Elora Hardy left a successful career in the NY fashion scene to build bamboo houses in Indonesia. The Bali resident and her team have spent the last 5 years revolutionizing bamboo construction in the belief that it is an underused but ideal renewable resource. Hardy uses boron, which occurs naturally in nature, to treat the bamboo and make it indigestible to insects.
Hardy was inspired by her father, who “chose bamboo for all of the buildings on campus, because he saw it as a promise,” she explains in her TED talk. “It’s a promise to the kids. It’s one sustainable material that they will not run out of. And when I first saw these structures under construction about six years ago, I just thought, this makes perfect sense…Why hasn’t this happened sooner, and what can we do with it next?”
Bamboo has the compressive force of concrete, the strength-to-weight ratio of steel, and is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. Damage from insects and moisture are its primary weaknesses, but if treated, bamboo structures can last a lifetime.
More info: ibuku.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | TED (h/t: treehugger)
Elora Hardy’s TED talk on building bamboo houses:
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Share on FacebookMust be nice to have a father (John Hardy) who is wealthy enough to let her quit her expensive job and go play in Bali...
Must be sad to be such a snarky little person
Load More Replies...Bamboo has greater tensile strength than steel but I assume it all depends on how the bamboo is joined/connected In construction. I've often seen bamboo used instead of steel in scaffolding on highrise construction in places like Singapore & Hong Kong.
Load More Replies...Some of the Garden Villa Phuket Resort materials used by Holistic Chef Barry Anderson will be Local Thai Bamboo mixed in with other locally sourced domestic materials from Thailand only to keep the building and construction of the garden rooms a low carbon foot print. No walls or very little . Our rain water is catched stored and used to feed our organic garden . And nature is part of the design concept. Chef Barry likes this Bali project very much and he plans a trip in the near future to spend some time on this enchanted island in south east Asia .
A thousand thumbs up for these entirely exquisite structures! Both art form & beautiful uplifting cutting edge homes!!
Looks exotic and beautiful yes, but It's pretty much the standard building type in Bali, she even mentioned it in the video. Only revolutionary is the preservation of bamboo.
Load More Replies...Wow! This is amazing! The work and innovation that this woman did in these bamboo houses is amazing! It her work in Bali is extraordinary.
Yeah they are nice. But.... How many Pandas have lost their natural habitats to create these beautiful homes? Or any other animals for that matter...?
hmm.. though i'm not sure where they got their bamboo from, but it seems like bamboo grows pretty quickly. so maybe they grow bamboo specially for this use?
Load More Replies...This is great idea,sustainable homes that almost anybody can build,for that part of the planet,of course. No more hassling with contractors for locals there. My opinion is that every part of the planet has it's own bamboo,it's own solution for sustainability,at least housing ,we just need to figure out what it is or just return to it. Skyscrapers aren't that and neither is concrete etc...thumbs up for Mrs. Hardy !
loved the design but all those stairs not made for someone with knee issues... construction wise wonder how well it would stand up to say a hurricane or tornado? how do you shut off the 'rooms that were left open aired' when it is a blowing rain storm?
No hurricane or tornado in Bali. Tropical storms are not as ferocious inland
Load More Replies...I wouldn't just call these sustainable, more like luxurious! But quitting your job for this... I would only do that if it pays better than the job I have now.
They don't look as though they are for yer ordinary Balinese family, now, do they?
Must be nice to have a father (John Hardy) who is wealthy enough to let her quit her expensive job and go play in Bali...
Must be sad to be such a snarky little person
Load More Replies...Bamboo has greater tensile strength than steel but I assume it all depends on how the bamboo is joined/connected In construction. I've often seen bamboo used instead of steel in scaffolding on highrise construction in places like Singapore & Hong Kong.
Load More Replies...Some of the Garden Villa Phuket Resort materials used by Holistic Chef Barry Anderson will be Local Thai Bamboo mixed in with other locally sourced domestic materials from Thailand only to keep the building and construction of the garden rooms a low carbon foot print. No walls or very little . Our rain water is catched stored and used to feed our organic garden . And nature is part of the design concept. Chef Barry likes this Bali project very much and he plans a trip in the near future to spend some time on this enchanted island in south east Asia .
A thousand thumbs up for these entirely exquisite structures! Both art form & beautiful uplifting cutting edge homes!!
Looks exotic and beautiful yes, but It's pretty much the standard building type in Bali, she even mentioned it in the video. Only revolutionary is the preservation of bamboo.
Load More Replies...Wow! This is amazing! The work and innovation that this woman did in these bamboo houses is amazing! It her work in Bali is extraordinary.
Yeah they are nice. But.... How many Pandas have lost their natural habitats to create these beautiful homes? Or any other animals for that matter...?
hmm.. though i'm not sure where they got their bamboo from, but it seems like bamboo grows pretty quickly. so maybe they grow bamboo specially for this use?
Load More Replies...This is great idea,sustainable homes that almost anybody can build,for that part of the planet,of course. No more hassling with contractors for locals there. My opinion is that every part of the planet has it's own bamboo,it's own solution for sustainability,at least housing ,we just need to figure out what it is or just return to it. Skyscrapers aren't that and neither is concrete etc...thumbs up for Mrs. Hardy !
loved the design but all those stairs not made for someone with knee issues... construction wise wonder how well it would stand up to say a hurricane or tornado? how do you shut off the 'rooms that were left open aired' when it is a blowing rain storm?
No hurricane or tornado in Bali. Tropical storms are not as ferocious inland
Load More Replies...I wouldn't just call these sustainable, more like luxurious! But quitting your job for this... I would only do that if it pays better than the job I have now.
They don't look as though they are for yer ordinary Balinese family, now, do they?
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