Abstract

After a century of the international style of modernism, bamboo building materials recently re-emerged as a solution to the overuse of non-renewable materials. The architectural style of modernism of the 1930s started to look the same all over the world because it brought many technological freedoms that liberated the architecture from vernacular tasks. As a result, the buildings did not do anything anymore and architecture became boring boxing containers of space connected to machinery. The inertia of the international style of modernism tends to homogenize raw bamboo architecture as well. In addition, digital technologies are oversimplifying the design processes, while the modern electric tools are eliminating the need for master artisans. This research aimed to search back the bamboo characteristics and the logical technology of structural construction. With the premise of identifying and clarifying the global distribution of raw bamboo structure buildings, the whole process of raw bamboo structure construction was investigated. Then, the theory was applied in five practical projects in China using the Participatory Action Research method. Among different types of bamboo materials (raw, semi-industrialized, and engineered), this research used only raw bamboo because of the low technology required to process. Based on the analysis of construction results, making proper use of raw bamboo accordingly to the species prevents homogenization of bamboo architecture, and it requires to consider three key points: (1) To maximize the structural potency of bamboo, it most combines with different materials such as steel, concrete, wood, or plastics; (2) a new bamboo architecture should consider the local conditions such as weather and history without falling into the tradition's imitation, and (3) prioritize hand-made bamboo model-making for the initial phases of bamboo architectural design; then, refine the results through Finite Elements Analysis. The specific design process to prevent homogenization of new raw bamboo architecture is (1) Problem identification, (2) Hand-drawing and modelmaking 1:50, (3) digital modeling using parametric tools (Rhino/Grasshopper) to reproduce the geometry according to the physical model. (4) Utilize the RFEM software to simulate and analyze wind and earthquake forces, (5) Return to the digital file to edit it according to RFEM results, and (6) Create a new physical model on a bigger scale (1:20, 1:25, or 1:10). The research results provide a public awareness of bamboo's history and characteristics, its role in the construction industry, and how to deal with the modernization issue. In conclusion, based on the traditional bamboo technology (scaled model-making) and digital software technology, as well as the bamboo´s combination with complementary materials, the bamboo material´s characteristics can be fully exploited, the homogenization problem of bamboo architecture can be reduced, and the bamboo architectural design can be enriched.

Keywords: Raw Bamboo, Architectural Design, Tectonics, Participatory Action Research, Traditional Crafts, Digital Technology.