Bamboo and the beauty of it

The beauty of bamboo as a sustainable building construction material lies in its ability to be designed NOT to last forever. A sustainable building does not equal building something that lasts forever.

Consider how fast bamboo grows into a mature state, being harvested, treated simply and being used to construct or be part of buildings. When parts were worn after many years and were disposed of, they can be decomposed in the ground to plant new bamboo, and the cycle repeats.

Consider other materials such as concrete, steel, wood, and plastic that would consume much energy in the fabrication process, treatment, transportation and material logistics to turn raw material into on-site construction structures.

Imagine if you built a village of houses with material that lasts forever. After 100 years, the people moved out, and there is no way to demolish and discard any of the building materials because they were built to last forever, regardless of any changes in the contextual circumstances of the place.

Imagine again a day when buildings built on earth have reached an extent that covers the entire possible buildable space. The only way to build is by dismantling and disposing of material that lasts forever will then become impossible.

Reuse or recycle becomes the only way. The latter consumes much energy and does not guarantee that there will not be pollution along the process. The former means imposition of an old framework onto a new culture, where buildings can be shaped better with much less effort and energy anew.

Any idea that wants a building material to last forever defeats the purpose of sustainable building construction.

The problem of sustainability becomes shifting a short-term mindset to a mentality that empathises the effect of things and actions towards humanity and the world for the long term. 

One important aspect of design that characterises bamboo buildings is the design that caters for replaceability. The building can be conceived in pieces and parts that are easy to replace when needed. For example, a bamboo double-wall, a double-roof system where one layer can be replaced while the other layer serves the sheltering purpose. When the inner layer is being replaced, the outer layer serves sheltering purposes.

This works better, especially in the hot and humid climate places where passive cooling is a priority in achieving indoor thermal comfort by shading the direct solar heat.

Treating bamboo with harmful chemicals for it to last longer is no better than using a steel structure or other material with similar strength properties. The environmentally friendly treatment that repels insects to prolong the duration of bamboo rot is acceptable.

When considering cradle to cradle versus cradle to grave for bamboo, going to the grave at the end of the material life-cycle after many years does not necessarily mean bad. Consider how long a rotted bamboo decomposes in the soil compared to a plastic that is made to last a lifetime.

Now, compare the amount of energy to produce material that does NOT last forever, like bamboo, versus material that lasts a lifetime (plastic). Plastic-making consumes much energy, while bamboo planting promotes tranquillity. The disposal of bamboo, the pollution, and the energy consumed can be minimal to none.

You do not want something to benefit in the short run, but it gives a hidden problem for the long run.

Labour-intensive means more skill-based exercise involved, and more work opportunities. Higher labour costs can mean work opportunity scarcity or an unfavourable economy of scale of work (frequency of the job not meeting overhead or justifying manpower).

When a minimum economy of scale of work can be achieved, i.e. occasionally having enough work to do, to replace worn bamboo structures and building envelopes, the price can go down in no time. In other words, mass production, mass opportunity, more work opportunities, and lower cost. 

Labour needed, special skills related, are also related to the question of the globalisation method versus the vernacular.

You do not want to visit the world with only one kind of construction technique, the same kind of building material, or the same effect of the construction. Wouldn't it be sad to find that there is no indigenous method to learn anymore in this world when you travel places?   

Some local designers and architects express interest in exposed, fair-faced clay brickworks just to sustain the local skillset manifested in built form. This also promotes the opportunity for local craftsmanship, preventing the extinction of local indigenous skills. Isn't the construction technique and local material the main ideas of making a place uniquely interesting everywhere in the world?

It is time to read up again on Critical Regionalism by Kenneth Frampton on the subject of tectonic and construction technique as a sense of place.

18/7/2021