Working Paper No.

60

Bamboo in Sustainable Contemporary Design

Author: Rebecca Reubens

 The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to reducing poverty, conserving the environment and creating fairer trade using bamboo and rattan. INBAR was established in 1997 and represents a growing number of member countries all over the world. Headquarters are in China and there are regional offices in Ghana, Ethiopia, India and Ecuador. INBAR connects a global network of governmental, nongovernmental,corporateandcommunitypartnersinover50countries.

bamboo
rebecca reubens

in sustainable contemporary design

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 2010 InternationalNetworkforBambooandRattan Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformor by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The presentation of material in this publication and in maps that appear herein does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of INBAR concerning the legal status of any country, or the delineationoffrontiersorboundaries. InternationalNetworkforBambooandRattan(INBAR) P.O.Box10010286,Beijing100102,China Tel:008664706161 Fax:008664702166 www.inbar.int

bamboo
rebecca reubens

in sustainable contemporary design

3

For Nirbhay and Varya

Any copy of this book issued by the publisher is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including these words being imposed on a subsequent purchaser. First published by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan in 2009 www.inbar.int (c) Rebecca Reubens All Rights Reserved.

contents
foreword 9 preface 12 sustainability 16
sustainable development 19 sustainability timeline 22 design for sustainability 25 bamboo and sustainable design 29

the plant 32
the rhizome 34 the roots 36 the culm 38 the culm sheath the leaf 42 the flower 44 the seed 46

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bamboo usage 48
tradition of bamboo 50 interesting bamboo facts 56

the culm: form and function 58

the culm 60 diameter 62 wall thickness 66 internodal distance 70 shape 74 color 78 moisture and shrinkage 80 age 82
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quantity of bamboo

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inventory 88 flowering caused bamboo shortage type of product 92

fiber 158
attrition milling 159 retting 159 thermo mechanical fiber opening chemical extraction 160 160

processing resources
craft based set up 96 industrially crafted set up technology intensive set up

94
100 104

composites 162
mat board 162 laminated bamboo splits chip board 165 fiber board 165 164

infrastructure 106
land, water, electricity connectivity 112 policy environment 108 114

combination of materials 166

upmarket materials natural materials industrial materials recycled materials 166 168 168 169

recontextualizing bamboo
tools 126 whole culm joints 128 main types of joints 129 traditional joineries 130 t joints 132 right angle joints 134 joints for furniture 136 columns and beams 138 lashing 140 scaffolding 142 joining two horizontal members

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beyond traditional bamboo markets 118 the whole culm 122

afterword 170 bibiliography 172 photo credits 174 acknowledgement 176

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restructuring bamboo

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flattened or crushed bamboo 144 bamboo veneer 145 creating surfaces with components 145 creating surfaces with slivers 150 interlacing 152

Bamboo grove

foreword
Rebecca Reubens has asked me to write a Foreword for her new manuscript that attempts to bridge three fields that I am deeply interested in and in which I too have been working for a very long time now. The three fields are Design, Bamboo and Sustainability Sustainability, all of which are extremely complex and there is little real understanding of the issues and approaches with each of them in the modern world due to a paucity of published research here. However in the world of traditional societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America there exists a demonstrated deep understanding of all three subjects since these have been used in an evolutionary manner by local communities for many centuries. These continue to exist as a living culture in their rural communities and lifestyles even today but I must say that modern communication and changing aspirations is affecting these towards rapid extinction. Just as our plant and animal species are being depleted by massive modern exploitation of resources these pearls of traditional wisdom are being lost just as rapidly by human neglect. Design is a natural human activity that evolved with man over the ages but it has now has been relegated to the precincts of a professional marketing priesthood that manages the activity in the marketplace of our global economy. Design as it was deeply understood by traditional societies as a broad based human imaginative activity has been relegated to the back burner since we have chosen to follow the specialized path of science and the trained manager since they provide rational answers for everything and modern man and their society can only decide based on explicit knowledge while design in most cases is felt or tacit knowledge and is based on instincts that are better judged by sensitive interpretation rather than by the application of cold logic. Bamboo is a natural material that had wide spread use in thousands of traditional applications in many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America where it was abundantly grown but with the arrival of industrial revolution and the spread of Western know-how the dominant materials of our economies started depending on minerals like stone, limestone and cement, metals like steel and copper, synthetics such as plastics and petrochemicals and some economic agricultural commodities such as cotton and jute. Bamboo was therefore neglected by the colonial leaders as the spread of technology and formalized knowledge also meant the reduction of local knowledge in materials that were already in wide and sophisticated use in Asia and Latin America, particularly bamboo which was considered the poor mans timber while the emphasis and official attention of the Government in India shifted to timber and wood during the heydays of the British Raj. Sustainability is the hallmark of most settled societies that evolved slowly over thousands of years and gradually built up their lessons of stable and predictable agriculture and lifestyles that were quite in sync with the beat of natures processes. However with the arrival of power assisted technologies and communication man could do a lot more and much faster and the race for the 9

dominance of nature commenced in real earnest and each nation tried to outdo the other in their race for global dominance in economy, power and social well being, all measured by growth and growth alone. However, the destruction of pristine rain forests in search for minerals and material wealth and the release of toxic gasses into the atmosphere has had its natural consequences and we are on the threshold of rediscovering the concept of sustainability in the face of the threat of human extinction, a threat that is imminent, if corrective strategies are not adopted by the worlds citizens and their political leaders on a most urgent basis. Sustainability is then a call for a return to a steady-state economy that echoes nature in all its involved and intertwined processes. This impending crisis places this particular manuscript at the centre of the debate where all three subjects can play a meaningful role and in trying to address and bridge these three difficult but critical fields that promise to bring long term benefits that can counter the problems of our uncontrolled developments of the past few hundred years. Design strategies will need to be explored and design itself will need to be understood and applied by political leadership across the world along with the subjects of science, technology and management and design at a deep level will play a huge role in the reversal of global warming and the move towards sustainability in the days ahead. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant material known to man and we will need to learn to use it in new and improved ways to supplement our vast needs for materials across many areas of application and much research would be needed to fill the gaps in our knowledge along with an urgent attempt to codify and garner the traditional wisdom that still exists across the bamboo culture zones of the world, particularly in Asia and Latin America. Sustainability too is a subject of current scientific and political interest and there is much that we need to understand about the symbiotic processes that live and work in nature and then be able to use this understanding back into our own ways of living and doing things in the future. This manuscript stands as a brave attempt to bridge the gap and I am sure it will encourage others to follow in the much needed integrative research and design actions that is needed in the days ahead. Rebecca studied design at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and then joined National Institute of Design (NID) in the Furniture Design discipline where I teach. She started her own journey into bamboo when she took on the subject as her Diploma Project as a student of Furniture Design at NID. We had a challenging project handy as part of the Bamboo & Cane Development Institute (BCDI) project that I was heading in 2001 and she has stayed with the subject and journeyed far as a member of the International Network of Bamboo & Rattan (INBAR) field team and now has taken it on as her subject for her PhD Thesis at TU Delft in Design and Sustainability through the medium of Bamboo. All three much needed today and I wish her success.

Prof. M P Ranjan Head, Centre for Bamboo Initiatives at NID Faculty of Design, National Institute of Design Ahmedabad 4 October 2009 10

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preface
I began my journey in bamboo completely by accident. At the time I was a student at NID looking for an interesting graduation project, and M. P. Ranjan invited me to work on a bamboo project in Tripura. For six months I worked on the design aspects of this fascinating material, without completely understanding to larger implications of what I was doing in terms of the sustainability. While I worked to improving the world of the craft community, I never completely realized that their world was actually my world as well. Continuing to work with bamboo was another accident. I met Dr. I. V. Ramanuja Rao and Mr. T. P. Subramony from INBAR at the Tripura airport. They spoke to me because they were intrigued by the piece of bamboo sticking out of my hand baggage. Less than four months later, I was part of INBARs Mission Study for the state of Uttaranchal in India. Initially, I was like a fish out of water in this field called development. My team mates spoke an alien language with strange jargons like participatory rural appraisals popping up frequently. Thankfully, bamboo was a common language we shared. I was determined to know more about what they were discussing, no matter how long it took for me to figure out the language. I stayed with INBAR for seven long and fruitful years. I was privileged to be part of an expert interdisciplinary team of bamboo experts, who were willing and generous enough to share their knowledge and experience. I learnt a lot about the various facets of bamboo through my travels, experiences, the experiences of others and many, many mistakes. Just when I thought I knew it all, I met Pablo van der Lugt who was doing his PhD on bamboo. One of the outputs of his thesis was a range of wonderful innovative bamboo products, which I knew the market wanted to buy, but which the poor communities I worked with simply couldnt make. The reason for this was that these products were technology intensive. The rural communities would be pushed lower in the value addition chain if they were involved in the production of these products. From being at the level of processors, they would move backwards to be growers and harvesters, and at the most primary processors. What was the solution to this conundrum? How could I help designers see the implications of their designs? I for one hadnt seen the implications of mine almost a decade ago.

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My brain kept ticking overtime on this, and I was determined to attempt to solve this puzzle. I began my PhD with T U Delft, on the linkages between bamboo, design and sustainability. Understanding more about sustainability was an eye opener for me. My practical knowledge working with bamboo for the past 7 years has been a tremendous advantage in my research. This book is an attempt to share some of the basics I took many years to internalize with designers, entrepreneurs and people interested in sustainability. Every time I look at this book, I know there is so much more to know, and to share. But thats another book. With any luck, it will be my PhD thesis.

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sustainability

Sustainability is the outcome of how we choose to live our lives. Sustainability is an emergent property of living systems different from the functional properties of mechanistic systems and objects. To look at it another way, we would never describe a machine as possessing sustainability. We might speak about its durability or reliability, but never about its sustainability. To me the most basic symbol of sustainability is that of flourishing. It pertains to all natural systems, both humans and other living systems. For humans, flourishing means more than just remaining healthy. It also means living the good life, following precepts handed down over the ages by sages and philosophers.
John R. Ehrenfeld, Sustainability by Design

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A Manipuri father and son

sustainable development
The word sustainable first came to us from the European foresters of the late 18th century, and this probably explains the root of its strong environmental connotations. At the time forests were being clear felled in order to provide the wood that was required to fuel Europes developing economy. The foresters soon realized that the trees did not grow back fast enough to match the pace at which they were being cut. To deal with the deforestation of vast tracts of lands, they developed scientific or sustainable forestry. Put simply, enough trees would be planted to replace the ones being cut. The growth rate of the forest would be monitored scientifically to ensure that it was being replenished at the rate at which it was being used: that it was sustainable. Today, the word sustainable has become a prefix for a lot of words. Our world is desperately looking for sustainable solutions to problems ranging from climate change to over consumption. Over the last 30 years, there has been progress in development and industrialization with results which include the increase of up to 20 years in the life expectancy in developing countries, rise in literacy rates, improved incomes, and a spread in democratically elected governments. The infant mortality rates have halved, and the food production and consumption have increased faster than population rates. Our desire to maintain higher standards of living and consumption patterns call for higher levels of development. Meanwhile, the natural resources required sustaining our world, and fueling this development, such as oil and water, are finite. It is increasingly recognized that human activities are damaging global economic, environmental, social and cultural systems. Sustainable development offers the only way forward. The concept of sustainable development as we know it, was introduced to a global audience in 1987, by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, headed by Brundtland. Many broad links between the environment, economy and social concerns had evolved around the world in the sixties and the seventies. The Commisions report, Our Common Future drew upon and encapsulated these ideas, through what is arguably now the most well known summarization of sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. 19

A hill slide prepared for jhum (slash and burn) cultivation

The Commission identified common challenges facing the world community. One important issue discussed was the environment and how the worlds economic systems could contribute to solving environment related issues, which would in turn provide long term relief to poverty and underdevelopment. This was a paradigm shift in the understanding of sustainability as a primarily ecological context, by linking it to development which has economic and social connotations, including poverty, international trade, peace and security. One of the strategic imperatives reflecting this as outlined by the Commission was merging environment and economics in decision making. In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as The Earth Summit, was held in Brazil. The Summit continued the momentum generated by the Brundtland Commission, when it adopted the Rio Declaration. The Declaration includes 27 principles which address the developing countries concern that the developed countries have used up a large part of the earths environmental resources to fuel their own development and industrialization. The policies these same countries are now pressing for, with regards to reducing pollution and protecting the environmental resource, may affect the potential of economic growth for the developing countries. The need for development is very obvious, and can be widely endorsed by a cross section of representatives, ranging from poorer countries to development agencies to groups primarily concerned about poverty and social deprivation. Equally obvious is that this development must differ from the model of the past, where economic activity happened at the cost of the environment. The environment and its problems are global and therefore common to everyone. For this reason, it is in the interest of every country, institution and individual to continuously find ways to achieve a balance between economic, environmental and social objectives.

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As the figure illustrates, the economy exists within society. An economy cannot exist without the exchange of goods and services between interacting people i.e. a society. An economy is only one part of a multi faceted society in which esoteric components such as philosophy, art, music etc. have their own places. Society in turn exists within the environment. All of our requirements, from the most basic air, food and water academicians. Sustainability is now being looked at as a journey; a process where there is a divergence of economic, social, cultural and environmental goals with the aim of the development of all the facets of human life.

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18th century

1962

1972

1987

Forests were being clear felled for wood to fuel Europes developing economy. European foresters developed scientific or sustainable forestry to deal with vast tracts of lands. Put simply, enough trees would be planted to replace the ones being cut. The growth rate of the forest would be monitored to ensure it was being replenished at the rate at which it was being used.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was published in 1962. This was considered a turning point for understandings about the links between the environment, the economy and social well being.

Limits to Growth was published by the Club of Rome. The report was extremely controversial since it predicted that the Earths limits will be reached in 100 years if population and resource depletion continue at the current pace. It also highlighted the perspectives of the Northern and Southern countries.

