In the summer of 2019, I left my home for India; the first time of many times yet to come. My first destination was Mumbai. On arrival, a friend took me around the city for a couple of days, showing me the coasts, markets, monuments, etc. I was ready with my camera, making sure I was not to miss or forget anything. I absorbed it all: from foods, smells, architecture, to… scaffolding. 

To my friend, this seemed so banal and idiotic to photograph. But for me it was a symbol of a different world. The metal scaffolding is a standard symbol of construction in the West. Efficient, reusable, standardised and safe. The wood scaffolding instantly seemed extremely primitive to me. Yet everywhere, this was the norm. Each corner I turned, I was amazed by one even taller than the ones I had just seen.

It was a couple of days before Ganesh Chaturthi festival, and temporary structures were being erected all over the city for the celebrations, in the same type of wood scaffolding. I got a closer look at it when I visited one of the workshops where they make these huge Ganesh statues. Meters-high workshops, erected simply by bamboo, rope and a blue tarp cover! The bamboo structures rise up multiple times a year in every city and village, whenever there is some kind of festival.

Many questions arose in my mind. How is this safe? Why not use a standard metal scaffolding? Though, most questions came from the perspective of a 21 year old European. My research later taught me to open my mind and created a bigger understanding of the Indian context. Wooden scaffolding actually makes a lot of sense in India! Many arguments can be made in favour. First of all, wood is cheaper than metal and the high humidity and heat ask for constant upkeep of constructions. Metal scaffolding would suffer from exacerbated erosion. Second, wood is more pleasant to handle in high temperatures than metal. And third, most importantly perhaps, bamboo is readily available everywhere.

 

The most common materials being used today are eucalyptus and bamboo for the beams. Traditionally they used to be joined together with coconut hair, but this is now more often replaced with nylon. Eucalyptus is grown in wastelands all across the country and there are big plantations of bamboo in many states. Both are fast and easy growing, which makes them ideal. Side note: Eucalyptus has been criticised lately because of excessive water consumption, which is devastating to water sparse regions. In other words, you do not need large scaffolding manufacturers and a lot of transportation to get the supplies on site. Wood can be easily purchased in the region, and reused later; either as scaffolding or as paper, furniture, firewood, etc. This benefit might not be as clear in a city like Mumbai with its constant construction and relative low percentage of greenery. But in the smaller cities and rural areas of India, this avoids the need for transportation.

 

Aside from material, we can wonder about standardisation and safety of this technique, taking the context into consideration. First, labour is extremely affordable in India. The minimum daily wage for a construction worker is 558 rupees (around €6.5) and there are many hands ready to work. Labour is likely cheaper than investing in metal scaffolding. Second, the wood scaffolding is a generations long practice passed on in the form of an apprenticeship. The technique was upscaled and safety codes were developed, to be observed by site managers. An ancient village technique is now enabling the construction of storeys-high buildings in a modern city like Mumbai. This is something truly remarkable, one of many vernacular treasures to be found in India.