Though bamboo as a building material carries connotations of ancient Asiatic architecture, the widely available wood is enjoying a resurgence in experimental design. Architects the world over are unearthing vernacular techniques and mining contemporary parametric capabilities to produce bamboo structures that fit today’s tastes for both the organic and awe-inspiring compositions.
Below, tour a set of projects ranging from modular resorts to pop-up activist pavilions, all of which are bending bamboo into ever more spectacular forms.
1. Bamboo Structure by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa
This hut was created to fill a brief for a novel resort town near the bamboo forests of Katalom in northern Iran. A total of 70 freshly-cut bamboo trunks were torqued into a gentle curve, which is held in place with the reeds left over from the rice harvest.
With a low cost of US$1,000 per unit, the ability to be constructed by non-professionals, and resistance to strong winds and earthquakes, the structure makes for a sustainable housing option in multiple contexts beyond hotels.
2. Bug Dome by WEAK!
The Bug Dome by WEAK! bridges a contested area of Shenzhen, a plot atop ruined buildings between the city hall and an illegal labourers settlement. The vernacular bamboo construction techniques are attributed to migrants from rural Guanxi.
During the 2009 SZHK Biennale, the structure hosted underground bands, poetry readings, discussions, and karaoke. Afterwards, it persisted as an "un-official social club for illegal workers from the Chinese countryside."
3. Bamboo Forest and Huts by Ryuichi Ashizawa
Amid the towers of Osaka, a series of woven bamboo structures blossom from the ground. The result is a new array of public spaces, from canopied picnic grounds to a broad bandstand.
4. Canopy by nARCHITECTS and Ove Arup & Partners
During its 2004 stay in the courtyard at MoMA/P.S.1, Canopy by nARCHITECTS and Ove Arup & Partners hosted more than 100,000 visitors within its freshly cut green bamboo shell. The architects embedded the simple canopy typology with indentations to produce a range of shadow densities across the courtyard, while certain sections arched all the way downwards to create "rooms" of varying microclimates.
The design and construction process required the team to employ a mix of technological ingenuity and unprecedented precision: Over six weeks of on-site testing, a phasing sequence was developed that optimized bamboo's inherent strength and minimized breakages.
5. Pulse Pavilion by USJ University of St Joseph
In this temporary structure, students from Macau's University of St. Joseph elevated low-tech bamboo with high-tech flair: With the help of local craftsmen, split bamboo rods were arranged into a parametrically generated lattice.
The resulting negative space is spun together by interwoven fabric panels laced with LEDs. Motion sensors react to visitors' passing through the space, igniting visual displays that allude to the city's casino culture.
6. Forest Pavilion by nARCHITECTS
This pavilion acts as a signifier for Taiwan's aspiration of a low-carbon future. The commission came from the Masadi Art Festival to draw attention to an adjacent threatened forest. nArchitects presented 11 parabolic vaults constructed of green bamboo, organized in a circle to echo a tree's rings.
Explained the architects, "Forest Pavilion’s relationship to the existing site is diaphanous and light - the pavilion sits lightly in its environment with minimal disruption, yet with lighting becomes a beacon at night, underscoring the relative emptiness of the valley."
7. Star Cocoon by Volkan Alkanoglu | DESIGN
Sited in New York City's Union Square, the Star Cocoon by Volkan Alkanoglu | DESIGN was part of a competition to reconsider the traditional Jewish harvest holiday hut, called the Sukkah. The core of the construction is a bent bamboo grid woven together with rattan.
The wood was warped into stunning parametric shapes by translating algorithmic scripts into an adjustable jig, which in turn heated the bamboo until each piece took its respective form.
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