bamboo as
sustainable material
organized by sabe
Sustainable
/səˈstānəb(ə)l/
Meaning something able to be maintained at a certain rate or level. As an architecture student, this word seems not strange for us. Architects nowadays started to consider sustainability of building to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials. Bamboo, has slowly gain its popularity because of the global demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable building materials.
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Star of the day:
Bamboo!
Any of various woody or arborescent grasses (as of the genera Bambusa, Arundinaria, andDendrocalamus of the subfamily Bambusoideae) of tropical and temperate regions having hollow stems, thick rhizomes, and shoots that are used for food; also : the jointed stem of bamboo used especially for building, furniture, and utensils
Green Village Bali, Indonesia.
Matina bamboo bridge, Philippines
Forest Pavilion, Taiwan
Hong Kong Museum of Art
Usage of Bamboo
This talk was delivered by Mr. Amar Mohd. Ramli who is an expert of bamboo. As a bamboo lover, Mr. Amar has presented a good sharing with us about the characteristics, benefits and use of bamboo as a sustainable material. The idea of using bamboo as a sustainable material in architecture isn’t new. It’s widely used in Asian, Pacific Islander and Central and Southern American cultures. Unlike wood, bamboo regenerates very quickly.
Why people loves bamboo so much? Let’s see what Mr. Amar says about bamboo. First of all, the most important quality of bamboo is its environmentally friendly quality. It doesn’t need fertilizer while growing. Moreover, it is easily grown and harvested, making it one of the most cost effective construction materials available. That’s why some people called bamboo as “poor man’s timber”. In fact, bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, with the fastest growth rate reaching 100cm in a 24-hr period, surprise!
Some people also call bamboo as “green steel” because of its strength. If you think that bamboo has weaker performance in strength, you’re wrong. Bamboo may be the strongest stuff on the planet. It has greater tensile strength than steel, and it withstands compression better than concrete, says Vo Trong Nghia, the Vietnamese architect who loves to use bamboo as building materials for his project.
He’s one of the architect who I admire a lot. He’s different from the other architects because he’s really passionate in bamboo. For him, bamboo is suitable to create open spaces surrounded by nature, for instance cafes, bars, restaurants, resorts and conference halls. His Bamboo Wing and Dailai Conference Hall near Hanoi airport are typical examples.
Bamboo Wing is the pure bamboo cantilever structure flying over the sky as bird’s wings. This 12-meters-wide structure balances itself on one leg and enables to realize the spacious free space without any columns on its edge. The openness of the building thanks to its structure helps people inside to feel as if they are living in the nature.
In Malaysia, bamboo is still haven’t got its popularity yet due to a lot factors. People are still doubt about bamboo, especially its durability. As we all know, bamboo is one type of grass, so it’s subject to insect and fungi attacks. Therefore, every bamboo has to be treated before using. There are a lot of method for bamboo treatment, from traditional to modern. Method of treatment including smoking, soaking in water , internodal injection of creosote oil and so on.
Nothing is perfect. Despite all the drawbacks, the sustainable and environmentally friendly features of bamboo make it a great building material. That’s the reason why I loves bamboo also. After doing a lot of research about bamboo, I have decided to integrate my design studio 3 final project with bamboo. Bamboo as the main structure tend to blend in the hilly site as well. Its light weight properties has lower impact toward the site because excavation is prevented and there’s no need of heavy machinery during construction. Bamboo is the future and I wish to see more bamboo architecture to come especially in Malaysia.
Bamboo Wing
Dalai COnference Hall
Studio 03
Mediatheque
Bamboos grow in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America, extending as far north as the southern United States or central China, and as far south as Patagonia. They also grow in northern Australia. -