Optimized structure for Ice Stupa - Architecture that supports nature to resist climate change

Natural life and human populations in high-altitude arid regions like Leh-Ladakh depend solely upon streams from natural glacial meltwater. Due to climate change, population growth, modernization and sudden surge in tourism, water scarcity becomes a pressing challenge. This led to local innovators to develop the technique of artificial ice reservoirs. Ice Stupas are a type of ice reservoirs, created by freezing the stream water vertically on a structure in the form of huge ice towers or cones of 30 to 50 m height that look very similar to the local sacred mud structures called Stupa or Chorten. The stupa requires an initial base structure usually a dome for shape and stability. To tackle the difficulties faced by previous designs and make construction faster and more suitable, we introduced precise and reliable technology of 3D printing in amalgamation with local material. To test this, we built a prototype with locals using 3D printed joints and regional timber. This paper presents the structural and construction design, design process, the production of components, and on-site construction, and discusses the limitations and opportunities of ice stupa structures.