Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
Instead of cement, concrete, conventional wood or glass, bamboo. Only bamboo. This ecological wood has enormous potential to become the raw material for buildings to be built in the future. Not only to make huts or small housesBut rather large buildings that could even replace traditional skyscrapers.
But why in the future? As is well known, sustainability is an imperative when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore building materials that are conducive to this and are also feasible have all the upper hand.
In this post we will review the pros and cons of bamboo as an architectural raw material, while we will review an impressive project that is demonstrating how far it can go with it at an urban level.
Pros and cons of vegetable steel
The use of bamboo as building material is not a new invention. On the contrary, in eastern countries, such as Japan, Vietnam or Malaysia, it has been used for this purpose since ancient times.
Currently, it is used directly or as an ingredient for the manufacture of innovative materials from construction, and the form of fastening has also changed, once carried out basically by ropes.
Although now it is also going back to the old, achieving surprising results, in the same way it advances in its treatment, union by means of screws or other innovations.
The many variants have to do with the importance that it is acquiring not only in eastern lands, but throughout the world. In addition to influencing globalization, its "rediscovery" has much to do with its great advantages as a material.
Without forgetting the added advantage and, increasingly decisive, of the aforementioned sustainability. As is well known, its growth is very fast, especially in comparison with that of wood.
In this way, it is considered a renewable resource, although it is also true that it takes a long time to germinate. In turn, its great resistance is valued, which is why it is called "vegetable steel".
Its resistance allows it to be used to make the foundations of a construction in the same way that it is done with cement and concrete. And it is that bamboo canes, of different thicknesses, allow great versatility when supporting several floors. Well creating ad hoc structures that are repeated in each of the heights and / or with the technique of piles.
Durability is a weak point that we can avoid to some extent through proper treatment. Other strengths are its low cost, its flexibility and the generation of low waste, since almost everything in it is usable.
Its versatility also refers to the possibility of making from the aforementioned foundations to roofs, exterior walls or partitions and columns. In other words, bamboo is ideal for making a house from foundation to roof, or for occasional use.
A building for thousands of people
It started out as a pavilion at the exhibition of Edifice from bamboo so that more than 20,000 people live. After a year of development, the installation for Beijing Design Week (BJDW) 2015 - Rising Canes was a success.
Rather than shaping a pavilion in an original way, it was intended to vindicate the use of bamboo, demonstrating structural capacity and, with it, its possibilities for the construction. For this, an impressive structural system made only of bamboo and ropes was made.
This same scheme can be used for larger projects, as it is a modular installation that can be expanded in height and width. Or, what is the same, it allows to provide housing solutions to thousands of people.
Bamboo was chosen as the main material of construction for its long traditional roots in China and its fantastic structural capacity, as well as part of a desire to fight its current oblivion as a building material.
Penda is the name of the architecture studio that has carried out this project, recognized by the A ’Design Awards for the innovative possibilities it offers.
Penda is now immersed in the building a larger model on the outskirts from Beijing. His intention is to build homes like this for about 20,000 residents and he estimates that it could be ready by 2023.
Disadvantages of bamboo
But not everything is so beautiful as we have painted it. Among the disadvantages we have to mention some as problematic as the need to have architects, technical personnel and specialized labor.
It is also not easy to solve that it lacks insulating power or its poor resistance to fire. Even so, it has enormous advantages that make it a firm candidate to be a star material in a future that is supposed to be increasingly oriented towards natural and sustainable materials.
Green village
Other projects already admire the world, such as the Green Village, a residential complex built with bamboo. In this case, however, the charm goes beyond its beautiful designs, encompassing a philosophy of life in communion with the nature.
Culture is also not lacking, as it is located next to the Green School, in Bali, where children are educated in the use of sustainable materials grown from organic form.
His alma mater, the designer Elora Hardy, is sure that bamboo is a unique material that will help him walk towards a better world. To get the much needed "strength for that positive change towards sustainability we have to do in our global future. "
Image from section 2
If you want to read more articles similar to Will the cities of the future be made of bamboo?, we recommend that you enter our category of Architecture and urbanism.
