Blue Temple is an architecture group based in Myanmar since 2018. Their initiatives are centred on augmenting computational design, promoting collaboration and exploring new and radical ideas. Currently their portfolio involves pro-bono design workshops and projects that seek social and environmental change. 

There is a major shortage of the affordable housing in Myanmar, as in many other countries worldwide due to high demand and very low supply. The demand for low-cost housing continues to rise due to the effects of rapid urbanization and relocation to the urban centres, a common occurrence in developing countries.

There are more than 350 species of bamboo in Myanmar with only 7 commonly used in construction because of their load-bearing capacities. These sought after species such as Dendrocalamus giganteus munro or Dendrocalamus asper grow well only in specific areas in Myanmar and are in high demand; therefore the cost per pole is relatively high.

The availability and supply for these species are inconsistent. Finding a way to use the other abundant and cheaper species of bamboo on the local market would radically lower the cost of procurement and construction.

Smaller diameter bamboo has a high bending capacity that allows for more complex designs. The bundling together of several thin ‘non -structural’ bamboo poles can create a building component that is more resilient to damage compared to a structure made from single large diameter bamboo poles. The structure’s integrity can therefore be strengthened by this bundling method when compared to the reliance on a single pole. This is a somewhat untapped bamboo  resource that we can all continue to develop.

In order to create a design that can use commonly non-structurally performing materials in a structurally performing way, computational design tools such as 2D topology optimization has been utilised to modify the model and make it more practical to fabricate with local workers.

The modularity of the design allows for prefabrication where quality control of the whole assembly chain is more easily monitored. The final design consists of small diameter bamboo prefabricated modular structural frames that can easily be transported and assembled on site. The rest of the house, which includes the walls, floor, and roof can then be built together with the local community.

Blue Temple are currently prototyping this project to optimize not only the structure, but to study each individual joint and also the general typology of the frame. This process has undergone four different iterations with many more to come. In the first mockup prototype built using the top part of the Bambusa roxbo (which is usually discarded during the harvest), valuable data was collected. Different variations of strapping were tested for the bamboo bundle (coconut rope post mounting straps, galvanized steel straps and galvanized tie wires). The steel strap revealed itself to be the most suitable candidate. Later Oxytenanthera albocialiata munro was tested for the bundling; Bambusa nigrociliata munro for the floor beams; Bambusa polymorpha munro for the roof beam; all of which can be easily found on the local market at  very low prices.

The next step for Blue Temple would be to plan and upscale the production of these houses using bundled small diameter bamboo and making them available on the affordable house market in Myanmar and potentially overseas in other countries. Blue Temple is actively seeking funding, collaboration and volunteers for this valuable initiative.

Co-written by Raphael Ascoli and Ewe Jin Low

Website: www.blue-temple.com

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