Bamboo Dome
This structure was prepared by a team of 51 students from Amity School of Architecture and Planning (ASAP)
This project took off during Innovation Week (25th September-29th September) to demonstrate an array of techniques used in bamboo construction. This experience provided participants with requisite knowledge and skills to work with bamboo efficiently. Students from first and fourth year batches of Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Interior Design actively contributed to this project under the guidance of Prof. Y.P. Singh and Prof. Rishi Raj Kapoor.
The project aims to create a bamboo dome since it is a renewable, environmentally-friendly and sustainable material that can be used for multiple functions as a construction material, craft, food, land repair and landscaping.
Bamboo is an aesthetically pleasing as well as an excellent construction material for building homes, studios, garden gazebos, green-houses, fences, trellises and many other habitable structures. It is also an excellent material to manufacture a huge range of personal and household products, including bread boards, baskets, jewelry, furniture, and many more.
A team of students took this project at the Construction Yard of ASAP to weave a dome from bamboo strips and render it with cement while building a small roof structures and sitting arena from design to completion.
The workshop was undertaken in below-mentioned steps:
- Level 1: Site Marking and Excavation
- Level 2: Foundation
- Level 3: Masonry Work
- Level 4: Joinery of Bamboo
The group started the project with a presentation on bamboo and its advantages. The students were divided into two groups namely Construction Team and Carpentry Team.
The construction team started with leveling and site demarcation to lay a strong foundation for the bamboo dome. The students had a laborious day with carrying bricks for masonry, excavation and digging of wall footing to support bamboo columns. While in the carpentry lab, students came up with the final working drawings with proper load structural analysis. The seasoning of bamboo was done to attain preservation of bamboos for a longer duration so that it attains durability.
The construction of shuttering blocks for inserting the bamboo columns was started on second day. This phase of construction has taken the entire day because we needed to provide proper curing and proportion of raw materials in making the masonry mix. In carpentry lab, after the process of seasoning, students did some minor carpentry task of cutting the bamboo joints with proper accurate measurements. On the final day, students prepared a pitched roof frame parallel to that on site and completed the base supporting structure. The collaboration of bamboo structure into the masonry structure was done in subsequent steps. The roof was supported with bamboo, cloth and husk for proper shading. Finally, an impressive jalli at the edges of the roof was installed to complete the dome. This experience taught students about joinery, cutting, splicing, preservation and management techniques. The aim of the workshop has been fulfilled to its best by educating students about the potential of bamboo as an alternative material for various products, furniture and architecture. The learning techniques also enhanced participants’ knowledge towards building harmonious sustainable environment for living creatures.