Our Team
Rabi Mukhopadhyay, born in 1937, graduated with a first class in Mechanical Engineering from Jadavpur University in 1959. He worked for 31 years in the corporate sector, first at Remington typewriter factory for 6 years and then for 25 years at Philips India Limited where he retired as an advisor on Strategic Planning to Director-Light.
His love for bamboo and the pragmatic choice of bamboo as a building material started at a very young age when he had to stay in a 2-tier bamboo house with his family for 3 years during the second world war, which was built using hilly bamboos, harvested when became brown after full maturity, and thus required minimal maintenance for sustenance. He took premature retirement from service in 1990 to direct all his time, energy, and experience for sustainable development with an aim to develop new products / technology that would add to clean the environment. His first successful experimentation with bamboo was building a Wind Electricity Generator with his son Dr Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay which got patented.
In the meantime, experiment with bamboo structures was started at Birati Building Center (BBC) of Forum of Scientists, Engineers, and Technologists (FOSET) under his supervision which continued for 10 years till 2023. The experiments and results have been documented into a book that is in the process of being published.
He has participated in various seminars & trainings on bamboo construction such as, Rural Housing Knowledge Network (RHKN), IIT Delhi, 2012, National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), 2013, etc. Mukhopadhyay was selected as “Mentor” for trainings & workshops of State level P & RD engineers as part of rural housing development, convened by Mr. R. Subrahmanyam, Joint Secretary, MGNREGS in 2014 at Thrissur, Kerala, in presence of GOI representatives from HUDCO, NIRD & PR etc. His work on the newly evolved technology of constructing lasting Cement finished bamboo houses was added to the Section 3B (structural design by bamboo), Part 6 of the NBC 2015. Mukhopadhyay was nominated Member of the panel for Timber and Bamboo, CDE 46: P6, and Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay was nominated as an alternate member {ref: page (xi) of the NBC 2105}. Email: rabimukh@gmail.com; mobile: +919831765982.
Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay did his Bachelors and Master’s in architecture from Jadavpur University, and received his Ph.D. from IIEST Shibpur, where he is presently serving as a Professor in the Department of Architecture and Planning since 2013. A Fellow of the IIA, Prof. Mukhopadhyay has 40 publications, around 45 research supervisions, and jointly an Indian Patent to his credit. In 2006, MHA, Govt. of India has recognized him as a State Resource Person under National Programme for Capacity Building of Architects in Earthquake Risk Management. Since 2016, he has been elected as an Alternate Member of the Panel for Timber & Bamboo under NBC. His further areas of research interest include Service Design, History & Theory of Architecture, Urban Design, Energy Conservation in Buildings etc. email: parthasm@gmail.com ; Mobile: +9198326459
Jaydeep Datta has completed his Civil Engineering from BE college, Shibpur in 1995. He had started his career with FOSET under the ‘Shelter for all’ movement as a Project Engineer at Birati Building Centre. He is still associated with the movement. He has established a sustainable material production unit in Rampurhat, Birbhum, WB, that manufactures hollow bricks and fly ash bricks. He has recently developed an in-situ Bamboo treatment centre there. From 1995 till date, he has been working on spreading knowledge and applications of alternative, climate-resilient technologies amongst communities from all backgrounds in around Kolkata, West Bengal and gradually expanding on a pan-india level. His notable works include the New Town Kolkata Development Agency Office building, New Town that was completed in 2003 and stands till date as an example of an alternative commercial building housed in an urban area, constructing a precast boundary wall at the international airport of Goa, 2022, and numerous MIG residential projects in Birati, Madhyamgram, New Barrackpore and Barasat districts of West Bengal e-mail: Jaydip.dutta@gmail.com ; mobile: +919163323494
Debasmita Ghosh has a bachelor’s in architecture (2015) from BVDU’s College of Architecture, Pune & a Master’s in Green Building (2024) from Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales, UEL. She designs structures using natural materials, such as earth, bamboo, wood, etc. which are in sync with the environment & works with rural and marginalised communities on impacts of climate change and building resilience through research and implementation. She also documents rural building traditions and skills and works on reviving the dying language of building vernacular homes and communitarian way of life. She conducts workshop with the indigenous youths to become barefoot builders in their vernacular building methods while incorporating the contemporary needs.
Presently, she works with Rabi Mukhopadhyay in research, design & construction of Bamboo structures, with rural communities in Odisha, and in N & S 24 Parganas of West Bengal, aimed towards achieving climate justice, grassroots resilience, and sustainability. e-mail: debasmita.g92@gmail.com ; mobile: +919007212105
Abdul Hakim joined the Birati Building center (BBC) of FOSET as a helper during 1998 at his 18 years of age. He joined BBC after he had to abandon school education because of financial constraints while he was a Class ten student. He has worked there up to 2023 March, that is, for about 25 years. He participated in a number of experiments related to application of bamboo for sustainable construction. He gained a very useful experience in constructing with bamboo during complete construction of a model bamboo house satisfying IAY specification at BBC, built as a part of training project funded by HUDCU CSR funds. He had experience in different processes of preservative treatment of bamboo, such as Full cell process, Double immersion process and Sap displacement process. He obtained special training in matters related to construction by bamboo during training in a workshop organized by NMBA at VNIT, Nagpur in 2005 being sponsored by FOSET.
With all these training and experience, Abdul hakim worked as a trainer for hands-on sessions at BBC during different training Projects related to bamboo based sustainable construction. He is now a Master mechanic in the matter of construction by bamboo. Mobile +919163266760
Protyay Mukhopadhyay is an undergraduate student, currently doing his Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch) from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He has passed Higher Secondary Examination in 2020 from Patha Bhavan, Kolkata. He has worked as an architectural intern in the reputed Abin Design Studio, Kolkata. He has participated in study and preservation work under Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). His areas of interest include Design of Public Spaces, Energy Conservation in Buildings, etc. E-mail: protyay.mukhopadhyay@gmail.com; Mobile: +918583874291