This fast-growing grass (not a tree) is even stronger than oak. Yes, you can build with it.
Phyllostachys aurea, Tetragonoclamus angulatus, Phyllostachys nigra f. punctuata,
Phyllostaches bamb. violascens, Phyllostachys nigra f. ‘Boryana’,Phyllostachys viridis
‘Sulphurea’, Phyllostachys bambusoides. (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. 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. commune.com.cn Arch: kkaa.co.jp
Inside the Great Wall House, China. commune.com.cn
Bamboo ceilings, bamboo walls. commune.com.cn
Bamboo ceilings, bamboo walls. Dining room at the Great Wall Commune.
Bamboo dining room at Great Wall House, China. 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 karawitz.com
Passive House by Karawitz Architecture closed on the north side, open on the south. karawitz.com
Close-up of bamboo shutters by Karawitz Architecture. karawitz.com
Green School by Ibuku; Bali, Indonesia. ibuku.com
Bamboo spiral – Green School by Ibuku.greenschool.org
Green Village, a planned community adjacent to the Green School, Bali, Indonesia. greenvillagebali.com
Bamboo faucet & wall at the Green Village, a planned community adjacent to the Green School. greenschool.org
Black Bamboo walls at the Green Village, a planned community adjacent to the Green School. greenvillagebali.com
A bamboo & canvas library with spinning oval door by Ibuku, Indonesia. ibuku.com
Bamboo walls made from the center slice (cross section) of giant bamboo by Ibuku. 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. 24h-architecture.com
Children’s Activity and Education Center on Koh Kood, Thailand by 24H Architects of the Netherlands. 24h-architecture.com
Bamboo with printed paper backdrop. Kid’s Den by 24H Architects, Thailand. 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. archdaily.com
Kid’s Den by 24H Architects, Thailand archdaily.com
Bamboo Forest House in Taiwan by ROEWUarchitecture, 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. archleague.org
Bamboo Cathedrale in the center of Pereira. The roof is supported by bent Guadua poles by Simón Vélez 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. democraticunderground.com
Bamboo Bridge in China by Simón Vélez archleague.org
A bamboo bridge under construction.
PGKL Architecture, boarding school for the deaf; Gradignan, France. Architects: Pierre Goutti Karine Louilot Architectes. archdaily.com
PGKL Architecture, boarding school for the deaf; Gradignan, France. Architects: Pierre Goutti Karine Louilot Architectes. archdaily.com
Ichibanya Restaurant; Jakarta, Indonesia by DSA Architects archdaily.com
Ichibanya Restaurant by DSA Architects archdaily.com
Ichibanya Restaurant by DSA Architects. archdaily.com
Bamboo Car Park, Leipzig Zoo, Germany. Krahnstöver & Wolf Architects. krahnstoever-wolf.de
Bamboo Car Park, Leipzig Zoo, Germany. krahnstoever-wolf.de
Carabanchel social housing in Madrid, Spain by FOA – Foreign Office Architects. archdaily.com
Carabanchel social housing in Madrid, Spain by FOA – Foreign Office Architects. archdaily.com
Benjamin Garcia Saxe built this bamboo house for his mother in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. 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. benjamingarciasaxe.com
Bamboo house in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Note the horizontal bamboo slices. benjamingarciasaxe.com
Bamboo house in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. benjamingarciasaxe.com
Yoka Sara International’s Kayu Aga in Bali. archdaily.com
Suoi Re community house staircase, Vietnam. archdaily.com
Bamboo Home in Pisco, for images start to finish in 14 days- see: picasaweb.google.com
Bamboo walkway. criadoindomable
Casa Bambu, Zuarq Builders, Bogotá, Colombia. zuarq.blogspot.com
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, caseyscorner.us
Bamboo teepee. Simple bamboo frame.
Bamboo Structure Project, Iran by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa. archdaily.com
Bamboo Structure Project, Iran by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa. archdaily.com
Why Build With Bamboo?
Bamboo 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.
Bamboo Building Resources
A Bamboo farm in Oregon that grows and sells 300 varieties: bamboogarden.com
Info on joints/connections: conbam.info
Working with Bamboo Canes: bamboogarden.com
Bamboo Competition – see designs of 50 finalists in 12 categories: bamboocompetition.com
Strong enough to support a green roof… bamboocraft.net
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
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.
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.
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.
beautiful.clean.earthy.
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.
Thank you so very much!!!
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.
Mother nature proves to be more provident in beautiful mosaics. Its a matter of how we harness her beauty and energy creatively. we have had hundred years of our own way against her, and look where we got! Its time we went retro, and bamboo begins the step in the direction of this journey. Exciting!!
I wandering on bamboo Architect for my little hut …I really AMAZING of man intellectual in intercultural here is truly like the OASIS.
I read in your article that bamboo could be used to desalinate water. How is this done? Any information you may have would be of great interest to me.
I see that – Reverse osmosis filter manufacturers use bamboo charcoal (carbon) as a clearing/cleaning agent in water filtration and desalination. Sorry, do not know much more (yet).
I am obsessed of a bamboo house.planning to build a house in a city with an over looking sea view.wonder if I could have a copy cat of your amazing post here.cheaper@greener….
Could you please send me a link or any information you have on building code for bamboo framing.
