With the shift in contemporary house designs, do you think bamboo house design is still relevant in India? However, Bamboo house design has the outstanding ability to generate an “ambient” and demonstrates how bamboo can establish the tone of a landscape. On September 18, the world celebrates Bamboo Day, emphasizing its potential for future sustainable development. Bamboo house design in India is an emerging example of eco-friendly innovation in solving environmental concerns. With its quick growth, sustainability, and versatility, Bamboo also plays a crucial function in preventing erosion, protecting riverbanks, preventing landslides, and restoring land.

Uses of Bamboo in Construction

Scaffolding

Bamboo scaffolding, a traditional Asian construction method, is known for its hurricane resistance, but now faces competition from steel scaffolding due to its standardized dimensions and quick assembly and dismantling capabilities.

Affordable Housing

Bamboo offers affordable housing options, including design features such as an overhanging roof, bamboo culms, split bamboo walls, and ventilation.

Pre-fabricated Foundation

The Costa Rican National Bamboo Project created a prefabricated foundation for a bamboo house that ensures stability even in hurricanes. The bamboo column is tightly attached to the base with concrete that penetrates the bamboo for 400mm and continues outside for more than 600mm. A PVC tube serves as formwork, offering a simple and practical solution based on thorough problem analysis.

Mass Housing:

Bamboo can be utilized for mass housing; however, prefabrication methods are required. It requires 17 panels per house and also emphasizes an industrial procedure. More industrial processes are required to help house the homeless people in India and create large-scale employment, which is critical in developing countries.

Reinforcement:

Bamboo can be used as reinforcement in four different ways, including as roofing sheets in cement mortar and as split bamboo in concrete. Additionally, as formwork in concrete, and as soil reinforcement due to its high tensile strength.

Job-Creation:

Bamboo has significance for job creation because of its low capital investment, as well as the establishment of cooperatives and education in bamboo product manufacturing. A bamboo chair, for example, requires simple equipment and smart design while keeping aesthetic value, durability, and marketability in mind.

Parameters Influencing Bamboo House Design:

India, home to 45% of the world’s bamboo forests, has developed special focus schemes to develop applications with bamboo, aiming to boost the estimated US $15 billion annual trade. Bamboo is an important economic and cultural resource in North-East India, particularly in Assam and Mizoram. It is grown in natural woods, homesteads, groves, and private plantations and is utilized for construction, fencing, agricultural equipment, basketry, firewood, and food.

Land Resource

Land resource: Consider the example of Assam, where the landscape is primarily constituted of the Brahmaputra valley and its sub-tributaries, Also the plain is rich and the ground is suitable for a variety of flora and animals.

Species of Bamboo

Species of bamboo: A large number of species employed in the building have the local name ‘Bhuluka’ and the scientific name is Melocanna baccifera.

Age of bamboo

Households usually have bamboo bushes in their courtyards, with the head preserving mature ones for personal use. The major pillars are made of 5-year-old bamboo, while 3-year-old bamboo is selected for wall panels.

Local equipment

Local construction tools include the Kapida, katari, Hexasa blade, Misida, hammer, cane ropes, coconut ropes, steel wires, bamboo, and GI sheets.

Artisans

In most cases, one skilled individual and three people of the same level are sufficient. A nuclear family’s dwelling typically consists of three rooms, one kitchen, and a porch.

Role of family member

The household’s males help with construction, while females finish up work and use waste for cooking.

Duration

The construction of dwellings, as described above by the locals, takes 15 to 20 days.

Period of construction of houses:

The construction time of bamboo houses in India is critical to their sustainability and durability. The material’s qualities are affected by its growth cycles and harvesting time, which ensures the optimum balance of moisture and density for structural integrity. Proper timing improves longevity, stability, and performance across a variety of climate situations.

Applications Beyond Houses : Architecture, Interior & Product

a) Pavilion | STUDIOARO

An Organic Bamboo Structure Making for a Rejuvenating Gazebo. This exquisite bamboo pavilion offers a heartfelt tribute to the ancestral abode of its proprietors. With an eloquent embrace of its indigenous environs, the bamboo framework artfully captures the essence of its natural milieu.

b) Railing | Abin Design Studio

With metal elements kept to a minimum, the design language is dominated by the delicate weave of bamboo – locally available, but more importantly, a material familiar to the inhabitants of the land. A thatched roof above renders the pavilion a harmonious addition to the landscape.

c) Canopy | Otherworlds

This restaurant in Goa echoes that spirit with a bamboo canopy and dancing sunlight, creating a serene space where connections flourish and time gently unfolds.

d) Landscape | GALI Associates

The open terrace is landscaped with yellow bamboo bushes along the edge of the parapet to create privacy and also to show the green layer on the façade.

e) Partition | Art on Architecture

With its durability and aesthetic appeal, Treated bamboo partitions enhance bamboo’s natural properties, making it more resistant to moisture, insects, and decay, further making them ideal for outdoor areas in house design.

f) Cladding & Ceiling | Loop Design Studio

The bar surfaces (sides, roof, and back) are covered in bamboo and plaster, which merge to make a homogeneous beige coating. A textured ceiling made of bamboo and wooden beams lends weight to the tenderness of the internal space.

g) Bamboo Mira Mirror | Mianzi

The bamboo mirror is intended to enhance the ambiance of any bedroom or living room wall, adding a modern and stylish touch to your house while boosting the effects of natural light and creating a sense of larger rooms.

h) Pecker Frames | Studio Skapa Architects

A statement wall installation by Bamboo pecker frames the living, created wholly in woven bamboo that celebrates the various natural tints of the material, positioned snugly amidst a pair of brass and glass wall lights.

i) Curtains | MISA ARCHITECTS

The exposed RCC ceiling is patterned with bamboo curtains, with a complete green cover on the terrace.

Why is Bamboo Earthquake Resistant?

Bamboo is an excellent material for earthquakes due to its lightweight and stiffness. However, determining its seismic resistance is difficult. The National Bamboo Project of Costa Rica used hydraulic jacks to conduct static tests on conventional bamboo walls. The findings were satisfactory, with a 120mm distortion and no damage to the plaster or panel. The bamboo housing system was believed to be earthquake-resistant, with approximately 20 dwellings surviving near a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in April 1991.

Conclusion

As one can immediately tell, contemporary practice architects and interior design studios in India. How many influential architects/designers in India do we know who practice closely with bamboo house design or just bamboo? On this occasion of World Bamboo Day, we encourage all of you to recognize and appreciate architects who are creating a positive impact using bamboo in the Indian architectural landscape.

Content Writing And Research By: Ar. Baarat Krishna