The World Commission on Environment and Development published Our Common Future. This report defines sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

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sustainability timeline
1992 1997 2007

Most countries and 117 heads of state participated in the UN conference on Environment and Development in Brazil. Participants adopted Agenda 21, a blue print for sustainable development. The Convention on Climate Change was agreed upon, and non binding carbon dioxide reduction goals for industrial countries were set.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change of the Parties (COP-3) signed the Kyoto protocol. This document set goals for greenhouse gas emission reduction and established emissions trading in developed countries and clean development mechanisms for developing countries.

Al Gore (ex vice president of the USA) wrote An Inconvenient Truth. The book was based on scientific reports including those of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

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Designers and communities working together to develop products for new markets

design for sustainability

There is an increasing awareness and sensitivity to the global environmental crisis i.e. rapid growth of economic activity and human population, depletion of natural resources, damage to ecosystems and loss of biodiversity. Corresponding to this is a growing pubic and private demand across the world for sustainable products, systems and lifestyle options: options which address issues of consumption, population, technology, and resources. Historically, humans have always tried to increase supply when it didnt meet the current demand. In the case of finite resources, such as the environment, this approach is not possible. It is therefore imperative to design new sustainable products and systems to replace the current unsustainable ones. For this reason, the concept of sustainable design and sustainability in general has gained serious momentum with designers, producers and consumers. Sustainable Design, as a philosophy, looks at using innovative design and industrial practices to create products that meet the needs of contemporary lifestyles, in a manner which reduces the use of non renewable resources, minimizes environmental impact and relates people with the natural environment, so that these needs can be met not only in present, but in the indefinite future. In general, sustainable design dovetails into the overall conceptual lens of sustainability and sustainable development, which rests on the tenets of environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, socio political sustainability and cultural sustainability.

Sustainable Design Standards and tools to measure the impact of a product or system are now available, and many more are being developed. The ecological footprint measures how much biologically productive land and water and individual, population or activity requires to generate the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates using prevailing technology and resource management practices. (WWF International 2006). The carbon footprint measures the total amount of carbon dioxide attributable to the actions of an individual (mainly through energy use) over a period of one year. (Weidmann and Minx, 2007) The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) systematically tests the environmental impact of a product, service or system. (ISO 1997) 25

A broken traditional bamboo basket being reused as a tree guard

Platforms to research, develop and showcase sustainability and sustainable design with regards to the environment are increasing, and promoting the many facets of the term sustainability. Some of approaches to these are listed under.

MATERIALS:

Low impact materials:

Recycleability. Products, processes and systems made of recycled or repurposed materials or those designed for performance in a commercial afterlife. Biomimicry i.e. redesigning industrial systems on biological lines, where materials are constantly reused in continuous closed cycles is also part of this concept. Renewability. Products, processes and systems made of materials which are sustainably produced. This includes organic materials which can be easily regrown, and are biodegradable when their usefulness has been exhausted.

Stewardship Sourcing Sourcing: Products, processes and systems manufactured using raw materials from fairly traded or low impact sources. One such source is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) which is the most important certification scheme in Western Europe for sustainably produced wood from temperate and tropical forests. (Centrum Hout 2007)

Substitution: Alternatives and replacements to toxic products, processes and systems. This includes the substitution of components which are damaging with safer ones.

MANUFACTURE : MANUFACTURE:

Alternative Renewable Energy Energy: Products, processes and systems manufactured using alternative and renewable energy sources. Efficiency Efficiency: Products, processes and systems manufactured using the efficient use of energy, water and materials, thereby reducing resource wastage and mismanagement.

Quality and Durability: Durability Products, processes and systems which are longer functioning life-span and better functioning. Such products will need to be replaced less frequently, thus reducing the impacts of producing replacements.

TRANSPORT:

Efficient Transport: Transport Products, processes and systems which optimize space while being transported e.g.. Stackable or knockdown products. Vicinity Vicinity: Products, processes and systems which are manufactured using locally, or bioregionally sourced materials, thus reducing transportation and thereby energy use. 26

USE:

Efficiency: Products, processes and systems with greater efficiency in its use of energy, water and materials in their usage e.g. energy efficient products

Utility and Service Substitution: Products, processes and systems with greater utility for the user, such as multifunctional products. This includes shifting the mode of consumption from unit usage to shared system which reduces the end resource consumption e.g.. Buying a book to renting a book from a library

Alternative Energy Usage: Products, processes and systems which use renewable energy to function.

DISPOSAL:

Disassembly: Products, processes and systems which are designed to be easy to disassemble for repurposing, composting, and /or recycling.

OTHERS:
Communication: Products, processes and systems which communicate information that is instrumental to better environmental, social or cultural practices, generally by changing user behavior. Social Equitability: Products, processes and systems which contribute to greater social equitability through their manufacture, ownership and the distribution of profits e.g.. Fair trade

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Stool produced from turned sections of soild bamboo species

bamboo and sustainable design

The market for bamboo products is on the rise, owing to the ever growing demand for eco friendly products. Companies are recognizing the green quotient of bamboo, as well as advertising their eco friendly philosophies to an eco conscious market. Bamboos properties and its tremendous application possibilities of bamboo have paved the way for bamboo to replace hard wood bit by bit in traditional usages such as hardwood floors and fencing. The growing contemporary and innovative applications of bamboo range from the Asus Bamboo Eco book computer and the I Pod Bamboo Shuffle case, to bamboo textile products ranging from bed linen to lingerie, to bamboo houses, furniture and lifestyle accessories, to bamboo crash helmets, medical products and cosmetics. Clearly, contemporary design, including designers, design research, design institutions, and design driven companies, are attracted by the possibilities bamboo offers. Contemporary designers have successfully explored the material possibilities bamboo offers and developed innovative high quality products made from bamboo. Most of these designers have used reconstituted bamboo with a technology intensive approach, whereby the common negative connotations associated with bamboo products, such as low cost, rustic, bad quality, handicraft etc., were addressed by using bamboo in an industrially processed form. Doing this allowed the market to see the product free and apart from these associations and opened up new market opportunities for these products. The positive interventions these products, design concepts and explorations of new processing techniques on the commercialization of bamboo as a sustainable material for the future are tremendous. However, since actualizing these designs requires industrial production facilities, they do not leverage the socio economic facets of sustainability that bamboo based production can offer. In the case of these technology push products, the bamboo producer communities are pushed back one step lower in the production to consumption and value chains of these products. From being involved in the value chain from growing to production, their role limited to the growing, management, harvesting, transportation, and at the most primary processing of bamboo.

Handwoven bamboo fiber textile

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Kotwalia woman with bamboo basket

Bamboo has the potential to play an important role in generating a renewable and sustainable source of income and employment and providing a viable eco friendly livelihood option to the poor bamboo producers and processors, such as the traditional bamboo communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is easily available to poor communities in their natural environment, and in some cases even their homesteads, and it can easily processed by them including marginalized producer groups such as women, backward communities and tribals. The development of bamboo based enterprises requires low capital, raw material and tools and machinery investments as compared to other micro small and medium enterprises. This fact is recognized by companies and designers who are looking to find production possibilities in developing and underdeveloped countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The underlying logic for this is the easy availability of bamboo in these areas which lead to cost effective production; but more importantly the product gains sustainable value if it is produced by local bamboo processors. The linking of the poor producers in the South, to the rich consumers in the North and South enables the dual self reinforcing leveraging of the production opportunities of rural community enterprises, and niche, social, and commercial markets in the North and South. For this 30

reason, more focused thought, and strategy development needs to go into the potential of bamboo as a material which strongly allows for socially equitable production, side by side with exploring the commercial and design potential of bamboo. Generally, the pillars of sustainability are seen to be in conflict with each other, but bamboo offers a way forward where an integration of these tenants with a common approach to sustainability is possible.

Bamboo trivets

Designers developing bamboo products

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the plant
The bamboos are a group of giant, fast growing, perennial grasses, and are classified separately from trees. Bamboo is indigenous to the tropical, sub tropical and temperate areas of all the continents, except Europe. Bamboo is found in diverse climates, from the icy mountains of the Indian Himalayas to the hot tropical regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Botanically, bamboo is classified in the family Gramineae, the subfamily Bambusoideae, and the tribe Bambusae. There are around 90 genera of bamboo divided into over 1000 species. Each bamboo species has different characteristics and properties.

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A bamboo rhizome being prepared for vegetative propagation

the rhizome
Bamboo culms grow out of underground, stem like parts called rhizomes. Each rhizome is segmented into internodes and nodes, exactly like the culm. Roots and buds form at the nodes of the rhizome. The rhizome buds either create an underground rhizome branch, or an above ground bamboo shoot. Over a period of time, the rhizomes, and the extensive shallow growing roots system, spread in all directions, and form a very stable underground mesh, which is able to stabilize soil and prevent erosion. There are two basic growth patterns of bamboo: The leptomorph or monopodial bamboos and the pachymorph or sympodial bamboos. Monopodial or running bamboos have fast spreading, long rhizomes which send up culms in all directions, spread over a distance from the parent culm. Since the perimeter of monopodial bamboo groves expand quickly, they are often considered invasive. Sympodial or clumping bamboos have slow spreading, short rhizomes. The new shoots come up close to the mother culms forming clump like stands, where the culms are standing densely clustered with little tendency for spreading. Some species have smaller tighter clumps, while the clumps of some species are more open.

A pachymorph or sympodial rhizome system

A leptomorph or monopodial rhizome system

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Visible bamboo roots at the basal nodes of the culm

the roots
The long and fibrous bamboo roots emerge from the rhizome nodes. The shallow root and rhizome system forms on the top 30 cm of the soil, and acts like a natural mesh preventing soil erosion. The roots of bamboo are adventitious, meaning that they emerge at uncommon places. In most plants and trees, roots are found at the base of the trunk. Bamboo roots commonly emerge at the nodes of the rhizomes, and can also be seen at the basal nodes of the culm. Some species such as D. hamiltonni have aerial roots, which emerge on the higher nodes of the culm, and also at the branches.

Bamboo rhizome and roots

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Bamboo culms and bamboo shoot

the culm
All bamboo species have pole like, woody, jointed stems known as culms. Culms are generally erect, though in some species they are scandent or climbing. When the infant culm forms on the underground rhizome node it is called a bud. This bud is called a shoot when it emerges from the ground. When the shoot develops side branches, it is called a culm. Once the culm is harvested it is called a pole or a cane. The whole plant being preformed in the sprout comes out of the earth with its almost final thickness of up to 30cm. The culm has a maximum diameter at the base and tapers towards the apex of the stem. By water pressure, the culm is pressed out of the soil like a telescope. The twigs and leaves come out of the culm in a later stage. Unlike trees, bamboo culms finish growing to full height in about 3-4 months. Culms are divided into sections by transverse diaphragms in the stem cavity called nodes. These nodes appear on the outside of the culm as rings. Branches and leaves grow out of the nodes, generally towards the upper part of the culm. The portions between the nodes are called internodes or lumen and are generally hollow.

Bamboo culms with exposed rhizomes

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Bamboo culms with culm sheaths intact

the culm sheath

The internodes of young bamboo shoots are covered with plant casings, called culm sheaths. The culm sheaths are tough and fibrour and paper thin. They protect the culm during its growth, and are shed by the end of the first year. Each bamboo species has a distinct culm sheath. These include sheaths with tiny black hairs on them, such as in D. hamiltonni. The culm sheath is a major characteristic in the botanical identification of the bamboo species.

Detail of culm sheath

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Bamboo leaves

the leaf

Nearly all of the woody bamboos are evergreen despite their abundant leaf fall. The leaves vary from less than 25mm to more than 600mm between different species. Bamboo leaves are generally green in color. Variegated leaves with combinations of white, yellow and greens are more common in the smaller ornamental species than the larger bamboos.

An evergreen bamboo clump

Bamboo leaves at the nodal branches

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Flowering bamboo culms

the flower
Every bamboo species has a different flowering cycle. Generally bamboo flowers once every 1-35 years, though some bamboos have never been seen in blossom. The longest mass flowering interval known is 130 years, and is found in all the species Phyllostachys bambusoides (Sieb. And Zucc) Bamboo flowers sporadic sporadically when only a few culms blossom at a time, or gregariously where all the culms flower simultaneously. Gregarious flowering is peculiar to bamboo. During gregarious flowering, all the bamboos of the same species flower together, irrespective of their age, or location across the world. The sporadic flowering of bamboo takes place before and after gregarious flowering. The flowering sequence is generally preliminary sporadic flowering, gregarious flowering and finally the sporadic flowering of the remaining culms. Depending on the intensity of flowering among the culms, a clump of a certain bamboo species may be partially flowering or completely flowering. However, a bamboo species may have both types of clumps. The flowering in a bamboo clump is not continuous; rather it occurs in three distinct flushes, with two non blooming periods in between. In most species the seed production is the most in the first flush period, and gradually decreases in the subsequent flushes. During the third flush, the seeds produced are mostly empty and thus not viable. After flowering with typical grass-forms, the seeds become mature and the totally exhausted plant begins to die.

Bamboo flowers

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A Melaconna baccifera clump with fruit like seeds

the seed
Since bamboos flower very infrequently, their seeds are not easily available. When they do flower, in most species, the production of seeds can be tremendous. Most bamboo seeds are tiny and look like a rice or wheat grain or caryopsis. Some species like Melocanna baccifera have fruit like seeds the size of small mangoes or pears. Indigenous communities in the bamboo flowering regions grind the grain like seeds of the bamboo into flour and make delicious bread from it. Rodents thrive on bamboo seeds and multiply rapidly when bamboo flowers. Once the seed stock is exhausted, the rats attack the annual harvest and food grain. This is the reason why it is believed that when bamboo flowers a famine will soon follow.

