Bamboo Buildings
Grow it, build with it.



Phyllostachys aurea, Tetragonoclamus angulatus, Phyllostachys nigra f. punctuata,
Phyllostaches bamb. violascens, Phyllostachys nigra f. 'Boryana',Phyllostachys viridis
'Sulphurea', Phyllostachys bambusoides. (Illustration Photo by Wetterwald M.F.)




Mason Lane Farm Equipment Building, Goshen, Kentucky made from locally grown bamboo by De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop, deleon-primmer.com




Mason Lane Farm Equipment Building, holds hay and farm equipment, the open lattice design allows the hay to air dry. By De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop, deleon-primmer.com

Great Wall House, China. By Kengo Kuma & Associates. www.commune.com.cn
The Bamboo Wall House was completed in 2002 as part of a multi-dwelling project near Beijing. Requirements were to use local materials and conform to the topography, and Kuma chose to make maximum use of inexpensive bamboo normally used for construction scaffolding in China.




Great Wall House. www.commune.com.cn  Arch: kkaa.co.jp




Inside the Great Wall House, China. www.commune.com.cn




Bamboo ceilings, bamboo walls. www.commune.com.cn




Bamboo ceilings, bamboo walls. Dining room  at the Great Wall Commune. www.commune.com.cn





Bamboo dining room at Great Wall House, China. www.commune.com.cn





This home won awards for the best performance low consumption house in France and the first house in the parisian region to receive the european labeled certification PHI “Passiv Haus Institut” by Karawitz Architecture www.karawitz.com





Passive House by Karawitz Architecture closed on the north side, open on the south. www.karawitz.com





Close-up of bamboo shutters by Karawitz Architecture. www.karawitz.com

Green School by Ibuku; Bali, Indonesia. www.ibuku.com

Bamboo spiral - Green School by Ibuku. www.greenschool.org




Green Village, a planned community adjacent to the Green School, Bali, Indonesia. www.greenvillagebali.com




Bamboo faucet & wall at the Green Village, a planned community adjacent to the Green School. www.greenschool.org




Black Bamboo walls at the Green Village, a planned community adjacent to the Green School. www.greenvillagebali.com




A bamboo & canvas library with spinning oval door by Ibuku, Indonesia. www.ibuku.com




Bamboo walls made from the center slice (cross section) of giant bamboo by Ibuku. www.greenvillagebali.com

Bamboo walls & ceiling beams. homeinnovationdesign.com




Children's Activity and Education Center on Koh Kood, Thailand by 24H Architects of the Netherlands. Note the bamboo balustrades. www.24h-architecture.com




Children's Activity and Education Center on Koh Kood, Thailand by 24H Architects of the Netherlands. www.24h-architecture.com




Bamboo with printed paper backdrop. Kid's Den by 24H Architects, Thailand. www.archdaily.com




The Kid's Den is in the shape of a manta-ray, and is made of local Thai bamboo. It seems about ready to fly into the bay. www.archdaily.com




Kid's Den by 24H Architects, Thailand www.archdaily.com




Bamboo Forest House in Taiwan by ROEWUarchitecture, www.roewu.com




The temporary Museo Nomada En El Zócalo by Simón Vélez. Built in 2008, in Mexico City for the traveling photo exhibit of Gregory Colbert. www.archleague.org




Bamboo Cathedrale in the center of Pereira. The roof is supported by bent Guadua poles by Simón Vélez www.archleague.org

Bamboo Cathedrale by Simón Vélez. The supports consist of five Guadua poles each, that run from the ground to the roof. This extreme slenderness is made possible with stiffening braces that prevent buckling. www.democraticunderground.com

Bamboo Bridge in China by Simón Vélez www.archleague.org





A bamboo bridge under construction.





PGKL Architecture, boarding school for the deaf; Gradignan, France. Architects: Pierre Goutti Karine Louilot Architectes. www.archdaily.com





PGKL Architecture, boarding school for the deaf; Gradignan, France. Architects: Pierre Goutti Karine Louilot Architectes. www.archdaily.com





Ichibanya Restaurant; Jakarta, Indonesia by DSA Architects www.archdaily.com

Ichibanya Restaurant by DSA Architects www.archdaily.com

Ichibanya Restaurant by DSA Architects. www.archdaily.com




Bamboo Car Park, Leipzig Zoo, Germany. Krahnstöver & Wolf Architects. www.krahnstoever-wolf.de




Bamboo Car Park, Leipzig Zoo, Germany. www.krahnstoever-wolf.de




Carabanchel social housing in Madrid, Spain by FOA - Foreign Office Architects. www.archdaily.com




Carabanchel social housing in Madrid, Spain by FOA - Foreign Office Architects. www.archdaily.com




Benjamin Garcia Saxe built this bamboo house for his mother in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. www.benjamingarciasaxe.com




Benjamin Garcia Saxe. Composed of two separate modules – a Kitchen/Living area and a Bedroom space, an internal patio weaves the two modules together. www.benjamingarciasaxe.com




Bamboo house in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Note the horizontal bamboo slices. www.benjamingarciasaxe.com




Bamboo home in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. www.benjamingarciasaxe.com




Bamboo house in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. www.benjamingarciasaxe.com




Yoka Sara International's Kayu Aga in Bali. www.yokasara.com




Suoi Re community house staircase, Vietnam. www.archdaily.com




Bamboo Home in Pisco, for images start to finish in 14 days- see: picasaweb.google.com




Bamboo walkway. www.criadoindomable.info




Casa Bambu, Zuarq Builders, Bogotá, Colombia. www.casasbambuzuarq.mex.tl





Smart House, China. A team of students from Tongji University, Shanghai designed an eco-friendly Bamboo house with solar power for the Europe Solar Decathlon Competition 2010. thedesignhome.com





Bamboo shed, www.bambus-conbam.de




Bamboo teepee. Simple bamboo frame.




