Velez, Simon and Bamboo Architecture : Grow Your Own House

Bamboo, which has been used as building material for centuries and is widely available (35 million acres worldwide are covered in bamboo), is being rediscovered today. Its cost-effectiveness and ability to endure adverse environmental forces make it one of the preeminent construction materials on the planet. Bamboo's unique aesthetic appearance has been exploited in design and furniture building. The highly visual and engaging Grow Your Own House will open your eyes to the beauty and lightness of bamboo structures and designs. Bamboo -- a widely available and renewable resource almost as strong as steel, yet very light -- lends itself to architectural experiments. Buckminster Fuller, Frei Otto, Renzo Piano, Shoei Yoh, and Arata Isozaki are a few of the millions of people worldwide using bamboo to create space and structure around them.