The seeds of Melocanna baccifera

Grain like bamboo seeds

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bamboo usage
When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them. Chinese proverb

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An Apatani woman from Arunachal Pradesh selling her wares at the market

tradition of bamboo
Bamboo is deeply entrenched in the lives of traditional communities since time immemorial. Anthropologists have suggested that early human reliance on bamboo tools and technology may have preceded the usage of the Stone Age tools. The limited record of this is attributed to the fact that unlike stone, bamboo is perishable. This theory seems very plausible, given that most of the ancient civilizations originated in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where bamboo is indigenous, and that bamboo as a material is very easy to work with. Bamboo is an integral part of life in Asia. Here each part of the bamboo plant is used to form a usable product. In India, there is a saying that after birth one cannot survive without bamboo. This is literally true, because in certain tribes, the first material a new born baby comes into contact with is the bamboo blade that is used to cut its umbilical cord. In death, bamboo is used by these cultures to construct the stretcher to carry the corpse to the cremation ground. The easy availability of bamboo has made it widely used, and indispensable to food security in bamboo reliant cultures. Bamboo is woven into intricate fish traps, as well as animal traps, and basic hunting implements which help in the subsistence of non agricultural communities. Bamboo groves are slashed and burnt for jhum or shifting cultivation. During famines and at times of food scarcity, the succulent bamboo shoots of edible species come up irrespective of rain, and are consumed fresh, pickled and in dried form throughout South east Asia. Bamboo culms are used whole as a building material to form structural members for housing and Bamboo cage bridges. The entire culm is flattened and woven to form walls, partitions, fences, ceilings, rafters, and roofing. Due to the inherent strength of the bamboo culm, it is used as rural bridges, and water rafts.

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A bamboo house in Arunachal Pradesh

Traditional fabric is woven on a loin or back strap loom, which is a very simple device constructed from a few bamboo culms. There are a myriad of specific and multi purpose agrarian baskets woven from bamboo. Loosely woven bamboo containers are used as sieves. Bamboo is interwoven in the customs and rituals of these communities. The bamboo culm is fashioned into a variety of musical instruments. In many Asian tribes, the ability to weave fabric is the prerequisite to make a girl eligible for marriage. For a man, it is his ability to weave a bamboo basket. When a girl is married and leaving her maternal home, she is given a bamboo leaf by her parents. This symbolizes that in marriage, each individual needs to bend so as not to break, just like a bamboo culm in the winds.

Bamboo structure for a giant deity of Goddess Durga in Tripura

Indigenous fish traps from North Eastern India

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Grain stored in bamboo baskets at a village shop

Woman weaving textile on a back strap loom Bamboo baskets used to keep rice dry at a unit in Bangladesh

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interesting bamboo facts

bulb It was patented Thomas Edison used a carbonized bamboo filament for his electric light bulb. in 1880 and still burns at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. Thomas Edison also used bamboo as rebar instead of steel for the reinforcement of a lot of his structures including his swimming pool, which has not leaked to date. Alexander Graham Bell used bamboo for his first phonograph needle needle. Bamboo was the only living thing to survive the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima at ground zero and provided the first re greening after the blast. Over 1 billion people in the world live in bamboo houses. Bamboo houses are ideal in earthquake prone regions regions. Bamboo houses are have even withstood 9 magnitude earthquakes. Bamboo vinegar is beneficial for skin and hair diseases such as psoriasis. It is antibacterial, relieves itching and odor.

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Bamboo has a tensile strength superior to that of mild steel and its weight to strength ration surpasses that of graphite. Bamboo withstands 52000 pounds of pressure per square inch. A 220 meter long and 2.7 meter wide suspension bridge in China rests entirely on bamboo cables. Bamboo fiber is antibacterial and with high absorbency absorbency. It is an excellent insulator and has anti static properties. Bamboo leaves are said to have medicinal value and are used by indigenous people to treat fevers, and as diuretics. The leaves are also used as fodder for animals and fish during times of scarcity. Bamboo is excellent for watershed protection and soil remediation remediation. It prevents run off, prevents riverbank erosion and helps mitigate water pollution due to its high nitrogen consumption

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the culm:
form and function

All bamboo species have tubular, woody stems known as culms. The culms comprise of the part of the bamboo plant most used for production. The properties of the culm are determined by its anatomical structure. Though the culms appear to be completely cylindrical, they are actually slightly conical, since they taper towards the apex with maximum diameter at the base. Bamboo culms are divided into sections by transverse diaphragms in the stem cavity called nodes. These nodes appear on the outside of the culm as rings. The portions between the nodes are called internodes. Most bamboo culms are hollow, except in a few species which have solid or male culms. The hollowness of the culm makes bamboo very light and also buoyant.

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Green Bamboo culms

the culm
The culm is comprised of extremely strong linear fibers, in a resinous matrix. These fibers run straight along the length of the culm, except where some of the fibers cross over at the nodes to form the diaphragm, and some pass through into the branches. Bamboo does not have any radial fibers, like trees, and so it splits easily along its length. The only mild resistance to splitting is at the nodes, because of the cross over. The fibers are denser towards the outer wall of the culm and less at the inner wall. The outer fibers are stronger and finer, whereas the inner layer is coarse and weak. The cortex, rind, or bamboo green forms the outer part of the culm. This hard, waxy skin is high in silica content and resists penetration by liquids. The inner skin also resists liquid penetration, but less so than the outer skin. Traditional communities use the bamboo skin in applications which require smoothness, durability and strength. Slivers with the outer skin are inserted at regular intervals while weaving to strengthen bamboo mats. Mats requiring high strength are woven completely with outer skin slivers. The physical characteristics of bamboo culms vary from species to species, and are also dependent on the soil and climate. It is essential to keep characteristics like culm diameter, culm wall thickness, internodal distance etc. of particular species in mind while designing bamboo products. There are two perspectives from which to approach the usage of bamboo. One is to design the product and then to identify the species which matches the requirement, and the second is to identify the species which are easily available and then to design accordingly.

Cross section of culms with fiber distribution denser towards the outer wall

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A bamboo worker holding a large diamter and small diameter culm

diameter
Culm diameters between species range from 45cms to less than 1cm. The culm diameter is a very important design parameter when designing a whole or round bamboo product i.e. when using the bamboo in its cylindrical form. This is because the culm diameter dictates the usage of the material and the aesthetics of the product in certain cases for example, in B.giganteus the large culm diameter allows for constructing large cylindrical elements such as flower pots, or water containers from the culm itself, without joining of additional components. In a species like A. jaunsarensis, the small culm diameter does not allow even a pen holder to be made from the culm without joinery of some kind, though it does allow a bamboo pen to be made which would not be possible as simply with a larger diameter bamboo. Culm diameter is also a factor to be considered when using the bamboo in flattened form i.e. when opening up the culm by various techniques to make a flat strip. The circumference of the culm becomes the defining factor of maximum width of the flattened strip. This is why larger diameter bamboos are preferred when making flattened bamboo products, such as traditional bamboo steamers. Sometimes the bamboo wall thickness is not pared, but the entire thickness is split and crushed, culm diameter again dictates the width of the flat crushed strip. This is pertinent when making bamboo boards. Traditionally, this is used to make crushed bamboo strips, which are interlaced to form large mats which are used to cover large areas, such as for walls or ceilings. A smaller diameter means that certain process will need to be repeated to cover the same amount of area, and the cost and time of the production cycle will increase accordingly. There are small units dedicatedly producing crushed bamboo strip mats, all over Asia. The technique involves splitting the entire bamboo culm into two halves, and removing the inner diaphragms at the nodes from each half. The culm is then opened out into a strip by making tiny linear cuts along the fibers of the half cylinder. Each strip is then peeled into 2-3 layers and then interlaced into mats. The mats woven with the outer skin are stronger and more durable, and therefore of better quality.

Woman smoking traditional pipe made from large and small diameter bamboo

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Top row (from left to right): Removing the septums from a split culm; making tiny cuts with knife to open culm; peeling culm into layers Bottom row (from left to right): Skin layer stips sorted seperately from inner strips; drying; weaving mats

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When making splits or slivers, a bamboo with a larger diameter is preferred to a bamboo with a smaller diameter, since this is more economical from the production. This is for the simple reason that the additional material in the thicker wall allows for more splits or slivers from the same length of bamboo. Culm diameter also matters when splits (i.e. longitudinal sections of a bamboo culm), of a large breadth is required. Splits are radial or tangential sections of the bamboo culm. Both kinds of splits differ in terms of strength and aesthetics, due to the concentration of fibers towards to outer skin. When a split of a large breadth is required, radial splits are generally not possible due to the limitation of the wall thickness of the bamboo. Therefore, the culm diameter requires being large enough to accommodate the breadth of the tangential split required. If a smaller culm diameter is used, even if the split of the required breadth can be made, this split may be rounded, owing to the shape of the bamboo.

Splits with rectangular cross section from large diameter bamboo (left) and splits with top surface rounded from smaller diameter bamboo (right)

Whole bamboo culm crushed and opened up for weaving into ceiling and partition mats

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Bamboos with different wall thicknesses

wall thickness
The wall thickness of bamboo culms range from a millimeter, to more than 8cms, depending on the species. The wall thickness of all culms is more towards the base, and reduces towards the apex. Bamboos which grow in poorer dry soils, like D. strictus have a smaller diameter, and greater wall thickness. Some bamboos are completely solid and are known as male bamboos. This means that the hollow part of the internode is negligible or nonexistent. Such bamboos are used in applications like fishing poles and walking sticks. A greater culm thickness means that the bamboo will likely be heavier than a thin walled species of the same dimensions. When making splits or slivers, a bamboo with a greater wall thickness is generally more cost efficient from the production viewpoint than a bamboo with a lesser wall thickness. This is for the simple reason that the additional material in the thicker wall allows for more splits or slivers from the same length of bamboo. Thicker walled species are also preferred at parts of joineries, especially if the joineries are movable. This is because a thicker wall allows for more material at the point of the joint. In a thinner walled species, additional materials like wood may need to be used to block the hollow part at the point of the joinery. Solid, or male bamboos behave like rods, as compared to the thinner walled species which behave like pipes. Solid bamboos and bamboos with greater wall thickness are easier to bend when whole. This is because the thinner walled species often get dented at the point of the bend, because they are hollow Bamboo is a natural material, and so it impossible to find identical culms. Scraping the culms from the outside achieves some level of symmetry since if removes swellings at the nodes, and also allows for a slight alteration in the diameter of the cylinder. If the cylinders required are less than an inch in diameter, and under 3 feet in length, solid bamboos can be turned on a lathe to achieve perfect dimensions. This is very relevant when a streamlined industrial aesthetic is desired where all the bamboo components are of the same dimension.

Turned bamboo backrest of chair

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Producers achieving standardized dimensions of products through turned bamboo components

Thinner walled species with larger diameters are preferred when using the bamboo in flattened form i.e. when opening up the culm by various techniques to make a flat strip. This is because a wall thickness of 1-1.5mm is required for this purpose, and generally a section of the internode of a freshly cut culm is pared lengthwise to this dimension. In case of a thicker walled species, the material pared off would be more as compared to a thinner walled species. This would mean the same product from a thicker walled species would indicate a greater cost of production because of the material wastage costs, as well as the production time.

Perfect stackability possible through standardized turned components from solid bamboo

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Culms of same species with variation in nternodal distances

internodal distance
The portions between the nodes of a bamboo culm are called the internodes, and are hollow. On the inside of the hollow bamboo culm at the node, the internodes are separated into cylindrical compartments by disc like nodal walls called the septums. Bamboo is particularly strong at its nodes, because this is the only part of the culm where the linear fibers criss cross to form the septum, which acts as a cross member. There is no relationship between the height of the culm and the number of internodes. The culms of the same clump and with the same height do not have the same number of internodes. In general, the longest internodes are found in the middle of the culm, while internodes become shorter towards the culm tip. The internodal length of the different bamboo species varies between around 20cm to the extreme of 4.5 m in species like Arthrostylidium schomburgkii. The internodal distance is also a factor to be considered when making flattened bamboo products such as traditional bamboo steamers. The culm is opened up by various techniques to make a flat strip. Since the consistency of the bamboo at the node is different, species with longer internodes are preferred. This limits the number of nodes, and if possible, only the internodal sections are used. To make a flattened bamboo strip, the internode of a freshly cut culm is pared lengthwise to a wall thickness of 1 - 1.5 mm, and split along its length. It is made pliable and opened out by applying heat evenly lengthwise. A stick is used to press the culm flat on the ground resulting in a paper like strip. In another indigenous technique, the internode of an approximately 7 month old freshly cut culm is plugged with grass and leaves, and then heated over a fire. The hot air trapped inside causes the internode to swell when heated. At this point, the internode is slit along its length and a stick is used to press the pliable bamboo into a sheet. The internodal distance is very important when working in the area of handicrafts and products which require slivers of bamboo. The node or knot of bamboo is avoided in interlaced products 70

A bamboo culm cut close to the node so that the septum is visible

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(from left to right) Paring bamboo culm; using the opened strip to form circle for steamer; detail of peg used to to hold circle together

because the fiber behavior at the node is different from that of the internode. Inclusion of the node therefore makes the sliver dimension unequal. The skill required to integrate the slivers which include the nodes is greater than slivers made only from internodes. The use of slivers made from species with longer internodes makes the product aesthetically smoother and uniform given that the number of joints while interlacing is reduced. Use of longer slivers also makes the production time and cost effective. Bamboo species with shorter internodes are preferred when using the culms as structural load bearing members. This is because the septums at the nodes act as enforcing connectors and therefore, the more the nodes, the greater the strength of the bamboo. This is why species like Bambusa balcooa, and Phyllostachys pubescens are used for housing purposes. Species with longer internodes are also preferred when the usage of the culm is as a hollow cylinder such as to make natural containers. This is because the septum between the internodes forms a natural base in the container, and ensures it is waterproof. Large diameter bamboos are (top) Illustration of using flattened bamboo used to make containers such as mugs, whereas small diameter bamboos are used as containers strips to make a bamboo steamer with lid for spices and herbs. The branches naturally form at the node, and so, these can also be (below) incorporated in the product detailing and joinery. A common method of making containers is also to split the bamboo internode with septums at both ends, into two equal parts lengthwise, and use the part between two nodes as the container such as when making shallow serving vessels, candles etc. When the length of the container desired is short, a species with short internodes is desirable, and similarly, when the length of the container desired is long, a species with long internodes is desirable. Long internodes are preferred in applications that require long bamboo tubes or cylinders. Indigenous tribes have prized bamboo species with long internodes to make blow pipes from which they shot poisoned arrows. In ancient China, the septums of bamboo culms with long internodes were removed to make irrigation pipes to transport water. Species with longer internodes are also preferred when forming a circle or circular frame from a sliver, split or slat. Since fibers are denser around the node, the behavior of the material of the internode and node while bending into a circle is different. A circle needs to be completely symmetrical, so the node should be avoided in its construction. If the node is used, there is a strong likelihood that there will be an asymmetrical warp or bend at the area of the node, which does not conform to the symmetrical silhouette/outline of the circle. 72

