INTRODUCTION
AA-ITB BambooLab Programme 2021 (Online)
The AA-ITB BambooLab is a
programme held jointly between
staff of the Architectural Association
School of Architecture (AA) in
London, and the Institut Teknologi
Bandung (ITB). The goal is to
teach a unique design process for
bamboo using computational design
tools in an attempt to achieve a
greater alignment between digital
architectural design tools and
materials with natural variability such
as bamboo. In researching a greater
synthesis between these we look to
coach participants to develop research
portfolios which can advocate for
sustainable architecture utilising
bamboo as a catalyst for ecological
regeneration and a resilient,
sustainable built environment.
COURSE OVERVIEW
We will teach a design process for full-
culm bamboo in order to appropriately
design for bamboo and increase the
design space for bamboo using digital
design tools. We invite participants to
sign up individually or as teams from
all over the globe to this online design
studio in which we will learn to design
for bamboo and contribute to wider
research in this field.
Over the course there will be a
series of design exercises which will
contribute to the development of a
project, supported by lectures from
tutors and ecologists, architects
and engineers in this field. We will
learn about bamboo harvesting,
treatments and locally available
species of bamboo throughout the
world. We will learn about traditional
and innovative construction methods
and joinery with full-culm bamboo
and embed this knowledge into our
design process. We will start by form
finding using parametric software and
follow a generative design approach
to develop projects with tools such as
Kangaroo, Ladybug and Galapagos. We
will aim to produce a design through
an algorithm which can respond to the
external factors ensuring durability
and buildability into these designs
for bamboo. For the end of the course
projects will be detailed to show how
these will be constructed by bamboo
using the knowledge built up over the
lectures and exercises in the course,
as well as a final physical model
constructed from bamboo as the final
Architectural Association School of Architecture Visiting School
submission.
DATES
2 - 21 August 2021
Between these dates there will be 14
teaching days and 6 private study or
rest days. We encourage all students
to be responsible for their own time
management and outside lectures
you are free to schedule your work as
participants see fit.
ONLINE FORMAT
For the second year, this course
will utilise the online format for the
delivery of the course. All participants
will be sent a welcome pack including
samples of bamboo and model making
CURRICULUM

AA-ITB BambooLab Programme 2021 (Online)

Exercises and lectures Design process Outputs
(Each item will be at least one portfolio page)
materials prior to the start of the COURSE OUTPUTS
course. All exercises will be taught • Course transcript on
Bamboo material, life cycle,
harvesting
online though worksheets will be completion
issued throughout the course to • Individual research portfolio
Rhino 3D 1. Documentation of ensure that the online presentation • Design project and physical
exercise
is not the only medium by which the model
curriculum is taught.
Grasshopper

Fundamentals of bamboo
2. Annotated detail

PROMINENT TAUGHT SKILLS

construction - Traditional and
drawing of a chosen
innovative joint systems
joint type

• Bamboo material characteristics • Detail drawing of a bamboo

Form finding using Kangaroo including 3. Documentation of
exercise with drawings
and principles of building with structure to communicate joinery and
identification of where curved poles can be
used of various options for bamboo the construction process
the planar truss
• Lectures to understand principles • Teaching of architectural design
Global bamboo resources and
4. Documentation of
bamboo resources for a
and details of bamboo joint systems software and their application through
the variety of bamboo species Develop design
with the
chosen site for full-culm bamboo a generative design approach to
considerations design for full-culm bamboo. These
of bamboo 5. Selection of bamboo • Physical bamboo model making
Bamboo material, life cycle,
harvesting
species to be used in will include:
design
• Concept design process to

