The humanitarian meaning of the Palmyra palm tree
For the first article on my portfolio page, I chose to write about the Palmyra palm tree (Borassus flabellifer).
A typical tree species and not related to the construction design.
Is it possible to use jaggery wood to make house railings, stairs …
I have heard about jaggery for a long time because it is a tree associated with rivers and Khmer people’s life.
The Palmyra palm tree is rustic, standing between the blue sky and the field like the people of this region.
In the rainy season, the river flooded and saw palm trees in the middle of the immense sea.
In the dry season, people sit under the shade of palm trees to rest their feet.
The jaggery is used to make cool drinks, cook tea, make beefcakes, or make sugar… foods that people use daily.
It is so familiar, but few people meet the person who planted those trees for shade.
Anyone who has ever planted a tree is someone who understands the morality of being a human.
The tree is called the plant for the next life….
Large trees start harvesting after 15–20 years
It is equivalent to 1/3 of human life.
Those who want to be rich in the future sow early seeds.
He planted this tree because he wanted his children and grandchildren to enjoy the fruit.
I also understand that: One hundred years is finite.
The ultimate value is human value.
On the path to self-fulfillment, there are many difficulties & challenges.
We have — are — will do so many things for ourselves, our families, and society.
Think more,
The construction of capital is an activity that significantly impacts Nature.
We are confident we can move mountains to fill the sea, creating a better life.
But by building, we are impacting and making the environment worse.
Nature is more encroached on & damaged by urbanization.
With today’s technology and construction techniques, it is evident that construction always harms nature.
How much or how little impact, how much, and how renewable depends on each building and how we do it.
We are still confident that humans will conquer Nature.
But man is just a creature that is dependent on Nature.
“Nature” provides us with breathing air, shelter, and nourishment.
Evolution and balance are always present.
When there is an imbalance, “nature” balances itself.
By shifting the continent’s geography, lifting and lowering the oceans [volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis…], using the gas plate to balance extreme climates [Hurricanes, floods]…. what we are used to calling natural disasters.
Or by self-evolving what we are used to calling epidemics…
And then there will be a lot of dynamics that “nature” uses to balance Nature, whether humans have the same Nature to evolve and develop sustainably or not.
Therefore, the meaning of jaggery also reminds me of a tree that needs to be planted and learn how to affect Nature.
We need to learn how to develop sustainably with Nature before Nature balances its development.
The building, the city… is not only the habitat. That is a part of human culture.
…and I think about the seeds that we will sow for the next generation.
