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BUILDING WITH ITALIAN BAMBOO – A LOCAL RESOURCE?
Among the several aspects Italian architecture is known for, the use of bamboo is certainly not crucial. Yet the Mediterranean country has a climate which is perfectly suitable to grow several of the almost 1.600 species of bamboo known worldwide. The work-group AK0 (architettura a kilometro zero) and the Italian Bamboo Association (A.I.B.) are investigating the potential of this giant grass as a locally available building material for the regional context.
The use of bamboo as a local resource in Italy is still a rather unexplored realm. For the present project fresh culms of Phylostacchis viridiglaucenses from a local grove have been used. This species reaches heights up to 11m with diameters between 40 and 80 mm.
The curved surface of the bulb-like gridshell was easy to build with split strips of bamboo. An specific splitter tool allows to cut the culms in small strips with different broads according to the number of subdivisions. The used strips correspond to one fifth of the culm's circumference. The assembly procedures required everyday tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches and a power drill.
