Retooling Bamboo Tectonics

Undergrad Reseach Assistant

At Virginia Tech's RDF facility is the Bamboo Lab: a workspace dedicated to the research of bamboo as material. Three major research initiatives operate out of this space, with the overall goal of shifting the western perceptions of bamboo as a material.

I was involved with the Retooling Bamboo Tectonics research project since my sophomore year, culminating in me leading a class of 8 undergrad students in the design & development of a museum grade bamboo installations

Project Goal

Retooling Bamboo Tectonics goal is to develop of a generative, digitally-enhanced design and fabrication process for working with solid bamboo poles. The project focuses on the technical as well as semantic aspects of working with bamboo in regards to developing the built environment. The cross-disciplinary team is developing multiple fabrication processes and technologies for using a visual, noninvasive evaluation through 3D scanning and photographic analysis, as well as a 4-axis rotary CNC for the milling of unique joints in structural bamboo building components.

The bamboo assemblies being currently designed and developed represent these digital design and fabrication processes in visually stunning forms to engage viewers, and communicate the research's larger goals of shifting western thinking of bamboo as a material.

Joinery Design

The snap together joinery system utilizes bamboo's unique material properties to facilitate a secure connection between bamboo poles without additional hardware or tools.

The long slot cut removes the irregular hollow center of the pole. Bamboo's fiber structure allows the forked piece to flex and snap around a round dowel. The poles are securely attached but can still pivot.

Developing a Digital Fabrication Workflow for Bamboo

Indexing: attaching index keys at either of the pole. These act as a constant reference point for our scanning & CNC processes.

Photographic Scanning & Digital Pole Reconstruction: taking consistent images of the pole for a grasshopper script that creates an accurate digital model of the pole. Grasshopper scripting by Kyle Schuman.

Digital Fabrication with CNC Router: secure work holding methods that still allow the pole to rotate. Testing cutting bits & toolpaths appropriate for bamboo.