Saturday, February 09, 2008

Bamboo, dubbed 'vegetal steel,' superb for buildingĀ 

Ah, but can you stamp it?

Charleston Daily Mail
Forget steel and concrete. The building material of choice for the 21st century might just be bamboo.

This hollow-stemmed grass isn't just for flimsy tropical huts any more - it's getting outsized attention in the world of serious architecture. From Hawaii to Vietnam, it's used to build everything from luxury homes and holiday resorts to churches and bridges.

Boosters call it "vegetal steel," with clear environmental appeal. Lighter than steel but five times stronger than concrete, bamboo is native to every continent except Europe and Antarctica. And unlike slow-to-harvest timber, bamboo's woody stalks can shoot up several feet a day, absorbing four times as much world-warming carbon dioxide.

"The relationship to weight and resistance is the best in the world. Anything built with steel, I can do in bamboo faster and just as cheaply," said Colombian architect Simon Velez

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Comments:
Wow! That would be great! I have seen so many luxury homes and vacation cottages that has a unique bamboo architecture design. I always appreciate this kind of structure. :D
 
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