(top) splitting bamboo into two parts (center) bamboo candle made from internode with two septums intact (below) bambo cutlery formed from septum and internode

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Culms of Bambusa ventricosa, also known as Buddha Belly bamboo

shape
The culms of every bamboo species have the maximum diameter at the base i.e. at ground level, and taper towards the apex of the stem. This means actually each bamboo culm is an elongated cone with a truncated tip, though practically speaking, the bamboo culm diameter is quite consistent through most of its length. Most bamboo species have culms which are straight and cylindrical, though certain bamboos are serpentine. Bamboos like Phyllostachys aureosulcata f. spectabilis have the characteristic of a serpentine bend in the lower portion of the culm only. Some bamboo species, such as Bambusa bambos and Guada angustifolia, are more prone to take on crooked bends in unmanaged and congested clumps. This is because both these bamboos are thorny, heavily branched and grow in thick clumps. Because of the congested clump formation, the branches of adjacent culms intertwine and the culms exert pressure on each other. Since there is not enough space for the culms to grow straight up, they grow crooked. A solution to this is to manage the clumps, including pruning the lower branches earlier on. The culms of some species have very distinct cross sections which often make them of ornamental value. The exotic Bambusa ventricosa, commonly known as Buddha belly bamboo is very bulbous at the nodes. Chimonobambusa quadrangularis, is known as square bamboo given the square shape of its culms. The Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda has tumid or exceptionally swollen nodes, for which it is in high demand. The culms of Phyllostachys edulis f. heterocycla, commonly known as tortoise shell bamboo, are greatly prized for their shape. Every alternate internode of this ornamental bamboo bulges to the left and right respectively. When designing or working with bamboo the perfection or imperfection of the cylinder is very important. Certain varieties of otherwise regular bamboos have asymmetrical culms, with one side tending to be flat. Some bamboo scientists say that such oddities result from environmental stresses and may not continue beyond a generation in natural conditions. Phyllostachys pubescens, known as moso, is a species which is widely used in China. It is almost perfectly straight and symmetrical and so is very production friendly, including for industrialized production. 74

Crooked culms from a congested Bambusa bambos bamboo clump

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Mold placed over young shoot to form it into a square shape

The circular or close to circular cross section of most bamboo culms limits the aesthetic and production possibilities of a whole bamboo product. This is why other cross sections, like a square or triangular cross section of bamboo have been much researched and in demand. Species like Chimonobambusa quadrangularis, also known as square bamboo, are valued for their shape. When the culms of this species get wider 50mm, they naturally develop a square shape with rounded corners. It is possible to form growing bamboo shoots into other cross sections. This is done by placing a tube like mold of the desired cross section on a strong and healthy new shoot. This mold should be slightly smaller than the culms natural diameter and should be around one and a half meter in length. The soft shoot is constricted by the mold and so takes on its shape as it grows. Every few days, the mold/tube is moved higher up the fast growing culm. The individual culms in the grove need to be supported to keep them vertical, since the molds make the bamboo top heavy. In this manner square, triangular, oval, etc. culms can be extruded while they grow from shoots. Culms formed in this manner hold this shape throughout their life span. The survival rate of these extruded culms is about one in four. This is because the technique cannot be controlled totally as it is applied only on fresh shoots, which emerge during the monsoon season. When the new shoot is encased in the mold and then it rains for about a week continually, farmers apply organic fertilizer daily to take advantage of a potential growth spurt at this time. After the week long rain, if the weather continues to be cloudy or drizzly for two more days, the shoots survive. If the sun comes out immediately after the rains, the fertilizer ferments due to the heat, causing the shoot to rot.

Differently bamboo culm shapes

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Bend in lower part of bamboo culm

Thorny Bamboo

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Bambusa vulgaris culms

color
Growing bamboo culms are generally green in color. The most common exceptions to the completely green culm are a green culm with yellow stipes such as in Phyllostachys bambusoides, or a yellow culm with green stripes such as in Bambusa vulgaris. These stripes always appear along the length of the culm. The Phyllostachys nigra has black culms, whereas the Himalayacalamus falconeri has reddish culms. Certain species have a waxy powder on the young culms, which therefore appear whitish, grayish, or bluish. Culms generally do not retain the green color of their outer skins after they dry. The fresh green color of the bamboo culm becomes a pale golden to brown color when dry. The inner and outer layers of the bamboo age differently, and this is the reason why there is a marked difference in color over a period of time. Numerous experiments on preserving the green color of bamboo have been carried on in Japan and Taiwan. In 1989 Kubo Sueyosi experimented with impregnating bamboo slivers with a solution of 0.1-0.2% vinegar and 0.1-0.2% table salt in a closed container at low temperature and under darkness to preserve their original color. The effect of microwave treatment on green color conservation and durability of bamboo was studied in Taiwan, by Chan-Hui Tin, and Chang-Shang Tzen in 1994. Moso and Ma bamboo culms were treated with inorganic salts such as Boliden K-33, copper napthenate and copper sulphate, and then dried in a microwave oven. The best results were obtained when the bamboo was first treated with inorganic salts and then microwave dried. In 1996, Chang-Shang Tzen and Lee-Hong Lin experimented with treating Moso bamboo with inorganic salts. The best results were obtained when the bamboo was treated with a mixed solution of nickel nitrate and copper sulphate. In 1997, Chang-Shang Tzen surmised that Boliden K-33 treated bamboo possessed the best color fastness.

Freshly cut green bamboo culms

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Warped D. hamiltonni slats beinng collected after drying

moisture and shrinkage

Each bamboo species behaves differently once it is dry, though in general, all bamboos shrink after drying. According to Liese (1985) the shrinkage affects both the wall thickness of the culm and the diameter, and it shows a tendency to decrease from bottom to top. Seasoning of mature calms from green condition to about 20% moisture content leads to a shrinkage of 4 to 14% in the wall thickness, and 3 to 12% in diameter. Bamboo tissue mainly shrinks in the radial direction, and the minimum deformation occurs in the axial direction. The tangential shrinkage is higher in the outer parts of the wall than in the inner parts. The shrinkage of the whole wall appears to be governed by the shrinkage of the outermost portion which also possesses the highest gravity. Mature culms shrink less than immature ones. Bamboos dry best under air dry conditions. Rapid drying in kiln may lead to surface cracking and splitting due to excessive shrinkage. In the case of interlaced products such as bamboo mats, the mat will likely loosen after drying, since each sliver will shrink. This can be countered by preparing the slivers in advance and interlacing once they are dry. When making furniture or other products where the components are round bamboo, it is better to use completely dry and seasoned bamboo. This is because if green bamboo is used the dimension of the final product will be altered due to shrinkage after drying. Joineries will loosen due to shrinkage as well. To avoid this, completely dry and seasoned bamboo should be used. Products which are made from younger and greener bamboo, such as interlaced products , require a longer time for drying before packaging and transport. In certain species when the whole culm is not used in its round form Joint of folding bamboo chair made from completely dry bamboo but is used as splits or slivers, there is some warping after drying. In species such as D.hamiltonni, completely straight green splits or slivers can warp in a serpentine manner, especially at the node. There is not much one can do about this behavior, except to try and control the drying of bamboo so that it dries evenly. Unless the serpentine warps are desired, one should work within the limitation of whole or round bamboo products or technologically intensive reconstituted bamboo products from such species.

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Age graded bamboo culms

age
The properties of a bamboo culm change as it grows, correspondingly bamboos applications differ at different ages. Before designing, it is important to estimate the quantity of bamboo of available age wise, so that suitable applications for all the material available can be worked on. The information on the age graded quantity of material available is also important because since bamboos of different ages have different properties and the knowledge of the quantity of material in relation to their potential usage and characteristics is very important to fully exploit the bamboo from a design and production perspective. The young bamboo shoots are soft, tender and starchy. When they are less than 30 days old, bamboo shoots are edible. After this, their cells get lignified, and the culm begins to harden. From around 6 months to 2 years, the bamboo is flexible is easy to sliver. For this reason, it is useful at this age for interlacing and weaving, in products such as baskets and mats. The bamboo still has a fair amount of starch content at this age, and needs to be treated against insect attack. The treatment solution can penetrate thinner sections, such as slivers, more easily, as compared to a whole bamboo culm. This is why interlacing based applications using slivers are a good application at this age as well. 2-3 year of bamboo is good for slats, bamboo boards or laminated applications. Bamboo poles generally attain full strength and are useful for production from the third year. For this reason, three year old bamboo is preferred for production of furniture, slats and whole bamboo applications. Three year old bamboo is not useful for interlacing, since it has already become hard and quite inflexible. The culms of most species reach their full strength at around 3 years of age. At 3-6 years bamboo is useful for construction. Bamboo for construction is best cut right after new shoots have started to grow, as the plant will have given all its starch to the new culm, and so the older culms will be more resistant to insect attack. It is important to cut bamboo just above the node at the base. After four years bamboo becomes quite hard, and so care should be taken while sanding, since it may leave marks due to the hardness of the material. Bamboo which is more than 6 years old gradually loses it strength. This is a continual process until the bamboo is around 12 years old. The damage to the culm of bamboo older than 6 years is often not visible until the culm is split. This is because old bamboo is attacked by insects from the interior of the culm wall. Identification of the age of the culm is very important to know in order to select culms which have the characteristics required for the desired application. One year old bamboo is a fresh green/ 83

Walls of young culm marked by fingernails

(Top left) Tribal woman selling bamboo shoots (Top right) Tanzanian craftsperson interlacing 18 month old bamboo (Bottom right) Furniture makers making chairs from 3 year old bamboo (Bottom left) Bamboo bridge in Philippines made from 4 year old bamboo

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emerald color, with the culm sheaths intact or just beginning to fall. Certain species have a waxy powder on the young culms, which therefore appear whitish, grayish, or bluish. Two year old bamboo can be identified by the culm sheaths which are beginning to fall and also by the nodes, which become more defined and visible. The colour of the culm becomes darker, and the culm begins to lose its waxy coating. Some species develop white spots on the culm, which indicates the beginning of lichens. At three years the node changes color and branches are very obvious. In some species thread like structures which are whitish, reddish or yellowish start appearing around the node. Lichen formation which is visble as white spots on the culm , becomes much more defined. At 5-6 years, these lichens can be seen clearly.

Moss and lichens on 5-6 year old bamboo

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quantity
of bamboo
The quantity of bamboo available for consumption or production, is as important as the characteristics of the species of bamboo available is often the most important factor in deciding the design direction i.e. i.e. type of product, and type of unit, i.e. to go in for a furniture unit or board making factory etc. This seems a rather simplistic factor, and yet bamboo based industries around the world have failed due to an incorrect estimation of the quantity of bamboo available to them.

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A community conducting a participatory inventory

inventory
A complete and comprehensive bamboo inventory is integral to planning further activities, especially those connected to design, production, and resource and enterprise development. One of the methods of estimating how much bamboo is available in ones surroundings is by doing a bamboo inventory. This helps to take stock of the quantity of bamboo available for processing or sale. An inventory can be conducted in a participatory manner, by involving the stakeholders, especially the communities working with and growing the bamboo. The inventory should include the local name, species, number of clumps, average no of culms per clump, average length of culm, average diameter and thickness at both the bottom and top of culm, average number of internodes, average length of internodes, and average number of shoots per year, uses and the land ownership i.e. whether it is private or public.

Collating the number of bamboo culms available for production Bamboo inventory sheet

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Rural awareness poster on managing the rodent population increase following bamboo flowering

flowering caused bamboo shortage

Flowering of bamboo is catastrophic for local bamboo dependent economies. Due to the non availability of the material, bamboo working communities are forced to find another source of livelihood. Often, communities are forced to migrate to other areas and work as paid labor. Bamboo flowering is also a cause of concern because rats thrive on bamboo seeds and multiply rapidly. Once the seed stock is exhausted, the rodents attack the annual harvest and food grain. Food security becomes a serious issue because of the ruined crop. This is the reason why indigenous communities believe that bamboo flowering is the harbinger of famine and misfortune. Many bamboo industries, including countries with a tradition of bamboo, such as the Philippines, have had to close shop because of non availability of bamboo due to flowering. For this reason, before beginning to work with a particular species of bamboo, it is imperative to try and get information on when it last flowered, and its flowering cycle. This is a base to correctly estimate the quantity of bamboo available over the long term, also to formulate a contingency plan for the flowering period. Information of flowering cycles of different species can be got from national level bamboo institutions or the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan. It is also useful to ask the locals, especially older people, about the last time the bamboo species flowered. If a bamboo species is expected to flower shortly, the design direction should focus on another bamboo species as a stop gap measure. Another option is to identify another bamboo species with similar characteristics to the flowering bamboo, and source that for use while the main production species is flowering. If there over 3 years prior notice before flowering, the substitute bamboo species could be raised specifically for production. It is very important to collect bamboo seeds and seedlings of the flowering species and raise these in nurseries, and plantations thereon. This fresh planting material will be useful material to base designs and production on in the coming 3-5 years, once the culms mature, and thereafter.