Hi,
Building codes are dependent on your location. Gonna be easier to get a permit in Costa Rica than some northern location where bamboo buildings are rare. Doesn’t appear that the US, other than Hawaii, has any code in place for bamboo structures, but there are hints that there might be code in the near future.
http://www.guaduabamboo.com/the-reality-about-building-with-bamboo.html
Hi i live in South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula and Im wondering where i would get bamboo for building a house from and the cost of it compared to timber
we are inspired. is there anywhere we could go as volunteers to learn how to build with bamboo whilst helping those in need? Does anyone know please?
I am from Ghana where bamboo is in abundance. will love to build a house.
can it also be polished when finished.
I am inspired,and I want to built my owned bamboo house.I live in Norway and I have a farm with lot of bamboo trees.please can any one helps or give me a link where is possible to learn more of how to build a bamboo house.
hi in india there are many traditional use of bamboo house. but most of them lack architectural beauty and design…I need help in designs of different structures.. please
Hi I’m Steven and I am Bamboo Designer, In especial Angustifolia Kunth, I work with a modeling 3 D Program Call Autodesk Inventor 2013, I Have desigened some estructures and want expand this designs to europe and other countries sorry if my english is no good, any question ask me to my e-mail, odin_881021@hotmail.com, i have Pictures and Planes of my works to send you.
Hello, We own twenty acres in the mountains of Costa Rica and have been growing Guadua bamboo for fifteen years. We plan on building with this bamboo, among other things. We envision a handful of bamboo treetop accommodations, up in the sky. This is an off grid lifestyle, at the present moment, but will eventually evolve into having some self sustainable electricity of some sort.
My question to you is…Is there a source you know of where one can find a person, or persons with knowledge & experience on how to build with bamboo, who may be interested in being involved in a project like this, physically and financially? If there is anyone out there that may be interested in something like this, please email me at the above email. Thank you
rejuvenart@hotmail.com
Bula I also wish to use and promote bamboo construction in fiji as an economical and creative alternative. If any one out there has expereince and structural espertise please do contact me at the adress below:
madgoatfiji@gmail.com
We’re a gaggle of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community. Your web site offered us with useful information to work on. You’ve done an impressive task and our entire neighborhood will be thankful to you.
Hi every body I´m Steven From Colombia, and I’m Bamboo structure designer and Bamboo Structure Assembler, I’m interesting in friendship’s Bamboo from all over the world. I have a lot of Pdf material (in english or spanish) about bamboo if some one want to improve your research, the design software that I use is Called ‘Autodesk Inventor Professional’ ,It’s a mechanical design software but I use it to design Bamboo structures in detail, No one Use this program for this because I like to create every thing, the other architect softwares are default to create the structures, they are very squared, I would like to create biomimetic and permaculture structures, nature as design pattern, Find me In Facebook (facebook.com/Steven.Nauta33) and you will be able to watch some 3D model a real Photos of some projects and structures of my authorship, any question or something I can help, write me.. ( sorry if my english is bad, I’m still learning )
Hi Steven i want to know how to build bamboo house in India.what kind of bamboo is used to make.
I recomend you , DendroCalamus Giganteus Is a bamboo especie growing in IndiaI, Bamboo structural.
I’m very interested in this article especially that as a young architect I have been interested in bamboo as a structural component to replace steel. Therefore senor Steven Nauta please do help me regarding how I can get such pdf material about bamboo building techniques
Moyagoleele and Ayana I can help you with some Bamboo Books in Pdf format, also Follow me in facebook and find me as Bamboo NautaDesign there you are going to find some designs, Renders and 3D models with Bamboo, and other projects with bamboo that I have thought. Mayagoleele I Just Look At your e-mail I shall respond you
Hello, We own twenty acres in the mountains of Costa Rica and have been growing Guadua bamboo for fifteen years. We plan on building with this bamboo, among other things. We envision a handful of bamboo treetop accommodations, up in the sky. This is an off grid lifestyle, at the present moment, but will eventually evolve into having some self sustainable electricity of some sort.
I would like to learn more about your green village. Is there a waste water treatment plant? How is the water system set up? How about a rain water catchment system? Do you take interns or prospective engineering students under your wing? Thanks for your time.
Hi
I am going to use bamboo (dried by direct fire) for exterior finishing of a building elevation. is there any risk due to UV or Cold climate?
Thanks.
Hi,
I’m building house and i’d like them to really look like bamboo interior, like from ceilings to walls to floors. Can anyone suggest to me where can i find bamboo in the Philippines or even manufacturer?
Thanks
Hello, I have long been a great advocate of bamboo as a sustainable and beautiful building material and some of the designs featured here are continued proof of its strength as an alternative building material.
I am currently exploring the possibility of building a new eco home in the UK and would like to consider bamboo as part of or possibly the mainstay of my new build. If any designer/architect is interested in working with me on this project I would like to hear from you.
In the meantime keep the ideas coming I think they’re really inspirational.
Best wishes.
Andrew Lock.
|Dear sir,
I am looking some bamboo design for dairy farm with size almost 34 Mtr X 34Mtr cover area
I want to construct a school of bamboo at my native place Kinwat dist namded Maharashtra India
I want to construct a school of bamboo at my native place Kinwat dist nandedMaharashtra India. All bamboo building shown are beutiful
I’m very interested with sample of bamboo buildings. which type is common used in building construction?
Please let me know wether is it possible to construct eco friendly cottages in a gated community near Mysore, Karnataka, India.
Regards
Vidyananda
I would be very grateful if you could send me information on the different kind of bamboo joints and fixing techniques with bamboo and other materials/surfaces & information on treating & curing bamboo for longer life and insect proofing.
With regards,
Ar. Ayanjit.