Architectural Association School of Architecture Visiting School

» Transposing the physical
consider the practicalities of natural
Durability in bamboo Implementing model into Rhino 3D (Rhino 3D)
structures protection by
6. Documentation of
Ladybug analysis
cultivated materials
design » Scripting in Grasshopper to
• Individual and group research
Ladybug solar generate alternate versions of the
portfolio for a chosen context to
analysis
model based on parameters such
identify latent bamboo resources
Optimisation of
7. Drawing of optimised
roof design for chosen
as different sites, species, and user
Optimisation of
roof overhang site • Lecture series of experimental requirements, etc. (Grasshopper)
design using bamboo constructions and the
Galapagos » Form finding through live
exploration of new structural
physics testing (Kangaroo)
Bamboo cut 8. Documentation of applications for bamboo
Bamboo connections and
joinery
types and exercise with reference » Solar exposure analysis
joinery to design project • Research into societal attitudes to
embedded in (Ladybug)
Incorporating the generation design bamboo in construction and methods
of cut types into the algorithm
to address these through architectural » Optimisation of the design
Production of cut sheets for bamboo poles to be used in 9. Cut sheet, node design focusing on one key question
construction locations, and cut types
developed through the course (ie,
required to build design • A design portfolio which can
largest floor area with minimum
provide advocacy for bamboo in
Material material use, smallest roof area
Physical bamboo model making of design 10. Physical model mainstream construction
to provide adequate climatic
protection) (Galapagos)
Design portfolio
Software
 PROGRAMME AGENDA
Tropical developing economies are
some of the most vulnerable societies
to natural disasters and by 2050,
some 50% of the world's population
will live in the tropics. Over one
quarter of the urban population of
South East Asian tropical developing
economies reside in non-adequate
housing. The UN Sustainable
Development Goal 11 (SDG11),
targets by 2030 the access for all to
adequate, safe and affordable housing,
and suggests that the building of
sustainable and resilient buildings
utilising local materials should be
a catalyst for development. Cement
production is the third-largest source
Using Ladybug and Galapagos to optimise the roof overhang in a project developed over of anthropogenic emissions of CO2
the 2020 course. and could rise by 23% by 2050 given
current trends. Sand for construction
is also being un-sustainably sourced
which in the coming decades will
affect the concrete supply chain.
We need to look at new sustainable,
locally available natural materials
for construction, and architects will
need to respond to this challenge
and develop new processes to work
with natural materials which ensure
structural integrity and affordability.
Tropical developing economies are
large producers of bamboo, a material
with good tensile and compressive
properties and a low carbon footprint
when sourced locally. Bamboo can
be worked with simple tools and can
be grown locally on a village scale or
even a family scale. Bamboo can also
absorb CO2 and stabilise slopes to
tackle the effects of deforestation.
If we are to increase the use of
The Great Hall of OBI, Indonesia designed by Dr Andry Widyowijatnoko.
AA-ITB BambooLab Programme 2021 (Online)
renewable materials, then we should
look to non- or marginally-engineered
building materials to ensure that
the most affordable form of bamboo,
‘full culm bamboo’, (also named
‘round bamboo’) is used. Bamboo will
degrade in a structure if not designed
or built correctly. Exposure to UV light
and moisture can bleach, crack and
encourage fungal growth causing
structural and aesthetic damage
which impacts greatly the perception
of bamboo in the mind of potential end
users, reinforcing a notion of bamboo
as temporary, or the ‘poor man’s
timber’.
Computational design tools allow
the architect to visualise ideas and
they can be modified and analysed
interactively, though this modification
Architectural Association School of Architecture Visiting School
can still be time consuming.
Generative design software allows us
to build on this process and specify
relationships among parameters and
instantly output versions or iterations
of a design. This is algorithmic
modelling in which we design an
algorithm to take a set of input
parameters to generate a defined
output of a design which responds to
our needs.
As suggested by Willis and Woodward
in 2005, it may be impossible to
achieve a direct correlation between
digital data and a constructed
building. Some design parameters like
material flaws, grain directions and
inconsistent densities will be difficult
to anticipate in modelling software.