D. hamiltonni flowers

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Sheath and Rhizome Rhizome: Handicrafts Shoots: Food Base: Handicrafts, Charcoal, Pulp Mid bottom: Slats, Laminates, Furniture Mid top: Handicrafts, Slats, Sticks, Blinds Apex: Dowels, Sticks, Poles, Scaffolding Branches: Handicrafts, Brooms, Handles Leaves: Fodder, Medicine, Packaging Leftover waste: Charcoal, Fuel, Fiber, Pulp

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type of product
The type of the product being designed and manufactured is a very relevant factor in determining the bamboo requirement for production. A product with a high demand or low life span will need to be manufactured in larger quantities and so a larger quantity of bamboo will be required for the production process. Mass consumption products would also consume a lot of bamboo irrespective of their size. Disposal bamboo cutleries for railways or inflight use or disposable chopsticks are such products. Though the product seems small in size, the nature of its use leads to a high raw material requirement. On the other hand, a one of product that is large in size, for example, a bamboo installation commissioned by a connoisseur or collector, may call for large quantities of bamboo in its production. However, the raw material requirement for such a product would not be frequent, regular or even large over a span of time, since the product would not be manufactured frequently owing to its usage and demand. Some products require specific sections of the bamboo culm for their production. Certain furniture or accessories utilize the bottom most part of the bamboo culm, since the diameter and wall thickness is the most at this point. Unless the top part of the bamboo is used for other products, the consumption of bamboo in relation to the output would be very high, as would be the amount of material wastage. This would also hold true for industrial products which would need to conform to stringent measures, the degree of rejection of components and pieces would be very high. Rejection is also high when the manufacturing process of a product is not properly thought out and the production is inefficient and not streamlined. Often use of power tools, jigs and fixtures to ensure accuracy are not in place. In such instances the quantity of rejection increases due to inaccurate production, and this means a larger quantity of bamboo required for production. In areas where the raw material is very cheap, the consumption of bamboo is generally more due to wastage of the material. This is because the producers do not invest in the production process i.e. the tools, mechanization etc.. This is because they are willing and able to bear high wastage levels which are lower compared to the cost of up gradation of their unit and technology. However, a point to be noted here is that in such instances, well maintained plantations, with carefully harvested culms is essential; otherwise, the resource may be harvested unsustainably. 93

Disposable Bamboo Cutlery

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processing resources
Production of any kind requires some level of skill and technology. Before embarking on the design of a bamboo product or product line for a specific client it is essential to understand the level of skill and technology available immediately and easily, and that which needs to be built up. One may have an idea in mind of what one thinks would sell in the market, or what technique one would like to work with. This can be a starting point for a thought process, but should not be the single factor on which to base designs, because the realities of the skill sets available along with raw material constraints may or may not make this a viable solution. An honest assessment of the skill sets which exist and are easily available are necessary to decide on a design direction.

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Artisan weaving traditional bamboo baskets for rural consumption

craft based set up

Traditional bamboo craftspersons and workers are often the first stage of production set up of a bamboo enterprise, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries. This is because a labor intensive approach generally reduces initial capital requirements. Investment in tools, jigs, machines and technology by the enterprise follows a labor intensive start up, once there is a genuine requirement to produce more products at a cheaper rate, of standardized dimensions and quality i.e. mass production. Traditional bamboo working skills are generally found in the set up of traditional bamboo working communities. The community or artisans may be federated through a facilitating NGO or INGO, as an artisans guild, a cluster, a self help group etc. under a government initiative for rural development. Craft development is a huge sector open for development, since many governments and publics are focusing on skill development as a means of livelihood generation for rural communities. Bamboo is a material which is often taken for granted by rural producers and consumers because it is inherent in the communities life-style, and so in many cases, working with this material is not a full time occupation. For this reason, concepts like division of labor, part time work and so on, are a familiar possibility for a new fledgling enterprise of production line. Another reason for bamboo being taken for granted is that bamboo is grown in homesteads, and so the cost of bamboo is not accounted for by the craftspersons while costing their products. For this reason, the producers may tend to use bamboo carelessly. The production manager needs to keep this in mind while checking production rejects. It is very important to holistically understand the craft of bamboo and the crafts persons associated with it. Many traditional bamboo processes and techniques are dying out. This loss of indigenous knowledge is not specific to bamboo but is common to most crafts. The reason for this knowledge loss is because the bamboo craft originally catered to a village market, and the product range was mainly restricted to traditional utilitarian and often agrarian products. After the availability of the same products in newer materials like plastic which they have added properties, such as they are water and insect resistant, the demand for traditional bamboo products has declined sharply. Since the craftsperson cannot easily tap other markets in which to sell his products, unless there is outside intervention, he is then left with no resort but to price his products very low. Consequently, the products are bad quality cheap goods, which though 97

Traditional bamboo basket

Local bamboo market in Bangladesh

Variations on a traditional container developed by the artisan to tap a dwindling local market

absorbed in the market are perceived as transitory and low end. Due to all of these factors, the levels of skill and intricacy of technique and the entire traditional bamboo product range are declining and in some cases even becoming extinct. This is a pity, both from the viewpoint of craft preservation and more practically, also because a lot of traditional processes and techniques are eco friendly and use local resources and skills. If preserved and used, such techniques and skill sets could be used to address multiple contemporary realities such as global warming and poverty eradication. While being an attractive proposition socially and environmentally, this is also profitable, since this means using local resources which are cost effective, to address global markets. For this reason, a conscious attempt to identify and utilize traditional techniques and processes could lead to products which are innovative while targeting environmental and socially conscious consumers simultaneously.

(left to right) Whole bamboo mug, Fish trap, Dyed ritual basket

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Process Flow production in the Philippines

industrially crafted set up

Rudimentary jig made from clothes pegs

In the traditional bamboo market set up, the consumer and craftsperson have a one on one equation with each other, and so products are largely custom-made and are not standardized. The transition from craftspersons to bamboo producers is a subtle one, and indicates supplementing traditional techniques, processes and skill sets with tools, jigs and machines. This is to increase productivity, through process flow and line balancing which means that production processes are sequenced in a manner which enables an optimal production output. This level of skills is generally found in Small to Medium Enterprises, especially the set up of small entrepreneurs producing mass market handicraft or utility products, government initiatives which are running commercially as units or factories, and in general, any stakeholder who is working in a labor intensive set up and using industrial production concepts to increase his production output. Since traditional bamboo craftspersons are not familiar with industrial production, they would need to participate in skill building workshops on process flow technologies. These inputs make them more sensitive to production parameters such as standardization, cost and time efficiency and accuracy. Traditional bamboo working tools are very limited. Most traditional bamboo craftspersons use little more than a sickle shaped tool which is used for all the process including cutting, splitting, slivering etc. Craftspersons require skill training to properly operate small hand and power tools, such as electric drills, cross cutters, jig saws etc. This increases cost efficiency by reducing wastage and rejects, and time efficiency, since use of tools increases production speed manifold. Traditional bamboo workers also need to be familiarized with the use of jigs to accurately execute frequently used cutting operations, such as cutting at a 90 or 45 degrees. Jigs are also used during bending and shaping, to get a standardized curve which ensures accuracy in each piece and uniformity in the batch of curves or in processes like coiling where a form is used to define the final shape of the product. During assembly jigs can help ensure accuracy, from parallel or perpendicular assemblies, to more complex silhouettes.

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(top left) Marking bamboo internode using simple jig (top right) Cylinders marked with numbers to ensure slat color continuity (bottom left) Cutting at a 45 degree angle using a jig (bottom right) Cut pieces assembled to form tray frame

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Small machines are relevant and very useful, and should be chosen wisely, considering the product ranges being produced in general. For example, if the design direction is to make slat based products, it is wise to invest in a planer. Depending on finance available this can be one sided, two sided or four sided. If finishing is of prime importance, then a sander should be invested in. It is very important to base machine purchase not on a single design direction, but on the overall planned production outlay of the unit.

Workshop on process flow for rural craftspersons inumber in Himachal Pradesh

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Production of bamboo fiber sanitary napkins

technology intensive set up

Hi tech applications of bamboo are very much in demand by developed country and urban markets. These applications call for specific technological inputs, and most of these technologies are closely guarded. Applications related to new innovations such as bamboo fiber, bamboo yarn, bamboo fiber reinforced plastics, bamboo boards, and laminated bamboo etc. fall within in this technologically centered category. This level of skills is generally found in the set up of industrial units using technology intensive applications of bamboo for the mass market. The production is generally not labor intensive, and skills are specific to the processes demanded by the technology. It is very important to ascertain the genuine availability of all resources concerned, before choosing a specific technology centered direction. These resources would include funding, labor, bamboo, infrastructure etc. Once the technology has been ascertained and the necessary equipment has been put in place, the producers need to receive specific training to familiarize them with the entire process if necessary, and specifically the part of the process they will be performing. In certain cases where the technology is very advanced and far placed from the traditional bamboo processes, it is better to get producers from another discipline and build their skill, rather than bamboo workers. For example, when spinning bamboo fiber into yarn, it is more effective to get producers with a textile background than bamboo craftspersons, and while producing laminated furniture, it is more effective to get a carpenter rather than a person skilled in traditional bamboo interlaced products.

A bamboo board factory in China

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infrastructure
In the area of bamboo craft, as in many other crafts, the craftspersons themselves function as entrepreneurs. They are involved in product development, production and marketing of their products. New entrepreneurship from professionals like designers is necessary given that the bamboo industry demands continuous design inputs and identification of new market segments.The existing infrastructure or that which can be made available to an enterprise, or a production set up is a very important factor, which needs to be considered before deciding on the design direction of the enterprise.

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Bamboo products being dyed in a water dye solution

land, water, electricity

The basic factors of land, water and electricity are often taken for granted, but they are vital and need to be taken under serious consideration before planning the design direction for an enterprise. The amount of land available, and the amount of land which will be required based on immediate or projected design lines, are two important factors to be considered. If the land available is very limited, the design should include outsourced components, both from bamboo and other materials, so that the production congestion on the site is reduced. If capital is not a constraint, and if relevant, a few high tech multi purpose machines are also effective to keep quantity of production up, while requiring less operators. Preservation, Dyeing and Finishing functions can be outsourced by getting pre treated components, since all of these processes occupy a lot of space by way of drums, finishing booth etc. The space required for expansion at a later date also needs to be worked out. For example, when a low tech industry decides to take the hi-tech route, additional space might be required for placing machines. Alternately, the machines might take up less space than the people who were doing the function earlier. Before designing a collection that requires additional technology, it is very important to ensure that the additional space for extra processes or machines is available. In case there is a large surplus space, plantation of a specific species of bamboo required for production purposes can be considered, depending on the viability of the species growing on site, as well as the time and capital constraints. Water is very important for treatments involving the preservation and coloring of bamboo. Quite a lot of bamboo preservation and dyeing processes call for immersing the bamboo in round, split, or sliver form in a solution which is part water and part chemicals/preservatives/dyes etc. Having access to water is integral to carrying these out in an uninterrupted and efficient manner. If the production center is located next to a river, environmentally friendly preservation treatments such as immersing entire culms into flowing water to leach the starch from them can be used. Transportation by a waterway, i.e. by a river is an option to consider if the transportation of bamboo by land is expensive or time consuming. This also serves the purpose of leaching the starch out of the bamboo thereby treating it, while it is being transported simultaneously. The use of natural dyes to color bamboo requires a larger quantity of water since the bamboo is immersed in the natural dye

Bamboos in river for preservation

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Producers working with interlaced bamboo products which require minimal infrastructure to produce.

solution. If the desired color is not achieved a fresh solution may need to be prepared for immersing the bamboo in again. Once the dyeing is complete, the finished components/splits/ slivers need to be washed with water to remove excess dye. If access and availability of water is not very good, the designer needs to consider other finishing techniques which do not require immersion, such as staining, spraying with a spray gun in a finishing booth etc. Electricity is very important for most production activities, and is especially relevant when the production involves work with power tools, and machines. In areas where where the cost of electricity is lower compared to other bamboo working regions, products which need mechanized/ industrial production set up, or technologies which are electricity intensive can be planned. In sites where electricity is not available regularly, innovative solutions like pedal operated machines can be used to enhance productivity.

Bambo bound together to form rafts, being transported from upstream to downstream, using the river network

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Loss of physical road connectivity in hilly area due to landslide

connectivity
The physical accessibility of a production set up to the source of raw material, technical support and the market is a very important factor to consider. Physical connectivity includes factors like motorable roads, rail, air, and also geographical proximity to the resource base, and markets in general. When the physical connectivity is good, the cost of production is lower and contingencies of resource can be dealt with. When a product line that consumes a high volue of bamboo resource, such as boards, or board based products, connectivity becomes very important. This is because in case of a gap in the bamboo resource availability for reasons such as flowering, the material can be sourced from other areas nearby and transported to the production site. Combination of other materials with bamboo is also more feasible, since, it is easier to transport components which cannot be manufactured on site, to the place of production. If the production site is relatively inaccessible i.e. if it is situated in a hilly or mountainous region, transportation costs rise. Approaches and concepts like modular, knock down, flat pack, nesting, folding etc. need to be incorporated into the product design to allow for efficient transportation in such cases. Communication is a very important part of connectivity. Digital and virtual connectivity though cell phones, internet etc. are no longer considered hi tech in most parts of the world. A good bandwidth or a high speed internet connection allows design to be outsourced in part or whole. It also allows sourcing of technology including processes, process consultants, etc. in a more time and cost effective manner. If virtual marketing is an option for the producers/enterprise, this needs to be considered in the design brief, since this widens the brief, making diverse markets accessible.

Transporting bamboo poles

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Training on bamboo production organized by facilitative NGO

policy environment
Bamboo has been acknowledged by public institutions across the globe as a tool that can simultaneously address issues like livelihood generation, rural development, poverty, environment protection, preservation of indigenous knowledge and crafts and many others. The governments of many countries have established policy frameworks to provide technical backstopping and support to communities and entrepreneurs working with bamboo. Public institutions directly or indirectly mandated to the development of the bamboo sector are part of these efforts. These include Common Facility Centers, Marketing bodies and Design Centers. It is very useful to know these since they are an important resource for information, reference study materials, potential sources for lists of producers and craftspersons who have and have not undergone training or participated in workshops, and also are a link to larger markets, including institutional markets. For these reasons, it is important to know the resources they offer, and if required, involve them right from the nascent stages of enterprise development, including at the design stage. The Forest Department is a good source for information about the raw material, ranging from species, to quantity of resource, to times and venues of government auctions of bamboo. Government auctions of bamboo are a good source of raw material since quite a lot of the resource is grown on government forests and plantations, and also because this is a completely legal source of bamboo. The system of selling harvested government by the state is generally through auctions. This is unfortunate, since there is a need for a public institution to monitor the market price and supply of bamboo needs carefully, since changes in market demand can affect suppliers and processors of bamboo, and lead to unsustainable harvesting. If the raw material price is more, the harvesting increases because people want to capitalize on prices. If the price is less the harvesting still increases because people need to make up for loss of income. When working with craft communities towards rural development the effort should be towards making the community and members of the enterprise independent by creating awareness about the importance of entrepreneurial initiative and marketing. At such an instance, such facilitative public level institutions should be positioned to support these enterprises.