Bamboo Structure Project, Iran by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa. www.archdaily.com




Bamboo Structure Project, Iran by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa. www.archdaily.com




Bamboo Structure Project, Iran by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa. www.archdaily.com




Bamboo is one of the strongest plant-based building materials, and there are bamboo structures that have been in existence for hundreds of years. The hollow tube shape gives a strength factor of almost 2 times more than a solid wood beam. Some species of bamboo have twice the compression strength of concrete and roughly the same strength-to-weight ratio of steel! Certain bamboo withstands up to 52,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.^* Due to its flexibility, bamboo structures have withstood hurricane winds in excess of 170mph.

Of the approximately 1500 species, the Phyllostachys varieties (including Moso), are best suited for growing and building in cool climates with frost and snow. Once a grove is established, the culms (the living poles) grow rapidly in the first six-weeks (12-18 inches a day, depending on soil conditions and moisture); then the bamboo spends the next three years replacing sugars and water with sturdy silica and cellulose. Harvesting of the third- or fourth-year poles, does not kill the rest of the plant, which grows in clumps or runners; and therefore topsoil is not displaced. Selective harvesting can take place every year in an established bamboo forest.

If that is not enough, one of the best features of bamboo is that the giants of this fast-growing grass sequester more carbon dioxide than just about any other plant.^** According to the Zero Emissions Research Institute (ZERI), a bamboo forest can sequester 17 times as much carbon as a typical tree forest.^*** Some species grow as much as 39 inches in a day! And due to bamboo's high nitrogen consumption, bamboo helps mitigate water pollution, as it takes in and transforms nutrient wastes when planted alongside manufacturing zones, intensive livestock farming, and sewage treatment facilities. Bamboo can also desalinate seawater!

Bamboo is the biggest member of the grass family and has thousands of uses. It can be pressed, flattened, molded, sliced, burnt or carved. It is used as paper, flooring, musical instruments; its leaves as livestock feed; its shoots are popular in Asian cuisines. And bamboo supports millions of people in cottage industries worldwide.^*


www.bamboogrove.com/bamboo-species
*www.bamboodist.com
**www.businessday.co.za
***www.deboerarchitects.com - plus, some joinery examples.


Resources:

A Bamboo farm in Oregon that grows and sells 300 varieties: www.bamboogarden.com
Info on joints/connections:  www.conbam.info
Working with Bamboo Canes: www.bamboogarden.com
Bamboo Competition - see designs of 50 finalists in 12 categories: www.bamboocompetition.com



Strong enough to support a green roof... www.bamboocraft.net

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Anonymous
Posts: 8

Re: Bamboo Building Inspiration
Reply #8 on : Sun December 23, 2012, 04:07:28

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Hi, very nice post, so many things to see.

I think, there is just a little mistake, there is a confusion between the house of Benjamin garcia for his house in Costa rica and the orphanage in thailand built by 2 norvegian : TYIN tegnestue architects. You put everything into the same construction but they are very different. Indeed, for close pictures they look similar but it is not the same house.

Anonymous
Posts: 8

Re: Bamboo Building Inspiration
Reply #7 on : Mon December 17, 2012, 01:31:12

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Thank you so very much!!!

Anonymous
Posts: 8

Re: Bamboo Building Inspiration
Reply #6 on : Mon December 03, 2012, 21:42:00

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Wow! Wonderful! Thank you so very much for posting this. I hope to be able to do something very similar to this in Laos some day very soon.

julea
Posts: 8

bamboooo
Reply #5 on : Mon October 22, 2012, 13:13:00

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beautiful.clean.earthy.

Vanessa Montezuma
Posts: 8

SIMON VELEZ
Reply #4 on : Wed June 06, 2012, 22:54:59

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Hi, I think you've made a good selection of constructions. I'm making a thesis on bamboo, and I was wondering if you had a way of contacting with Simón Velez. If you would, I'de appreciate it deeply.

rajesh
Posts: 8

the green
Reply #3 on : Tue March 27, 2012, 00:51:38

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Living here in Thailand,as you know,things are green...At times toooo green. Like the water in my three fish ponds...(Having a rice field across from my house is of no help because they over fertilize and of course it leaches into the ground water.) Due to your web site and the great ideas, I am now about to construct bamboo huts with palm covered roofs with the most incredible bamboo I have ever seen. I was going to build them from Teak, as all the doors and windows in my house are made of. I figured that would be over kill...No pun intended.Great web site with some very good links...Thank you and will be coming back often...Ted Davis. Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Ted Davis
Posts: 8

Green...
Reply #2 on : Sat March 10, 2012, 20:15:13

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Living here in Thailand,as you know,things are green...At times toooo green. Like the water in my three fish ponds...(Having a rice field across from my house is of no help because they over fertilize and of course it leaches into the ground water.) Due to your web site and the great ideas, I am now about to construct bamboo huts with palm covered roofs with the most incredible bamboo I have ever seen. I was going to build them from Teak, as all the doors and windows in my house are made of. I figured that would be over kill...No pun intended.Great web site with some very good links...Thank you and will be coming back often...Ted Davis. Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Edgard Guevara
Posts: 8

Eco Village
Reply #1 on : Fri November 18, 2011, 20:15:32

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You've been very inspiring! We would adapt your concept in our Eco-village to encourage planting and using more bamboos in Asia where we are losing ground on Eco-Architecture..

You're all invited to visit us next year when we
are almost done.. Naturally yours, Ed