textures

Ferrocement has been used widely in architectural purposes. Products thus made were not for direct human interaction. Whereas a piece of furniture is a more human scale object. Its more intimate in nature in the sense that it comes in contact of human body on a regular basis and the body is bound to respond to it. A few millimetres change can also be felt and appreciated. A small difference in the tilt of the back of the chair is enough to give a stiff back and inappropriate height of table will surely give you discomfort at the end of the day.

Therefore it is essential to keep in mind how you want the body and mind interpret and react to it. A silk upholstery invites your touch while a coir mat repels you. But each serves its purpose. We can decide whether the material feels pleasant or unpleasant to evoke certain reactions and behaviour from people.

Therefore I want to explore textures and finishes in cement to make the product more appealing to human senses. A good texture might invite you to touch it, sit on it and maybe stay a bit longer.

After all these are just assumptions and I might be expecting too much out of a simple object but still its worth a try. 

Garden and public parks

How I see gardens and public parks is as gathering points. They are often placed in residential areas or small communities. They serve as green lungs to the area. They are the points where everyone comes out to sit, relax, enjoy nature, exercise etc. I feel such a meeting point is an excellent place to know what the community is like. These places reflect the people using it which gives it identity and in return people are able to form associations with it and connect with it.

Today everyone is pre occupied with themselves. In this digital age, we don’t even know who our next door neighbour is? A close knit community is the one where people feel more secure.  While on the other hand, unknown people breed a sense of insecurity. There is no trust and reliance on each other.

In such cases I feel the need of strengthening common places like the parks and the gardens, where most of the people gather. If even at such places, people seclude and cut off from others then that’s indeed a problem. A small but significant difference can be made with slight changes in the seating at these places. I feel sitting allows you to start conversations. You talk over coffee while sitting, most meetings are held with people sitting around tables, significant deals and agreements are sealed across the table, panchayats who took important decisions were held sitting under the tree, friends chill out sitting on the college stairs after the class.  So I feel sitting and interacting go a long way and to strike good conversations, right seating is absolutely essential.

In public parks, benches and seats are placed linearly. This is quite opposite to the way we sit and interact. In absence of any furniture, the patterns formed while sitting together in a group are usually ellipses and more organic forms. Linearly placed furniture allows you to sit secluded without bothering to see the people around you. Of course that is a situation that might be desirable sometimes but at other times the benches should encourage you sit facing each other or start a conversation. Rather than people being forced to adapt , it should be the other way round.

I would like to know your opinion on this.

looking around

I will be looking at public spaces. I listed down a few points. These are filters through which i have to view the spaces and analyse them.

ferro to cement

 First the basic skeleton is prepared with iron rods.

The mason then wraps hexagonal chicken mesh on the basic skeleton. He binds the mesh to the frame with by tying it unto the frame with thin wires. There is no welding required. The mesh can be overlapped if required.

The helper mixes sand ,cement and water. The mason puts it unto the steel mesh frame. He keeps a piece of cardboard at the back to avoid mortar from falling from other side.

So, a layer of mortar is evenly put on the frame. But now it needs finishing.

He marks the centre of the bowl visually. Being a skilled mason its very precise.

Now for finishing he starts from the top edge. Taking the centre as a refrence he levels the edge with the help of a metal rectangular section.

After basic levelling, he checks the edges with a levellin ruler and levels again.

Without the sophisticated machines and tools, one has to devise creative methods to solve problems. Here mason uses the measuring tape as his compass and marks a perfect circle on the edge.

After the markings, the mason cuts the edges with his tool to get a perfect circle.

To get perfect thicknesses and edges, he uses a simple template.

Finishing on the inner side of the bowl is almost done.

Then, very interestingly, he uses a small round pebble to rub on the slightly dry mortar, to give a better finish.

.

Very carefully the bowl is overturned and mortar is applied onto it

The levelling is very important as he has to keep in mind the shape and symmetry.

for the final finish he pours a thin paste of sand and cement over the mortar and gives the final touch.

After this process, the object has to be cured for about 21 days to be strong and have a long life.
In this case curing is done by filling water in it.
Curing can be done in many ways. Either the article can be covered with a plastic or coconut husk after splashing water on it, so that it remains moist for a longer duration. Then there are curing chambers as well, which have water filled to a ceratin level and the obeject is kept inside. With heat the water keeps circulating the closed chamber with evaporation and condensation and keeps the object moist. The water to be used for curing can not be dirty water.

With similiar process the top cover of the bowl is also made. After the curing period, holes are drilled in it and metal pegs are fixed with araldite.

The flow of the water is being tested.