Architecture Students Create Suspended Bamboo Pavilion

By Bamboo Grove on May 16, 2018

Architecture students at the Bezalel Academy of Arts are putting bamboo to a new and interesting use. As part of a summer design build studio course, they constructed a pavillion solely out of bamboo. The structure was hand built by the students themselves. The bamboo pavilion is a way to cast shade and play with outdoor designs. The relatively thin bamboo poles, when layered together form an effective way to cast shade. The material is as sturdy, as it is lightweight. Meaning that the construction itself was not as labor intensive as the process of using traditional wood. The texture of bamboo also gives the pavilion a unique look that most can’t compare with aesthetically.

Traditional wood materials can be costly in time and money. Milling of the wood is costly, then you have to treat it to make sure it’s water resistant. Also, a lot of wooden structures have a fairly standardized look to them, which can become bland and uninteresting. Bamboo allows your design to have a natural look to them and a flow to your space.

The poles are all uniquely sized and shaped. To account for the non standardized approach, custom made “ninja” joints were created via 3d printer. These joints were created to the exact dimensions with each corresponding pole in mind. Poles were then clumped together to create columns. The way the joint connectors were built means that 100% of the materials for the structure can be reused with ease. The unique shape of each pole adds to the designs texture, and as you walk through and touch the bamboo you get a feel of the unique craftsmanship.

The space used for the pavillion is roughly 40 meters squared and is a great way to make use of space in any courtyard. The interplay of shapes creates a striking piece of art to behold. It can also cool you off on a hot day where shade is a necessity. A lot of people that have walked through the structure, begin to question if it is indeed an outdoor structure or an indoor structure.

Is this a possible look into another future use for bamboo? Most people see the bamboo as purely decorative. It’s something to look at, but doesn’t have much use. Structures like this challenge that outlook by created pleasing displays with practical uses. The ease of setup and use means that this is something that could be easily moved around and displayed. We hope to see more innovative uses of bamboo like this in the future.