However, this gap between the
building and the model will continue
to narrow.
We will use the tactility of bamboo
material and physical models to
explore the properties of bamboo
at scale. In the computer we will
generate, test and refine our
designs with the bamboo material
considerations of buildability and
durability. Using generative design
tools we will push our designs for full-
culm bamboo as far as possible in the
computer establishing how far digital
design tools can and should be used
when designing for full-culm bamboo.
The structural system we are
Render of bamboo structure developed on the 2020 summer course. Image from the looking at in this course is one of
online final jury with invited critics. a planar truss which is developed
from a catenary arch and will be
constructed using bolted joints. The
choice to use a planar truss is one
of buildability and construction site
safety. A planar truss can be built
flat on the ground and rotated into
place in the building. This is done by
laying out all the bamboo poles cut
to size with the correct cut type on
the ground and bolting them together
before lifting this up into place in
the structure. The adoption of bolted
joints, which are used previously
in timber constructions, leads the
extensive utilization of bamboo to
bigger construction than those with
traditional joints. With these modern
connection systems, it is possible to
connect many bamboo poles at once
to create a bunch of poles as large
columns, high beams or multilayer
Axonometric drawing showing critical joinery from a project developed over the 2018 frames to serve wider span or higher
course in Bandung, Indonesia.
AA-ITB BambooLab Programme 2021 (Online)
structures. The characteristics of
these connections brings forth a
specific bamboo architecture with a
specific aesthetic appearance.
Although we will design and work
with bolted joints, a vast array of the
possibilities of joining bamboo will
be presented during the workshop,
based on the classification of bamboo
joint by Andry Widyowijatnoko (2012).
An example of lashing based, high
tensile strength bamboo joint is
called bamboo radial compression
joint (barcom joint) with multiknots.
This and other type of joints can be
proposed in the projects developed in
this workshop.
If we can develop greater syntheses
between the digital and naturally
variable, as designers we can obtain
Architectural Association School of Architecture Visiting School
tools which can increase the use
of renewable natural materials with
variability such as bamboo, and
begin to propose new applications for
sustainable natural materials.
At the end of the course one
design could potentially be built in
the Summer of 2021 in Bandung,
Indonesia.
Background text and images are taken
from the published work of the course
directors:
• Widyowijatnoko, Andry,
(2012), Traditional and Innovative
Joints in Bamboo Construction.
• Naylor, John Osmond (2020)
The Opportunities and Challenges
of Using Parametric Architectural
Design Tools to Design with Full-Culm
Bamboo.
 EXAMPLES OF PREVIOUS WORK

AA-ITB BambooLab Programme 2021 (Online)

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Details
SECTION SCALE 1 :100
A
25mm THK CORRUGATED METAL SHEET 0 200 500

104
WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE
LALANG INNER WALL
1 2
10mm DIA BAMBOO

METAL ROOFING SCREWS

2750
WITH RUBBER WASHER HEAD

2750
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

ROPE LASH
4000 6000 8000 8000
STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3

1 2
75mm THREADED ROD

2750
2750
10mm DIA STEEL RIBAR
CAST IN-SITU CONCRETE

6000 6000 6000 6000

75mm DIA INNER SUPPORT STAGE 3 STAGE 2 STAGE 1
BAMBOO

B
ROPE SECUREMENT

10mm DIA THREADED ROD

Detail drawing showing critical joinery from a project developed over the 2018 course in
MEDANA VILLAGE, TANJUNG DISTRICT UNIT: 1 TEAM MEMBERS: CALISTA PRANOTO
CHENG HAN
MICHAEL ARZBERGER
Sections showing the incremental expansion of core housing from a project developed
MEDANA VILLAGE, TANJUNG DISTRICT UNIT: 2 TEAM MEMBERS:
AARON ZEHUA HE FARHAN QALBAIN IMAN

Bandung, Indonesia. over the 2018 course in Bandung, Indonesia.

