Designing a Bamboo Pavilion During an Online Course

During the online Bamboo U course I learned that, before coming up with a concept, it's important to establish some guidelines for the location, function, and available materials. I wanted to create a cozy gathering area for up to three people where you can read, meditate, or just find calmness. For my design, the key considerations were creating a space that feels sheltered, facing away from a busy road, and having a connection to the area, which in this case meant ocean, water sports, and fishing. Another important factor was that I only had thin bamboo available that had to be used in bundles. This influenced the design, shaping it into a curved structure with decorative splits, making for example traditional fish mouth joints impossible.

At the start of the process, it was quite hard to get my ideas on paper. Sketches were not fully illustrating what I wanted to make and I couldn’t add enough complexity to them. This is why I decided to go to the modeling phase pretty soon. Still designing while modeling.

The picture below shows the first concept model. During the course, I understood the rules of for example overhang and spacing between roof supports. Because of this, I had to quickly decide on the material of the roof before creating a structural model, since some roofs are heavier than others.

During a second model, after finishing the module of engineering with bamboo, triangles and more supports in the back of the roof are added. The angle of the roof should be steep enough for the rain to go down. There is still some joinery that is not figured out yet. Where the ends of the poles meet each other it will be difficult to connect them since only bundles of bamboo will be used. The next model will need to have more curves to have joints that can be lashed together with rope.

I learned that pushing down on the scale model to check if it is steady will give you an understanding of how steady the structure will be on the real scale. In this phase, the model was pretty steady but can still move front and back so it needs to have more support in that direction.

This led to the final model. After using the first model to help design the shape and see where the weak points were, I was able to create the structural model. The shape is more like a mussel and full of curves. Some bamboo splits are added for detail and to create a closed, sheltered atmosphere within the pavilion.

In one of the course modules “8 Design Principles by IBUKU'' were mentioned. One of them is: “Design for your bamboo”. This is something I had to keep in mind while creating the final model. Sometimes I had to rethink details and consider the bamboo I have is short and thin so it cannot have the same structural value as I have seen in some of Bamboo U’s buildings. Another design principle mentioned is “consider the skills you have available”.

In Bali, there are amazingly skilled bamboo carpenters, but I do not have that kind of ability. This led me to make my design as beautiful as possible with minimal bamboo carpentry skills. I tried to simplify wherever I could without giving up on aesthetics. The next step is to see if I can build it!