Possibilities of bamboo construction: from vernacular techniques to industrialized solutions

Abstract

Bamboo based materials are opening new construction possibilities, being used as structural materials for large scale buildings. In this work, vernacular construction using bamboo is analysed as to understand what are the design principles that may be applied for different scenarios, whereas industrialized bamboo materials are studied as to propose solutions for the limits that vernacular construction poses. With this information a set of properties of bamboo as a natural and transformed material is obtained and a hierarchical matrix with different scales is proposed to allow designers to associate a product to its potential uses. Therefore, the main result of this work is a state-of-the-art where it is promoted the elaboration of an array of possibilities that includes a hierarchical database and allows the search for future solutions anticipating probable human and technical constraints on today's and tomorrow's structures.