NORTHERN LOMBOK, INDONESIA GROUP: 3 NORTHERN LOMBOK, INDONESIA GROUP: 7
BHAGASKARA ATWITIYA CYNTHIA SENANGSYAH YUDHISTIRA KUSUMA
HEINCE ANDRE MAAHURY

Architectural Association School of Architecture Visiting School

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Axonometric drawing showing critical joinery from a project developed over the 2016 Bamboo model from the 2018 course in Bandung, Indonesia.
summer course in Haiti.
 DESIGN TOOLS
The following software will be taught
on the course through exercises and
embedded into design projects.
Rhino 3D
Rhinoceros 3D is a three-dimensional
computer graphics and computer-
aided design software which uses
Non-uniform rational basis splines
(NURBS), to build geometry as
opposed to a polygon mesh-based
system. We will use this as our primary
3D modelling platform. https://www.
rhino3d.com/
Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a visual programming
environment which runs within the
Rhinoceros 3D platform. The main
interface for algorithm design in
Grasshopper is the node-based
editor. Algorithms are scripted by
dragging components with inputs and
outputs onto a canvas. A collection
of components forms an algorithm,
and the output of these commands
is displayed in the Rhinoceros 3D
window. The initial input geometry can
either be assigned from Rhinoceros
3D or generated in Grasshopper.
https://www.grasshopper3d.com/
Internal render from a project developed over
the 2015 course in Haiti.
AA-ITB BambooLab Programme 2021 (Online)
Ladybug
Ladybug allows you to import and
analyse standard weather data in
Grasshopper; draw diagrams like
Sun-path, wind-rose, radiation-rose,
etc; customize the diagrams in several
ways; run radiation analysis, shadow
studies, and view analysis. We will
use this to conduct solar analysis
on our models to determine where
shading will be required to improve
the durability of our designs.
https://www.food4rhino.com/app/
ladybug-tools
Kangaroo
Kangaroo is a Live Physics engine for
interactive simulation, form-finding,
optimization and constraint solving.
We will use this for form finding the
truss design.
Architectural Association School of Architecture Visiting School
https://www.food4rhino.com/app/
kangaroo-physics
Galapagos
The Galapagos plug-in in
Grasshopper, is an evolutionary solver
which can be used to rapidly test
input parameters to find the best fit for
our design needs. This is an efficient
way to generate an optimal solution to
our design challenges.
 TEACHING TEAM
Dr.-Ing. Andry Widyowijatnoko is an
Architect, Lecturer and Researcher
in ITB, Indonesia. He started working
with bamboo in 1999 in developing
plastered bamboo construction. After
studying bamboo architecture in
Colombia, he changed his approach
of promoting bamboo by designing
high-end building to increase its
value. One of his achievements in
design was award winning Great Hall
OBI. He gained his doctoral degree
from the Faculty of Architecture,
RWTH Aachen, Germany in 2012,
with dissertation ‘Traditional
and Innovative Joints in Bamboo
Construction’. He is now focusing
on advanced applications of bamboo
such as tensegrity structure,
reciprocal frame, tensile structure as
well as space structure.
Bamboo model
from the 2020
course.
AA-ITB BambooLab Programme 2021 (Online)
John Osmond Naylor is an architect
at Grimshaw in London, and PhD
researcher at Newcastle University.
Architectural Association School of Architecture Visiting School
He completed his AA Diploma at
the Architectural Association in
2013, winning the Holloway Prize,
the Fosters Prize for Sustainable
Infrastructure, and was featured in
Dezeen top 10 bamboo projects 2014.
John has worked at MAD, Beijing,
rare Architects in Paris, and the
Singapore University of Technology
and Design, on complex projects in
the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, China
and Haiti. John’s ongoing research
looks at how architects can advance
full-culm bamboo as a material to
provide adequate and sustainable
urban housing to achieve the UN SDG
11 by 2030.
 
AA-ITB
ADVANCED BAMBOO
AND CONSTRUCTION COURSE
SUMMER AND FALL 2020

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