Strategy workshop at INBAR

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recontextualizing
bamboo
The market is the driving force behind the sustainable utilization, processing, and supply of resources. Any commercial activity done without targeting a market will not completely benefit consumers and producers alike and will lead to a faulty production to consumption system. For this reason, it is imperative that the designer is very clear on the market before embarking on the design of a product or a collection. Creating a market is an option, as is identifying a market and catering to it. Identifying a market and catering to it is generally the more conventional approach. When the product is highly innovative, it may have the potential to create its own market, which may consist of a cross cutting section of two or more markets as per traditional definition.

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A contemporary bamboo screen resting on a traditional bamboo fence

beyond traditional bamboo markets

There is a need to create and identify new bamboo markets because traditional bamboo markets are becoming obsolete. This is largely because there is an influx of substitute products to replace traditional bamboo products, and because life-styles are changing and therefore users now have new product needs. Traditional bamboo markets function at a local or regional level, and so there is always a direct link between the craftsperson/ producer and the buyer. Though globalization has brought the world closer in a sense, the direct link between the producer and the buyer has been lost in the contemporary setup. Though a market might exist on one hand, and the skills and infrastructure to cater to that market might exist on the other, without proper marketing linkages, the inputs and feedback from the market never reach the producer. Consequently, he would always be out of sync with the market. In the global marketplace, marketing intermediaries are necessary to bridge the infrastructural gap between the craftsperson/processor/producer and buyer. Marketing intermediaries are crucial during the nascent stages of enterprise development to work as the middleman until the craftsperson/processor/producer is independent. Design and designers are in this sense marketing intermediaries, since they are interpreting what the consumer wants to the producer. When the product segment requires a complex study and research of the market, its trends and its behavior, a professional interpretation of the market, through a trend book, or trend report, or from a marketing professional working in this area is necessary. It is essential to identify the target consumer group, and study and analyze its specific characteristics and psyche. Professional inputs from a marketing professional working in this area may be required for this purpose. New consumer groups which could be potentially lucrative markets should be studied and tapped. This should be an ongoing process, and this can be possible only though aggressive marketing and marketing research and study. The market may expect some or all of the following in a bamboo product. Use i.e. need/use for the product, cost i.e. ability to buy or own the product, aesthetics i.e.enjoy the product, pride of ownership and associations i.e. symbol of economic mobility, eco friendly, indigenous manufacture. Bamboo as a material has a plethora of associations. Bamboo is often perceived in the West as a material for low cost, bad quality products which are generally sold in fair trade shops. Among other reasons, this is because the disenchantment with natural fibers including bamboo during the late 70s and 80s was because the consumer began to associate materials like concrete, steel, and 119

Banana fiber bag which shares the Natural Fiber product segment with bamboo products

(clockwise) Lamp in coloured bamboo and recycled yarn, stool in colured bamboo, basket for urban mass markets, fair traded bamboo container, traditional bamboo basket, traditional bamboo container

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synthetics with economic mobility. For this reason bamboo took a backseat during this period. Similarly, bamboo has another image of being an exotic material related to the Far East and its esoteric practices, including the fine art of basketry. For this reason, certain bamboo products are perceived as high end and are targeted at the collectors or connoisseurs market. Though neither of these perceptions may be completely true, but the fact is that they do exist in the mindsets of thousands of consumers, and it is therefore necessary to have information on these, as well as other ideas and perceptions of the target market group, before designing, so that these mental images and perceptions and be accounted for in the design process and final bamboo product or collection. In these times of intensified competition, both foreign and domestic, it is necessary to pay as much attention to competition as to target consumers. The first stage is to know ones competitors. A constant comparison of products, prices, channels and promotions with competitors helps identify areas of competitive advantage and disadvantage. Identification of competitors, their strategies, objectives, strengths, weaknesses, and reaction patterns is necessary. The competitors can be further classified in order of priority as those offering similar products, the same class of products, the same service, and competing for the same consumer dollar. It is essential to have a Unique Sales Proposition (USP) which could be anything from a technique, price advantage, to good design, to after sales services. For this it is necessary to thoroughly analyze the entire situation, and based on this consciously plan and incorporate one or more USPs in one products/product lines which should be focused on though aggressive marketing and publicity. Bamboo can compete in the global marketplace by recontextualizing it with newer and reoriented applications. There is a definite need to change the common perception of bamboo as a poor mans material through value addition (through design, combination of materials, maximization and channelization of its properties as an eco friendly and socially equitable material) Exploring production and processing techniques is a way to explore new material possibilities using bamboo.

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Whole bamboo furniture being produced in a poor semi- urban area the Philippines

the whole culm

Common perceptions of whole bamboo products in urban markets are that they are cheap, of bad quality and rustic, and also that they are related to the Orient. It is very important to understand the reason for which bamboo products are perceived to have a low value and regressive image. Equally important is to position bamboo culm products in a manner by which the positive perceptions associated with them i.e. bamboo products are exotic and connected to fine Asian craftsmanship, are maximized. By understanding and addressing both of these perceptions through design methodologies and processes, recontextualized applications of whole bamboo culm based products can carve a nice for themselves in a specific segment of the private consumer market. The perceptions that bamboo products are cheap, of bad quality and rustic are due to several reasons. One of these is that whole bamboo products are popular in developed country markets as products and applications for outdoor spaces. They are used in patios and gardens as fencing, outdoor furniture, structures etc. When bamboo is transported from its region of origin to the West, the culm shrinks due to changes in moisture and temperature. This is especially prevalent when culm is used for outdoor applications and thereby more exposed to the natural elements of rain, sunlight, frost etc. Unable to cope with the shrinkage caused internal tension the culm then splits, thereby causing sections of exposed cracks which are susceptible to all sorts of degradation, including rotting, fungus, insect attack etc. Most of this can be prevented by using good preservation techniques, and also by awareness creation about bamboos properties, limitations, usage options etc. to the designers, constructors and fabricators, and of course users. The lack of innovation in the area of bamboo design stems from the fact that a lot of developed country designers are not very attracted to bamboo as a material. This is because they associate bamboo with whole culm usage alone and they do not prefer to work with whole culms because of the limitations from the production point of view and also the connotations attached to this. For this awareness generation regarding the plethora of bamboo composites and hi tech applications is necessary as well as information on technologies related to bamboo culm usage, such as different culm cross sections through use of molds, turning the culm of a lathe to achieve perfect dimensions etc. 123

Whole bamboo fence

Turned whole bamboo stools with woven rattan seats

The perception that bamboo products are somehow connected to the esoteric Far East is a positive association, since it creates linkages to fine Asian craftsmanship, alternate therapies and lifestyle options, esotericism etc. Bamboo products can be positioned to maximize this perception, since there is a growing interest globally in alternative therapies and beliefs, mysticism and religions, natural health and beauty treatments and Eastern healthcare traditions and rituals such as yoga, tai chi etc. There is also a growing trend towards social and environmental responsibility and people are gravitating towards products which are produced in manners which offer social equity i.e. produced by communities, and environmental preservation i.e. produced in a sustainable manner. Both the above discussed positive and negative associations of the market connected with bamboo should be taken into consideration in the design of bamboo products especially when using whole culms. In case of availability of bamboo with a good wall thickness, such as solid or male bamboo, the bamboo can be turned on the lathe, or faceted using a planer, to get a different cross section which again moves away from the image of traditional bamboo products.

Seating prototype made from whole bamboo with recycled plastic rope

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Tools
Machete

Use
Misc: felling and trimming culms and cutting to length; removing fragments of diaphragms from bamboo boards

Reccomendations
Preference of the user decides blade selected; long, fairly heavy blade recommended.

Hacksaw

Felling culms; removing branches; cutting to length

Large size, with replacable blades, with 24 teeth per inch

Tripod or Trestle

Elevating culms and holding them firm while cutting or cracking nodes

Best fabricated as per the local usage

Ax Hatchet

Cutting large diameter culms Cracking nodes of small diameter culms

Lightweight ax with narrow yet strongly wedge shaped bit Similar to ax for smaller applications and with a smaller handle Coarse grained on one side and fine on the other

Whetstone

Sharpening blades of tools

Spud

Removing diaphram fragments and excess material at the end of bamboo boards

Long handle, broad blade set at an angle to operate parallel to the board

Adz Gouge Chisel Drill

Similar to spud Removing diaphrams from split culms Making holes and thinning culms Drill holes for dowel/mechanical joinery

Standard design, good steel Curved 1 and 1.5 inch Standard quality in different sizes Hand or power tool

Wood rasps

Leveling prominent culms

With one convex and one concave side in different sizes

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Machete

Hacksaw

Trestle

Ax

Hachet

Drill

Whetstone

Splitting Jig

Adz

Gouge

Chisel

Wood Rasp

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WHOLE CULM JOINTS

Bamboo has linear fibers. Due to this, when a nail is hammered into a bamboo culm, it invariably causes splitting. To avoid this, holes should be drilled at the required points, and one could then use a variety of mechanical joineries such as rivets, nut-bolt, screws etc. For non kinetic joints, bamboo dowels can be used in place of nails.

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MAIN TYPES OF BAMBOO JOINTS

Beveled joint

Scarf joint

Fish mount joint

One flange joint

Two flange joint

JOINING HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL MEMBERS

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TRADITIONAL JOINERIES

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T JOINTS

Suitable for fences and walls

Horizontal pins can be used

A pin or dowel permitting easy removal of the horizontal bamboo in gates or other constructions

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Suitable joint for corners

There should not be much load on the horizontal member. Bamboo dowels can be used for smaller applications

Drill completely through the first face, and in the second face the guide along should drill though. Tenon to be shaped as illustrated. Lining and cross dowelling can be done if tighter joint is required.

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RIGHT ANGLE JOINTS

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JOINTS FOR FURNITURE

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Junction joint: Junction made from material other than bamboo. Userful for applications where multiple members meet.

Crocodile joint: Useful for windows, doors and cupboards

Pipe junction: Junction to be made from MS or other metal pipe as desired. Pipe should be slightly smaller in diameter than bamboo. Bamboo edges to be machined to fit into pipe diameter

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COLUMNS AND BEAMS

Four horizontal beams can be used together for especially heavy construction, or when large diameter bamboos are not available.

When the horizontal members are larger than the vertical, one or two ears can be added to support and extend the diameter of the vertical.

The ear should be roughly 1/4th the size of the piece. Double columns can be used to support a large horizontal beam, with a strip of bamboo or some other material added below to distribute the load.

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Angled ears are a simple detail for bridges, walls and other applications where a vertical bamboo supports a horizontal beam of a smaller diameter.

One eared constructions should have the ear outside to resist the pressure of a roofs weight.

A construction with two ears is an option when the diameter of the beam is less than that of the column

Double beams can be used for large spans or to support heavy weights.

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LASHING
The stability of a lashed bamboo construction depends upon the strength of the bamboo, the rope/vine/wire used for lashing, and the type of knots.

Right angle lashing: This begins and ends with a clove hitch.

Diagonal lashing: Used for diagonals of structures. This begins and ends with a clove hitch. 140

Scissors: Used to tie two bamboos together to hoist weights. Poles are placed parallel, and a knot is tied around one pole. The rope is wound 7 to 8 times around the culms horizontally, and twice vertically. The rope is then tied around the second pole and opened up. The lashing needs to be loose enough to allow the poles to scissor open.

Extending length: Two poles are tied together when one is not enough to span the required distance. The lashing is similar to what is described above, except that a piece of bamboo or wood is wedged between the poles, and the knot is tied around both poles.

Tripod: Rope is knotted onto one pole, and then wound around all three horizontally. The rope is then wound vertically between the three poles and then knotted around one of them. The lashing should be loose enough to allow opening of the tripod as desired. 141

SCAFFOLDING

For hanging scaffolding, the lashing is according to the illustrations (a to d) and then finally knotted.

Figure 8 running knot

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JOINING TWO HORIZONTAL MEMBERS

Butt joint

Beveled joint

Oblique surfaced half lap joint

Rectangular half lap joint (very useful for furniture joinery)

Joint with internal insert (used in aqueducts)

Joint with external sleeve (used in aqueducts)

Telescopic joint (used in aqueducts) 143

Woven crushed bamboo exterior wall in Arunachal Pradesh

restructuring bamboo
Whole bamboo culm based products can carve a nice for themselves in a specific segment of the private consumer market; however they do not have much potential for larger markets, especially global markets. This is because of the tendency to split due to change of temperature and moisture content. This is especially relevant when the place of production has a drastically different humidity level than the places through which it is transported, and finally used. The round culm offers limited joinery details and finishing due to shrinkage, and natural properties of the material. The market has certain perceptions regarding bamboo. Some are negative perceptions, such as that bamboo products are cheap, of bad quality and rustic. Some existing perceptions are limiting and form a strong identity for the product, such as that bamboo products are connected to the Far East, which is difficult to break out of. Not very many contemporary designers are interested in working with this material in the form of the whole culm, so the designs are not as innovative and cutting edge as others in the market. One of the solutions to the issues listed above is to restructure the whole culm to form a new material. Basically, once the culm is broken up into parts and put together again, a new material is created which has its own properties and characteristics, both in terms of form and function. FLATTENED OR CRUSHED BAMBOO One of the simplest methods of reconstituting whole culms is to flatten or crush the entire culm. This is done by splitting the open the bamboo culm lengthways, i.e. parallel to the grain of the bamboo. The whole culm is then pulled open by hand. If required at this point the each septum is removed or cut as required to facilitate opening up the culm. Once the culm is completely opened up, the internal wall is scraped off. Bamboo flattened in this manner is used in the many bamboo working regions, including the North East of India and Columbia, to form boundary walls, and fences, and is even used as an interlacing element. In the Philippines and China, bamboo crushed or flattened in this manner is planed and then laminated to form crushed bamboo boards.

