Bamboo is susceptible to insects like termites, borers, the powderpost beetle, and even fungi. If not treated properly, bamboo products and structures will only last a few years before they are eaten to dust. But don't get discouraged, there are many ways in which...
At Bamboo U we are experimenting and building with more than just bamboo. We believe in using all kinds of natural materials. As a part of the development of Green Camp’s new location, we built a Cob pizza oven in May 2020. We wanted to build something that can crank...
At Bamboo U we are always looking for new ways to build with bamboo. The Pool Hangout was a design that we developed in collaboration with Arquitectura Mixta from Mexico. They joined us to make this design as part of our 11-Day Build & Design Immersion Course in...
Bamboo U has been exploring various bamboo construction typologies and methods for the past few years, using our own campus as a living bamboo laboratory. Recently we have been researching ways to take the discoveries we have made beyond our campus and into our local...
Originally a structural study of the new kitchen at the Bamboo U campus, Green Camp’s meditation room explores numerous experimental processes, pushing the limits of bamboo’s flexibility and the potential of environmentally friendly composite materials. The structure...
The Fish Mouth is named after the way one bamboo piece “bites” into its counterpart. This traditional joinery technique makes use of the bamboo’s intrinsic properties by evenly distributing loads across the full section of the bamboo culm. The art of making this joint...
It may be hard to believe, but there are 1,400 documented species of bamboo on the planet! They are spread around the world, though about 900 (64%) of them naturally grow in Southeast Asia, including 145 specifically endemic to Indonesia. With just one species, you...
Experiencing an earthquake in a Bamboo house. It’s 4 in the morning. The night is still dark and the wind softly whispers to the trees. I open my eyes and sit up in my bed. Everything around me seems to be spinning. Am I dizzy? or still dreaming maybe? As the seconds...
Build with us Bamboo U is building a bamboo campus. We are building and designing the campus as an ongoing process with the help of students, architects, engineers, and designers from around the world. Bamboo U is a way to share the experience and knowledge that has...
As a construction material, bamboo is resistant, versatile, grows rapidly and is immensely friendly with its own ecosystem and its agroforestry environment. In addition, it presents a large number of species that deliver different diameters and heights. But are there...
"Bamboo is close to an ideal structural material." This statement by Neil Thomas during his talk at Bamboo U, which took place in November 2017 in Bali, really caught my attention. Neil is the founding director of atelier one, a London office of structural...
By recognizing and analyzing the multiple architectural possibilities of bamboo—a construction material mostly native to warm and tropical areas—the following questions arise: How can we take advantage of its qualities and enhance its use in colder climates? Such...
Each material has its own peculiarities and, when using it for building, the design and construction process must accommodate these characteristics. A steel-framed building, for example, must be designed with a certain level of accuracy so that components and parts,...
The main objective of the BambooU build and design course is to promote bamboo as a green building material, and to provide tools to architects, designers, builders, engineers, and carpenters from all over the world to value this material and increase its use. The...