China is the largest producer of bamboo in the world with a long tradition of its usage in buildings. The building sector in any country is its largest polluter, and a revival of the usage of bamboo will immensely contribute towards reducing carbon emissions by the sector. The Housing for All by 2022 programme in our country will need more than two crore houses to be constructed in the next six years. The housing sector accounts for 22% of India’s total annual CO 2 emissions.
The symphony of bamboo The symphony of bamboo
Role of architects
Architectural firms can play a significant role in reducing construction sector pollution by promoting bamboo. In this connection, “Symphony of the Bamboo”, the exhibit of Manasaram Architects at the Venice Biennale 2016 international architecture expo, is of relevance. At the “Time Space Existence” event, it showcases the potential of bamboo for the building sector, especially for developing countries. Manasaram Architects is the only architecture firm from India participating in this event.
The exhibit has four components:
The first shows the firm’s connection to bamboo as a metaphor for social and humble architecture practice which is the need of the hour.
The second part shows the environmental properties of bamboo with its ecological advantages over other high energy materials and how its usage makes lot of sense in the scenario of global warming and frequently occurring natural disasters across the globe.
The third part showcases bamboo-based projects in four categories: residences and housing, community amenity and institutional buildings, tourism and leisure, and infrastructure projects. Bamboo can be used for a broad range of projects — from a small single toilet unit to a proposal for a large Metro station for BMRCL, Bengaluru. This is shown through printed panels, scaled models and videos of the project.
The fourth part is about “How to do it” and shows human resource generation efforts and research and development carried out by Manasaram Architects together with Centre for Green Building Materials and Technology, Bengaluru, and Dayalbagh University, Agra.
The exhibit consists of 11 panels, nine videos, 17 models and a short movie.
Only one more pavilion in the Venice Biennale 2016 exhibited and promoted bamboo exclusively, that of Simon Velez of Columbia, known as the father of bamboo architecture.
Since the exhibition is planned for six months and attracts a large number of visitors, Manasaram Architects is conducting an international hands-on workshop on bamboo titled “Sun breakers for Indian streets” in September, 2016 coinciding with the World Bamboo Day. This will be a bamboo-fabric meta-architecture installation and will be on exhibit till the end of the biennale in November. Global Art Affairs Foundation, University of Venice and the European Cultural Council will be the partners for the workshop.
