Bamboo is weaving its way into many aspects of our daily life. From soft, durable clothing to food, medicine, flooring and paper for local currencies, this versatile plant keeps popping up. This year at the ninth annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in the Indio Desert of California, the plant was bent and twisted, bound and tethered into a nearly ten-story-tall art installation that provided shade and inspiration to the 180,000+ participants in the 100+ degree heat. With this project, the organization Bamboo DNA literally took building with bamboo to new heights!
This creative, yet utilitarian creation was brought to life by designer Gerard Minakawa, founder of Bamboo DNA, and licensed contractor and artisan Kevin Rowell, of the Natural Builders, along with a fabulous team of volunteers and incredible cooks. The two have about 20 years of combined experience working with this sustainable alternative to the more chemical-laden norms of building materials. After living in Asia and seeing the multitude of uses for bamboo, especially for building, Kevin says he became infected with a passion for it.
“The question is more of what can’t you do with bamboo. It takes on so many forms and applications. With its high sugar content, it may even be able to be used as a fuel,” says Gerard, who is constantly surprised by the abilities and versatility of the more than 1,500 species that grow in every elevation, NASA has even used it as a lightweight building material for space applications.
However, for both Kevin and Gerard, there is also a spiritual lesson. “The process is a spiritual evolution inspired by the bamboo. It affects participants forever,” explains Kevin. Some wisdom of bamboo that we could all apply to our lives: be flexible; this is an organic process; let it evolve; relax into it; and let it take on a life of its own.
Every Bamboo DNA project is unique, with a new group of volunteers, and new opportunities for creativity. Gerard reports that with every project, he enjoys “new personalities and new talents, with an ever-widening circle of participants. We are hungry for new talent and new ideas. The world is too big to stay with old ideas. We all have so much to learn from people, the environment, and even bamboo.”
For the structure at Coachella this year, Gerard and Kevin were required to provide stamped and wet-signed engineering plans to the city of Indio, to prove that the structure could withstand winds up to 95 miles per hour! Although the gusts didn’t reach those extremes, the builders were impressed with how well the 90-foot-tall structure maintained itself. With state-of-the-art L.E.D. lighting and a suspended spire, complete with flaming torch to light up the night, this project helped demonstrate how well bamboo blends the line between art and functionality. With stretchable fabric strung from its arms, the bamboo provided not only much needed shade for the concert-goers, but also breathtaking beauty.
Santa Barbara-based architect Nils Hammerbeck was hired by Bamboo DNA to supervise the backstage area as it was transformed into a “Palapa Land.” Artistic, yet comfortable, lounges provided an area for musicians to relax, party or conduct interviews. Once again, colorful state-of-the-art L.E.D. lighting helped bring the bamboo to life. In the main camping area, a demonstration site was established where people taking a break from the music could be part of creating useful shade structures for the camping area. “In 30 seconds we had 30 people ready to do something with bamboo. From balls to shade structures, it is great to see people excited and doing something rather then just watching,” said Gerard. Providing hands-on learning opportunities is one of the bonuses of working with Bamboo DNA and the Natural Builders.
“Pound for pound, the compressive and tensile strength blows everything else off the charts,” says Kevin. “It is strong and flexible, and only takes six to eight years of grow time for a usable product. It is very easy to work with and treat. You only need hand tools to build huge structures.” With his company, the Natural Builders, Kevin works with artists, building professionals, and individuals to create ecological spaces, develop new materials and methods, and understand and improve vernacular building techniques. This year he will be teaching at the Real Good’s Solar Living Institute in Hopland, in addition to special workshops for youth in west Oakland. In seeking the most the long-term, viable approach to sustainability, the Natural Builders are working on projects in the Bay Area to help people grow bamboo using grey water from their homes. In a few years the residents will be able to utilize the bamboo they grow for their own unique creations. Growing green solutions, even in a city.
Although most of the bamboo for projects like Coachella is imported from Indonesia or South America, it still has a much smaller ecological footprint then conventional materials. Rivaling steel in its strength, bamboo is much more accessible and easy to build with, as well as much better for the planet and the wallet. We live in a subsidized economy, not looking at true ecological costs – especially in the building industry,” says Gerard. If external costs of other building materials are factored in, such as mining for metals or the CO2 released in producing cement, the economic and ecological savings of bamboo demonstrate one reason it is gaining momentum as a movement itself. “If we factor in all economical aspects, especially the eco-foot print of building materials, bamboo is very affordable.
The permitting process for the project at Coachella helped demonstrate the viability of bamboo building. More and more contractors are working it into remodels. It is about where the rammed earth and straw bail movement were ten years ago. This summer, to continue the momentum, Bamboo DNA will have installations at La Brea Tar Pits in LA and the Electric Picnic Music Festival in Ireland, as well as many fun events across the U.S.
In order to make bamboo even more accessible to daily lives, Kevin and Gerard are propagating a line of products soon to be released through www.bamboodna.com. For those looking to learn more, both that site and www.thenaturalbuilders.com are excellent resources. In addition, the American Bamboo Society offers people a place to network and grow their passion for this malleable and beautiful plant.
As our society looks for creative ways to save the environment and money, bamboo offers many unique opportunities. Have fun exploring them yourself, and let your own passion for bamboo grow. •
Hannah Apricot Eckberg is a freelance environmental journalist and can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
