Bamboo jamboree - bamboo used to construct small temporary structures - Brief Article

Architectural Review, The, Jan, 2001 by Catherine Slessor

Made entirely of bamboo, this temporary pavilion reinterprets a traditional material in a contemporary way.

Bamboo has always been held with special reverence in China. It is regarded as being synonymous with the nobler human qualities of resilience, honesty (being straight) and humility (being hollow in section). As a building material, bamboo is still commonly used today in Hong Kong in two main ways: as scaffolding for construction and for small temporary structures. The latter are best represented by the open bamboo theatres built to celebrate traditional festivals. These are quickly erected and then dismantled, all within a matter of days.

Rocco Yim, a Hong Kong based architect, was asked to design a temporary pavilion to function as an outdoor performance venue and symbolic focus for a Hong Kong arts festival in Berlin last summer. Because of its traditional cultural association and practical properties, Yim chose to work in bamboo.

But the use of bamboo and the incorporation of age-old jointing techniques -- by binding and lashing with sheaths or wires -- are the only concessions to tradition. The configuration and structure of the Berlin pavilion is otherwise entirely contemporary. Unlike traditional bamboo structures constructed on the principle of redundancy, by employing many more members than required using a rough Cartesian grid, Yim's pavilion is meticulously set out and precisely engineered.

Exploiting basic structural concepts of triangulation and curvilinearity in order to produce an inherently rigid, yet dynamic form, the light, ephemeral pavilion sits serenely above a small pool. In all, around 400 pieces of bamboo were required for the project. These were specially sourced from the southern Chinese province of Guangxi, with strict requirements on thickness (approximately 120mm diameter), so that lateral setting out could be achieved with reasonable precision, and on length (approximately 8m) so that longitudinal lap joints only occur at the top-spanning pieces (across a clear span of I 8m). Bamboo members were straightened in China through heat and pressure, and then processed with insecticide and fire retardant. All material specifications and structural calculations had to follow strict German codes.

Since the form of the pavilion differed so greatly from traditional bamboo structures (none of the members, for instance, is horizontal or vertical), a prototype was first erected in Hong Kong so that workmen could familiarize themselves with its constructional intricacies. The same crew then went on to Berlin to execute the project.

Apart from its symbolic function, the pavilion was a venue for outdoor drama, music and arts events throughout the festival. Originally it was due to be demolished last September, but the Berlin House of Culture now intends to retain it on site until this spring.