By - Chintan Shah
Urban materials of construction such as concrete and steel were initially the most viable solution when vegetal materials failed to provide for a “permanent household” or a “pukka ghar”. But now as the concern has shifted from viability to sustainability, it is essential to explore the usage of building materials that consume low energy, is renewable, vegetal and easily available. The Design Thesis proposes Engineered Bamboo as the future “Urban Material of Construction”; a material which is treated, processed and standardized. Engineered Bamboo is developed by splitting, flattening, compressing and providing with a particular cross section. Since the material is lightweight and can take sufficient amounts of load it can be used as a material designed for disassembly, modularity and the flexibility. The idea is to intervene in an area where the context has a prevalent construction of concrete and steel and the site has difficulties regarding constructing with the materials already in use.
