . This makes Earthships look very beautiful and natural, personally i cant stand living inside a square box. There are no 90 degree box shaped structures in all of nature! Nature always has round shaped, or elongated shapes, and they feel very good to live in. A square is a very masculine shape, and doesn't lend well to a feeling of wellbeing when you live inside it. I can testify to the very positive energy and feeling i get living in my Earthship which is totally round! Right now I am writing this from a hotel room in Thailand, and even though it is a really nice place, i really do not enjoy being in this square space. Once you have spent time in a more natural shape you will understand!

If you have never seen a tyre be pounded, and are curious how it all looks, please check out this video

The Roof!

We opted for a ferro-cement roof structure, which was something that we were able to start making ourselves. I have to say, i was really out of my depth here as I had never made a ferro-cement roof THIS big before. I had made a small one successfully in a previous workshop and that DID work. Nonetheless, we had NO maisoners on hand and were basically doing this without proper skilled labour. As always, I am one to take on a challenge and have confidence, despite the fact that actually i had not much idea what we were doing! The process started with the creation of the metal frame using long steel rods. The roof was quite tall as it had to be high enough to allow for a mezzanine inside the Earthship. I really wanted it to look nice and have a nice curve to it, and did my very best to ensure that it did not end up being flat. Piece by piece we added metal until we had what resembled a roof shape! It did look pretty decent, but i was also concerned about it. It was SO big, and i Knew that the binding of the steel wasn't being done very well. How could we expect first timers to do this properly without the right tools or experience?!

With safety being the number one priority we decided to put an emergency call out to get some proper maisoners in. It was about 4pm when Yogi Amitram got on the phone and used his manifesting magic. Within about an hour he told me that he had found a VERY good team who were going to show up at 9pm and start working through the night! Oh my, that sounded pretty mad, but Very India! I crossed my fingers and held my breath, and a few hours later about 12 guys turned up! It was pretty crazy to watch what happened and I don't think I actually explained anything much to them.. They just saw what we had done and all sprang into action like speedy Gonzales (remember him!) They tightened up many of the steel ties that were already done, and also fitted many more steel length to the whole frame. They then added the chicken mesh to this frame, which was the hard part to do well.

Whilst this magical crew were working like crazed tigers, it was also clear to me that the carefully made curve of this roof was not exactly holding up! The guys were obviously professionals, but not in terms of aesthetics. It was HARD to watch my beautiful curve turn into what i can only describe as a bus shaped roof, but it was what it was, and there was really nothing I could do about it. At least it wasn't totally flat, and perhaps after they were done I would be able to restore the shape with some sticks and supports.

At around midnight the guys suddenly stopped working! There was some debate, discussion and what looked like disgruntled workers. Since i don't speak Hindi I had no idea what was going on, but i could tell that this short but very needed support was about to end. I'm guessing the maisoners wanted to go home and rest, and from what I knew they weren't being paid for this late night episode. Sure enough, about half an hour later, they all vanished! We were, however, left with a pretty decent looking frame that was no doubt much stronger than what our volunteers were able to make!

The concrete work that would be added to this frame would happen after we left. This was mainly because we didn't have any water, but also time was nearly up and there was no way that volunteers were going to do this work! We finished the last few days with some mud plastering of the tyre walls, as well as some creative endeavours with glass bottles and mud. Whilst there was a LOT more work to do to complete this Earthship since it was going to be much bigger than we had made it, we had gotten this project off to a fantastic start. Yogi Amitram was of course very grateful for all the help he had received, and he now knew the most important part of Earthship construction so that he could continue after I left. He was quite nervous about taking on the rest of the build by himself, but I assured him he would be OK, and that I had great faith in him. Three years later I am happy to tell you that this faith was very well placed. Yogi Amitram completed this Earthship Very recently in February 2018, and is currently recuperating in what I can only describe a a very beautiful home! I am SO proud of him, and also know how hard he has worked.

Self building is not something i recommend doing alone! I have managed to do it, as have many others, but it is extremely hard work. It's fair to say that self building with out a strong team of helpers is one of the hardest things that someone can take on. Going through several years of continuous challenges and stress really does take its toll, and both Yogi Amitram and I can testify to that! After I completed Earthship Karuna it took me about a year to get my strength back, and also for my mind to calm down.

It is because of this that I no longer take on workshops, and also do not recommend people try to build solo. It is my FIRM belief that we need to start building communities in larger supportive groups who can really spread the burden of the challenges out over several people. This is actually my dream, and I hope and pray that one day I will be able to lead a large group to build an Earthship community somewhere in Europe.

With that all said, please enjoy some photos of the finished Earthship in Rishikesh as it stands today! Kudos to Yogi Amitram for finishing it so beautifully and not giving up!