Detail of crushed bamboo weave

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Bamboo veneer

BAMBOO VENEER Veneering bamboo is not very easy due to the natural form of the culm. Bamboo culms with a large diameter and good wall thickness are veneered by boiling bamboo sections in warm water for around 3 hours. The sections are generally internodal, but at the maximum can include around three internodes. After this, the sections are peeled using a rotary cutter. The veneer is much weaker around the internode. Due to this reason, it is always advisable to use veneer from internodal sections if possible. Rotary bamboo veneer is generally around 3 meters in length. Like wood veneer, it is used as cladding for plywood or MDF boards for aesthetic reasons. Sliced veneer can be produced by veneering blocks of laminated bamboo splits. For this the blocks are soaked in water to soften them and then sliced. The resulting veneer is backed with a thin plastic film. Applications of bamboo veneer include traditional interior uses of hard wood veneer such as partitions, paneling, cabinetry etc. CREATING SURFACES WITH COMPONENTS Bamboo components can be laid out together in various arrangements and in different ways to form a surface. The most common is to use bamboo splits. Splits and slivers are longitudinal sections of a bamboo culm. Splits are differentiated from slivers by their thickness. Splits are much thicker than slivers and are generally used in applications which do not require interlacing. Splits and slivers can be produced by hand splitting or mechanical splitting. Hand splitting is mostly suitable for small-scale production. It requires a few basic traditional tools and demands medium skill levels. Automated splitting machines are used when a large-scale production of slivers is required. Bamboo culms are passed through a series of machines that produce splits of successively smaller sizes until the desired size is reached. One of the most traditional ways to keep them together is to weave them into a surface on a loom. The splits would form the weft of the material, whereas the warp would be a yarn of natural or synthetic fiber. Another possibility is to drill holes into the splits. These bamboo beads can then be joined by passing a thread or some other such connector through the holes. They can also be glued or fastened using mechanical fasteners, onto another surface which functions as a backing. This backing material could range from paper, to fabric, to leather. The properties of the material thus created would change depending on the nature of the surface on which they are glued.

Lamp made from bamboo veneer

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Surfaces developed using bamboo rings, slats, and tubes by students of the Lifestyle and Accessories Department of the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad

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Coiled bamboo surface

CREATING SURFACES WITH SLIVERS Bamboo slivers are thin, generally narrow and flexible longitudinal sections of the bamboo split. Slivers can be produced by hand or mechanical slivering. Hand slivering is mostly suitable for small-scale production. It requires a few basic traditional tools and demands high skill levels. Automated slivering machines are used when a large-scale production of slivers is required. Fresh bamboo culms are passed through a series of machines that produce splits and then slivers of successively smaller sizes until the desired size is reached. Coiling Coiling is a technique perfected in Vietnam for making filled circular or elliptical forms. These forms may be two dimensional, such as a coaster, or 3 dimensional, like a bowl. First a rigid and strong circle of the desired size is made with a thick slat. This forms the wall of the vessel/form. Slivers are then coiled within this ring frame in a spiral. A V shaped cut is made in at the top and bottom end of each sliver. This is so that the slivers can be joined by hooking them together, whereby the slivers form one long element. The whole structure is made by coiling the hooked slivers together until the form is filled. The slivers are thinner (for flexibility) and shorter (to make them easier to manage) as the coiling goes towards the center of the form. To make the resultant coiled disc into a 3 dimensional form, such as a bowl, the disc is placed over a mold and knocked into the required shape. Forms which are more complex than dome shapes are made in different components which are assembled together to make the desired form. The product is then coated on the inside and outside with an adhesive, to hold the coils together permanently. The product is finished by turning it on a lathe or sanding it, after which it is coated with the desired finish and sealer. Coiled products are traditionally finished with a lacquer coating.

(Above) Coiled bamboo bowl (Right) Coiled and lacquered bamboo bowl

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Detail of interlaced bamboo strainer

INTERLACING Interlacing is defined as A fabric structure interworked so that each element passes over and under elements that cross its path without other engagements such as twisting or linking, Larsen, Interlacing. Essentially, except for twining, linking, and looping, almost all the structures employed in fabrics, such as knotting, plaiting, braiding, and weaving come under the mantle of the term interlacing, since as per the definition, the elements may be interlaced obliquely or vertically horizontally. The dominant direction of the interlacing elements, is the basis for further classification of its structure. This direction is ascertained by the relationship of the interlacing to the edge of the structure, e.g.. in woven fabric, the selvage.

Larson defines element as A strand with the potential for being interworked to form a fabric structure Thus, this term includes all linear materials such as yarns, wires, tapes, coils of clay, strips of paper, and basketry materials that can be worked. Thus, the term single element structure, infers a structure which interlaces around itself, such as in a knot. One or more elements being worked in the same direction form a set, which is referred to as a set of elements. A woven fabric has two sets of elements, the vertical i.e. the warp, and the horizontal, i.e. the weft. Elements pass over and under one another to form a fabric. A particular order of interlacing i.e. its logic, sequence or order can be determined within a particular structure. To cite an example, when one element passed under the other and then above it, this is termed as under one, over one, or colloquially, one up one down. Similarly if one element passes over two elements and then under two elements again, it would be called two up, two down, and so on. All the forms of Interlacing basically fall under three categories. Knotting, which includes nets and knotted mats such as in macrame, Plaiting, which includes braids, mats, bobbin lace and baskets and Weaving, which includes textiles.

Knotting A knot is a tied structure composed of one or more flexible elements. It is usually worked by passing a free end back over and under itself. Knots are defined as interlaced when they are worked with an over/under sequence. Larson, Interlacing. Generally, bamboo slivers are not usually used with a knotting technique, except when forming ornamental details, which are suspended from finished products. These knots are basically 3 - dimensional in nature. Linear and planar knot structures are worked in cane, to form the object or a decorative border. These structures are also used widely in macrame jute products. Braiding Braiding is defined as the oblique interlacing of one set of elements sharing a common starting point and worked with loose ends Larson, Interlacing. Braiding is a specific type of Plaiting, which is worked with only one set of elements. Linear braids are used as ropes, for tieing, fixing etc. Planar braids are used as binding details and are fixed over unfinished basketry edges. Planar braids are also used as straps for traditional containers. Three dimensional tubular braids are used as ropes and are loosely worked to cover handles of products such as the traditional sickle shaped knife for splitting bamboo, the dao. Three dimensional solid braids are not so commonly used and are mostly used in a decorative context.
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Plaiting Plaiting is defined as Fabrics interlaced with one or more Set of elements. This includes interlacings that are oblique, horizontal - vertical, spiral, multidirectional, or some combination of these. Larson, Interlacing. Linear plaiting is used to form tapes which are wrapped around, to cover the handles of products such as hand fans. In planar form, plaiting is used to form intricate mats. These mats are in different orders and in face reverse patterns, which are seen in reverse on the reverse face. Bases of baskets and round mats are plaited using radial/spiral structures. Three dimensional plaiting is used to form a variety of baskets. One of the oldest ways to use bamboo slivers to form a surface are through plaiting them together into mats. This is commonly known as mat weaving. This technique is used in most traditional bamboo working cultures, where bamboo slivers are plaited together in planar form into mats that are often very intricate. Sometimes, a complex pattern is achieved on both sides of the mat. This is called the face reverse technique. The Herring bone weaving pattern is most common throughout the world. The most common traditional technique to use these mats in the production of three dimensional products is to use them as a membrane. The actual form of the product is determined by a frame made from thicker bamboo slats, such as in traditional baskets, winnowing trays etc. This same concept of using the mats as a membrane can be recontextualized by exploring different materials for the structure, such as metal, fabric, wood, etc. To recontextualize bamboo mats there is a need to look at mats themselves differently i.e. look at using mats in a manner which is different than is done traditionally. A bamboo mat is basically yardage of a material which has properties in between paper and fabric. Approaching bamboo mat yardage like this opens up the doors to applying it in a plethora of ways which are removed from traditional mat based products.

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2 structural elements 1/1

2/2

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3 structural elements

Order of interlacing

Different interlacing structures

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Identical sun interlaced mats placed in differently shaped frames i.e. round, square, triangular and hexagonal

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Molding Bamboo mats are flexible since their basic construction and structure are like that of fabric, i.e. they have a warp and a weft. The thinner the slivers the more flexible is the mat. This characteristic makes bamboo mats ideally suited to different molding processes when impregnated by resin.

Lay up Molding/Contact Molding Lay-up moulding is a process by which bamboo mats can be formed into large shapes, which are not very complex, such as corrugated roofing sheets. A characteristic of this type of moulding is that one face has a smooth appearance, whereas the other face is generally rough from the moulding operation. It is recommended for small and medium volumes, for which the investment in moulds and equipment is not very high. This process is identical to that of forming reinforced plastic articles by the lay-up method. In this case, the mat is the reinforcement. In this process, the bamboo mats, are placed over a mould or form, and fluid resin is then applied to impregnate and/or coat the mat with the aid of a roller or brush, which also helps remove air bubbles. This is followed by a curing of the resin. Little or no pressure is used in the curing process. Sometimes, the desired thickness and strength is not achieved by using a single mat reinforcement. In that case, the entire operation is repeated, laying-up more layers of mat reinforcement to the desired thickness. Bag Molding It is necessary to cure mat-reinforced plastics under high pressure and temperature to achieve high performance laminates. The application of heat and pressure results in greater laminate density and a faster cure.The initial steps of bag moulding are similar to the lay-up method, where the bamboo mats are placed over a mould or form, and fluid resin is then applied to impregnate and/or coat the mat. A flexible bag or mattress is used to apply pressure uniformly over one surface of the laminate. Pressure is then applied by a vacuum, an autoclave or a press, or by inflating the bag. Heat may be applied by steam in the autoclave or through the rigid mould portion.

Bamboo mats impregnated with thermosetting resin to form stackable chairs

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Handwoven bamboo fiber textile

fiber
Bamboo fibers are naturally long and strong. They have characteristics of moisture absorption and air permeability and deodorization.Their applications range from bamboo fiber board, to bamboo textile, to health care products like sanitary napkins and bandages. A lot of applications are still being explored, but this is a material with tremendous design potential, especially in hi tech applications. Bamboo fibers are extracted from the culm by breaking the bonds between the cellulose fibers. There are two kinds of bamboo fibers: the degummed natural bamboo fiber, and the regenerated or man made bamboo fiber. The natural fiber is easily identified through a fiber analysis as a non cotton vegetable fiber. The regenerated fiber is like all rayon or modal, the only difference being that the input bio mass for pulping is bamboo.The resultant fibers can be used for a number of applications including fiber board and bamboo yarn and textile applications. Extraction of bamboo fibers from culms can be achieved in a number of ways. ATTRITION MILLING Mechanically, bamboo fibers can be extracted by attrition milling. This involves feeding bamboo chips or splits between two discs, one of which is stationary and the other rotating. By this process, the bamboo is shredded, and abraded into fiber bundles. Attrition milling of bamboo splits results in longer fibers than milling of chips. RETTING Retting is a microbial process that breaks the bonds that hold the fibers together through moisture: in simple terms rotting the culm to extract the fiber. Though this method is eco friendly, it is time, capital and labor intensive, and requires large quantities of water. Technologies are available and being further developed to used enzymes or improved microorganisms to expedite this process.

Handwoven bamboo fiber textile

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THERMO MECHANICAL FIBER OPENING Bamboo fibers can also be extracted by thermo mechanical fiber opening processes like steam explosion. The limitation of steam explosion extracted fibers seems to be shorter length of the fiber, which is a limitation for textile based applications. Steam explosion can be done for applications which do not require long fiber length, such as for reinforcing thermoplastics. This is still a topic under research, but it seems that fibers extracted by this method perform better as compared to mechanically extracted fibers, from the point of view of impregnation and reduction of the number of voids, in the composites developed. CHEMICAL EXTRACTION Rayon is the generic name for any fiber made from cellulose. Cellulose is carbohydrate found in plants, including bamboo, wood, cotton etc. There are many technologies to make rayon, but the most common is the viscose method. In this method, the cellulose is dissolved out of the bamboo by a chemical process based on caustic soda and carbon disulfide. The end result of this process is a cellulose pulp, about the color and consistency of honey, called viscose. The viscose if extruded through a spinerettes fine holes into a chemical bath where it hardens into fine strands. These strands are washed and bleached and become rayon yarn. Logically, bamboo rayon is basically the same as wood rayon or cotton rayon, except for the input material. Some manufacturers claim that some of the properties of the bamboo fiber are retained after processing, and these claims are being investigated. The viscose process is chemically intensive. Though none of these chemicals remain as a residue on the fiber after treatment, the issue is disposal of these chemicals into the environment following the processing. Many companies are now looking at closed loop processes, waste water recycling/treatment and emission control as a bid towards making the process less damaging to the environment. The Lyocell and Tencell processes are such viscose based processes, which use safer chemicals and less damaging processes.

