Why do we not see more Bamboo Architecture and Bamboo Design?

Bamboo—the Tradition of the Future is a survey of the uses of bamboo in contemporary architecture . The film shows the opportunities for using bamboo in modern design and also illustrates the challenges the material faces. The film invites us to meet some of the most interesting ‘bamboo whisperers’ of today: architects and designers who have developed unique and thought-provoking solutions using bamboo as a material for the future.

With a growth rate of up to a meter/day—the world record of living plants—and structural properties equal to that of steel and concrete, bamboo is a versatile design material and an interesting alternative in the contemporary material/sustainability discourse. Over 1,250 species are known, varying from small to giant. Bamboo is found in varied biotopes—cold mountains, hot tropics, and arid deserts. Furthermore, bamboo is a good alternative to facilitate biological carbon sequestration. “Bamboo’s fast-growing attribute makes it a very useful resource to capture and sequester atmospheric carbon and consequently mitigate climate change, in a similar way that tree does. The unique growing capacity makes bamboo a valuable sink for carbon storage”. Bamboo, in spite of its many advantages, has long-standing difficulties in gaining serious momentum and awareness in mainstream design practices. The small-scale nature and the peripheral cultural and geographic position of the bamboo industry has made it hard for bamboo to make its voice heard. The knowledge of bamboo is today mostly concentrated in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Dr. Campbell Drake says “Architects from the developing world are leading the industry in terms of innovation, but it would be great to see it being exported to other parts of the world” . This is echoed by the bamboo pioneer Dr. Kristof Crolla who notes that “Some of the knowledge, some of the drives that they [places outside the trendsetting metropolises] put on the table can be exported back into the west as well” . And what is true for architecture is equally true for the design of daily objects.

The film has won several awards:
“Independent Short Awards”, Los Angeles, USA, Gold Award for Best Documentary Short; “South Film and Arts Academy Festival” Chili, Best Documentary Short Film; “Virgin Spring Cinefest” Kolkata, India Best Documentary Gold Award; “Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival” Best Cinematography; “World Film Carnival” Singapore, Best Documentary Film; “Košice International Monthly Film Festival (KIMFF)” Košice Slovakia Honorable Mention; and “Independent Short Awards”, Los Angeles, USA, Honorable Mention for Best Editing
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