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Stages of making bamboo fiber for non textile purposes such as for bandages. (left) Papier mache like bamboo pulp, (center) wool like rough bambo fiber, (right) cotton like processed bamboo fiber

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Composite board made from bamboo sticks

composites
A composite is a complex material, comprising of a synergistic combination of two or more distinct materials. The advantage of a composite is that it has structural, functional, (stronger, lighter, more weather resistant etc.) or aesthetic properties not present in any individual component. Using bamboo in a composite form allows bamboo to break away from its traditional connotations and image, while simultaneously reducing problems associated with natural bamboo, such as rotting, fungus and insect infestation, temperature and humidity related splitting, non uniformity etc. Bamboo is generally used as the fiber or reinforcement in a composite with plastic adhesives or binders like epoxy. Bamboo is an ideal fiber substitute since it is lightweight, and one of the strongest natural fibers while being sustainable as well. Bamboo laminates are said to be superior to fiber glass in terms of strength and buoyancy. Current applications of bamboo natural fiber composites include surfboards, canoes and their paddles, boat decks and hulls, and snow boards. MAT BOARD Bamboo Mat board possesses excellent physical and mechanical strength properties. Bamboo mat boards have similar properties to plywood, and can be used for a plethora of architectural and interior applications such as ceilings, prefabricated shelters, roofs, doors and door panels. Mat boards can also be used to make board based products such as furniture and accessories, and are usable in concrete form work. To make mat boards, bamboo mats made from slivers with a thickness ranging from 0.6mm to 1.0 mm are soaked in a mixture of preservative and adhesive resin (generally phenol formaldehyde) The mats are then drained and dried in drying chambers or industrial dryers. Between two and five bamboo mats, or as required to achieve the desired thickness, are layered one on top of the other, and are then hot pressed to produce mat board of the desired thickness. The unfinished boards are then trimmed to required dimensions. Mat board thickness is up to 6 mm. If a greater thickness is required, mats can be interleaved with wood veneers to make bamboo mat veneer composites. Some important parameters to produce good quality mat boards are uniformity of bamboo slivers in the mat, appropriate glue, monitored moisture content, pressing parameters, and controlled drying of resin treated mats.

Childrens furniture made from bamboo mat board

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LAMINATED SPLITS Bamboo laminates are made from treated and dried bamboo splits which have been planed on all four sides. Once this is done the splits are coated with adhesive. This adhesive is generally urea formaldehyde, but can also be lignocellulosic resins which are more eco friendly, or regular wood glues such as polyvinyl acetate in the case of manual lamination. The adhesive coated strips are assembled in single or multiple layers as required, according to the nature of the final product. The bamboo board/tile/section can comprise of a number of longitudinal and lateral layers until the final thickness desired is achieved. The resin is then cured in a hot press using steam and pressure. The panels/tiles/sections are then finished by milling and sanding. Bamboo splits can also be pressed into bent laminate sections using a mold to set the curvature. In this case thinner splits i.e. preferably less than 5 mm should be used so that the sections are truer to the mold.

(Above) Laminated bamboo chair (Below) Bamboo slats being laminated on metal molds to form the sections of the bamboo chair in picture

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CHIP BOARD Bamboo chip composite can be formed into boards, beams or columns of any dimensions. Chip boards can be glued together to form larger boards. Several plies/ layers of chipboard laminated together form multi ply bamboo, which is bamboo chipboard with properties similar to plywood or wood particle boards. Bamboo chip composites are very stable and consistent, and can be used for architectural and interior applications as well as product applications such as furniture. Bamboo chip composites can be made by using waste bamboo pieces from other production processes, which can be further chipped if necessary. Uniformly sized bamboo chips can also be made specifically for chip composite manufacture, using machines such as chippers and flakers of different kinds. The chips are softened by soaking in water and dried. The softening of the chips reduces void spaces, which results in stronger members using less glue. The chips are then formed into a composite under pressure by using a binder such as Urea formaldehyde or other thermosetting resins such as melamine formaldehyde and formaldehyde. Once cured, the composite is kiln dried and sealed for moisture. Combinations of bamboo chips with industrial wood chips, straw etc. and applications of other resin systems are also being explored. FIBER BOARD (Below) Bamboo slats based board Bamboo fiber board is produced by assembling and hot pressing bamboo fibers assemblies soaked with an adhesive. This is generally a urea formaldehyde, melamine or phenolic resin, a water based isocyanate adhesive or a combination of these. Specialized threads or resin fibers, which consist of a core with a high melting point and a skin with a low melting point, are included in some bamboo fiber boards to increase their strength and flexibility. The process entails adding an appropriate amount of specialized thread to the fibers and kneading them together. This material is then heated to the temperature at which the skin of the thread begins to melt, and pressed. The skin binds the fibers and the core of the thread together. Another technique under exploration is kneading, pressing and heating of bamboo fibers to a temperature where vascular bundle ingredients contained in the bamboo fibers ooze out to the surface and act as a binder. This binder binds together the bamboo fiber into a board as per required dimensions containing gaps inside.
(Above) Bamboo chip board

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Bag made from bamboo mat backed with handwoven silk

combination of materials
Combining two or more materials is a design option that generally leads to an interesting product design, but often increases the required production infrastructure and complexity of manufacturing that product. Adding another material to a bamboo product implies sourcing craftspersons, technology, machines, and materials of that other material. This would increase the investment, both in terms of cost and time, and has a direct bearing of the sustainability of the product. Combination of materials gives interest to the product. It also imparts the product with properties that may not be achievable with the use of a single material. For example, a combination of glass and bamboo allows the bamboo product to achieve transparency, a combination of ceramic and bamboo allow the bamboo product to achieve water retention and a combination of metal and bamboo allows the bamboo product to achieve precision and intricate joinery. Key factors to keep in mind where combination of materials with bamboo is concerned are: 1. Use of materials that are locally or easily available so that the production cycle is not disrupted due to the non availability of the other material 2. Use of materials that either complement of contrast bamboo strongly 3. Calculating and providing for the implications of the additional time and cost which will most likely be incurred in the production process of a combined material product COMBINATION OF BAMBOO WITH UPMARKET MATERIALS Bamboo is perceived as a poor mans material. For this reason, combination of bamboo with materials that are perceived to be high end or luxury materials, such as leather, brocade, precious metal etc. are interesting with a view point of a value addition in the perceived value of bamboo through association. This means that the material which is perceived as high end, when combined with bamboo, has the potential to pull bamboo up to compete in its market segment which bamboo would generally not be accepted within.

Bag made from organza attached to a bamboo basket

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COMBINATION OF BAMBOO WITH NATURAL MATERIALS Bamboo is a natural and eco friendly material, and so has a niche in this segment. When combined with other natural materials, such as coconut shell, exotic woods, shell, bone, natural fibers, terracotta etc. this reinforces the image of the product as being natural, hand crafted, and eco friendly. When craftspersons working in other crafts are located close to bamboo craftspersons, exploring a combination of two or more crafts is always worth it, since the collaboration, if designed well, leads to hybrid products which are unique, including being different from products of their source crafts, and thus are more difficult to replicate by competitors. COMBINATION OF BAMBOO WITH INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS Bamboo is often perceived to be a natural material used for handicraft products. The combination of bamboo with industrial materials such as glass, metal, textile, plastic etc. allows bamboo to take on a modern/urban/contemporary/mass market aesthetic more easily than if the product were 100% bamboo. To fit into a similar aesthetic bracket using bamboo alone would call for the use of new cutting edge technologies to reconstitute bamboo. The use of components made of industrial materials, e.g. a metal hook on a bamboo hanger, or a terracotta container with a bamboo form body, allow the product to have features and properties that would have to be compromised if the product was 100% bamboo. Industrial components lend bamboo a level of standardization and quality, which would be very difficult to achieve when using bamboo alone without the investment of additional time and cost.

Bamboo handles on coconut shell spoons

Bamboo mat bordered with silk lends the textile quality of being tied to the product

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COMBINATION OF BAMBOO WITH RECYCLED MATERIALS Bamboo is a much publicized sustainable material. Buyers have seen it in traditional applications like baskets, and also in hi tech composite applications like bamboo board. Many of these hi tech applications, such as bamboo board and bamboo viscose are now being evaluated in terms of their actual contribution to sustainability, including preservation of the environment. Though the processes and impacts of some of these products have fallen short, bamboo still remains the green champion due to its tremendous potential for renewability. The use of other sustainable materials, such as recycled or repurposed plastics, industrial wastes etc., in combination with bamboo enhances the sustainability quotient of bamboo.

Bag made from bamboo slats combined with metal rivets and leather

Lamp made using coloured bamboo circles and recycled rope

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afterword
In the midst of the growing concern about the environment, climate change, and the state of the worlds
resources, bamboo has received considerable attention as one of the most sustainable materials available today. Undeniably, the bamboo plant is one of the most renewable sources of biomass on the planet, is an ideal timber replacement material, and has positive spin offs on the environment. Designers, marketeers and consumers alike cant seem to get enough of bamboo. We now have a range of industrial bamboo applications, ranging from bamboo flooring, to bamboo composites, to bamboo fiber. Unfortunately, all bamboo products may actually be as green as they appear to be because of the high energy consumption and air emissions resulting from the need for long distance transportation. Studies indicate that for non bamboo growing regions, it may actually be more sustainable to use locally available reclaimed hardwood, than bamboo transported over long distances. The use of toxic chemicals for preservation, processing and gluing of bamboo products are another source of concern. Indoor air quality may be compromised if bamboo products contain arsenic and copper compounds to preserve them, or urea formaldehyde to bind them. In some production cycles, such as for bamboo fiber, the improper disposal of processing chemicals may actually contribute to environmental degradation. Bamboo has the potential to be a truly sustainable resource, and to integrate all the tenants of sustainability i.e. environmental, social, economic and cultural. Certifications are key to making this happen. A chain of custody certification, such as the FSC for timber would ensure the sustainabiltiy of the natural resource. A Fair Trade certification would ensure that the labor practices from the production to consumption of bamboo are above board. Beyond policy interventions,design and awareness creation are essential to ensure that sustainability does not end up being only an overused a buzz word used by marketing gurus. It is imperative for designers and product development experts to be truer to sustainability. Responsible design needs to take into consideration sustainability vis a vis the producers, the craft culture, the material, the value addition chain, transportation and the impacts of the final product or system on our world. Consumers need to be offered a well designed more sustainable product to be able to make an informed choice.

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bibiliography
Anne, Leigh and Patty. Bamboo and the FTC . oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/348/) O Ecotextiles. 2008. (http:// Bess, Nancy Moore with Bibi Wein. Bamboo in Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 2001. Crompton, David. Ornamental Bamboos. Oregon: Timber Press Inc., 2006. Ehrenfeld, John R. Sustainability by Design : A Subversive Strategy for Transforming Our Consumer Culture. Yale University Press, 2008. Ginsburg, Virginia. How Bamboo Fiber is Created. Articlesbase. 2008. (http://www.articlesbase.com/ home-and-family-articles/how-bamboo-fiber-is-created-686722.html) Kaley, Vinoo. Venu Bharati: A Comprehensive Volume on Bamboo. New Delhi: Aproop Nirman. Liese, Walter. The Anatomy of Bamboo Culms. Beijing: International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, 1998. Lopez, Oscar Hidalgo. Bamboo, the Gift on the Gods. Columbia: DVINNI, 2003. Lugt, Pablo van der. Dutch Design Meets Bamboo. Eindhoven. (Z)oo Producties, 2007. Meredith, Ted Jordan. Bamboo for Gardens. Oregon: Timber Press Inc., 2001. Ranjan, M. P. with Neelam Iyer and Ghanshyam Pandya. Bamboo and Cane Crafts of Northeast India. National Institute of Design. New Delhi: The Development Commissioner of Handicrafts, 1986. Rao, A. G. and Madhavi Kohli. Bamboo Craft Design. Industrial Design Center, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay: Industrial Design Center 1994.

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Reubens, Rebecca. Cane and Bamboo Lifestyle Accessories. Faculty of Industrial Design, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. National Institute of Design, 2002. Reubens, Rebecca. Bamboo Products: Design Aspects - Their Relevance. Course 4: Bamboo and Enterprise Development. Block 1: Bamboo Products, Unit 1. Indira Gandhi National Open University, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, Common Wealth of Learning. 2007. (http:// wikieducator.org/Bamboo_and_Rattan/Bamboo/Course-4_Unit-1)

The Sustainable Development Timeline. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2002. (http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=479)

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photo credits
Rebecca Reubens cover, 1-7, 13-30, 31 (top), 32-41, 46-59, 6192, 94-103, 105-110, 112 - 115, 118 - 120 (clockwise 3,4), 122, 123, 125, 144, 145, 150, 151, 164 (bottom), 166-169 (top), 175 Arpit Agrawal 8, 10, 116, 120 (clockwise 1,2), 124, 130-143, 148, 149, 153-155, 156, 158, 161, 163, 165, 169 (bottom), 170, 177 Eliza Noordhoek 31 (bottom), 93, 146 Vijay Kutty 42-45, 60 Sanjeev Karpe 104 Selim Reza 111 Gaurav Sharma 120 (clockwise 5,6) Arjan van der Vegte, Moso International BV Carmelita Bersalona Subhabrata Sadhu M. P. Ranjan 162 Fasting Photography 164 157 159 147

illustrations
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acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made this book possible. All the communities I have worked with, who were patient with a stranger and who had faith, despite the hardships life had dealt them. Ratan my master craftspersons, who taught me about how to work with bamboo practically. Subal and Shankar, who helped me prototype my thoughts. M.P. Ranjan, who is a fellow traveller, for his brilliant mind and for interesting discussions. My colleagues at INBAR, who have been generous with their knowledge and thoughts. Dr. Coojse Hoogendorn for her honesty and support. Dr. I. V. Ramanuja Rao for his vision and for all the opportunities. Mr. T. P. Subramony for his optimism. Carmelita, for her friendship and perseverance. Anand, for his friendship. Dr. Banik, who taught me most of what I know about the bamboo plant. Andrew, for listening. All the students who worked with me and let me see bamboo as a new material through their eyes. Yashmi, Pooja, Priya, Sambit, Unnati, Nokil, Mariesha, Anuj, Shivani, Priyanka and Richa. Shimul for her support and the opportunity. Claudia and Abhijeet for their enthusiasm. Arpit Agarwal, for doing all the illustrations, and last minute photographs and research. Han Brezet and Henri Christiaans for my PhD. Sonal Mehta and Shokat Babul, for their friendship, courage of conviction and belief. My parents, Kathleen and Errol Reubens for their unconditional love and support which is the closest thing to perfect sustainability I have seen. My brother for damage control. My children, Nirbhay and Varya who make everything right. My husband, Rohit, for everything.

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