Magical houses, made of bamboo
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0:01 - 0:03When I was nine years old,
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0:03 - 0:05my mom asked me what I would want
my house to look like, -
0:06 - 0:09and I drew this fairy mushroom.
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0:09 - 0:12And then she actually built it.
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0:12 - 0:14(Laughter)
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0:14 - 0:16I don't think I realized
this was so unusual at the time, -
0:16 - 0:18and maybe I still haven't,
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0:18 - 0:21because I'm still designing houses.
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0:23 - 0:27This is a six-story bespoke home
on the island of Bali. -
0:27 - 0:30It's built almost entirely from bamboo.
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0:30 - 0:34The living room overlooks the valley
from the fourth floor. -
0:35 - 0:37You enter the house by a bridge.
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0:39 - 0:40It can get hot in the tropics,
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0:40 - 0:44so we make big curving roofs
to catch the breezes. -
0:46 - 0:49But some rooms have tall windows
to keep the air conditioning in -
0:49 - 0:53and the bugs out.
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0:54 - 0:55This room we left open.
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0:55 - 0:58We made an air-conditioned, tented bed.
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0:59 - 1:03And one client wanted a TV room
in the corner of her living room. -
1:03 - 1:06Boxing off an area with tall walls
just didn't feel right, -
1:06 - 1:11so instead, we made this giant woven pod.
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1:12 - 1:17Now, we do have all the necessary
luxuries, like bathrooms. -
1:17 - 1:21This one is a basket
in the corner of the living room, -
1:21 - 1:25and I've got tell you, some people
actually hesitate to use it. -
1:25 - 1:27We have not quite figured out
our acoustic insulation. -
1:27 - 1:30(Laughter)
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1:30 - 1:32So there are lots of things
that we're still working on, -
1:32 - 1:35but one thing I have learned
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1:35 - 1:38is that bamboo will treat you well
if you use it right. -
1:39 - 1:41It's actually a wild grass.
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1:41 - 1:44It grows on otherwise unproductive land --
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1:44 - 1:47deep ravines, mountainsides.
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1:47 - 1:51It lives off of rainwater,
spring water, sunlight, -
1:51 - 1:56and of the 1,450 species of bamboo
that grow across the world, -
1:56 - 1:59we use just seven of them.
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1:59 - 2:00That's my dad.
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2:00 - 2:02He's the one who got me
building with bamboo, -
2:02 - 2:04and he is standing in a clump
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2:04 - 2:08of Dendrocalamus asper niger
that he planted just seven years ago. -
2:08 - 2:11Each year, it sends up
a new generation of shoots. -
2:11 - 2:16That shoot, we watched it grow a meter
in three days just last week, -
2:16 - 2:21so we're talking about sustainable
timber in three years. -
2:23 - 2:27Now, we harvest from hundreds
of family-owned clumps. -
2:27 - 2:29Betung, as we call it, it's really long,
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2:29 - 2:31up to 18 meters of usable length.
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2:31 - 2:33Try getting that truck down the mountain.
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2:33 - 2:37And it's strong: it has
the tensile strength of steel, -
2:37 - 2:40the compressive strength of concrete.
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2:40 - 2:43Slam four tons straight down on a pole,
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2:43 - 2:45and it can take it.
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2:45 - 2:49Because it's hollow, it's lightweight,
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2:49 - 2:51light enough to be lifted
by just a few men, -
2:51 - 2:54or, apparently, one woman.
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2:54 - 3:00(Laughter) (Applause)
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3:02 - 3:06And when my father
built Green School in Bali, -
3:06 - 3:10he chose bamboo for all
of the buildings on campus, -
3:10 - 3:12because he saw it as a promise.
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3:12 - 3:14It's a promise to the kids.
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3:14 - 3:18It's one sustainable material
that they will not run out of. -
3:19 - 3:23And when I first saw these structures
under construction about six years ago, -
3:23 - 3:27I just thought, this makes perfect sense.
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3:27 - 3:29It is growing all around us.
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3:29 - 3:31It's strong. It's elegant.
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3:31 - 3:34It's earthquake-resistant.
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3:34 - 3:38Why hasn't this happened sooner,
and what can we do with it next? -
3:38 - 3:43So along with some of
the original builders of Green School, -
3:43 - 3:45I founded Ibuku.
-
3:45 - 3:50Ibu means "mother," and ku means "mine,"
so it represents my Mother Earth, -
3:50 - 3:55and at Ibuku, we are a team
of artisans, architects and designers, -
3:55 - 4:00and what we're doing together
is creating a new way of building. -
4:00 - 4:03Over the past five years together,
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4:03 - 4:08we have built over 50 unique structures,
most of them in Bali. -
4:09 - 4:12Nine of them are at Green Village --
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4:12 - 4:15you've just seen inside
some of these homes -- -
4:15 - 4:19and we fill them with bespoke furniture,
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4:19 - 4:21we surround them with veggie gardens,
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4:21 - 4:24we would love to invite you all
to come visit someday. -
4:24 - 4:27And while you're there,
you can also see Green School -- -
4:27 - 4:30we keep building
classrooms there each year -- -
4:30 - 4:33as well as an updated
fairy mushroom house. -
4:35 - 4:38We're also working on
a little house for export. -
4:38 - 4:41This is a traditional Sumbanese home
that we replicated, -
4:41 - 4:44right down to the details and textiles.
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4:45 - 4:49A restaurant
with an open-air kitchen. -
4:49 - 4:52It looks a lot like a kitchen, right?
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4:52 - 4:56And a bridge that spans
22 meters across a river. -
4:57 - 5:01Now, what we're doing,
it's not entirely new. -
5:02 - 5:06From little huts to elaborate bridges
like this one in Java, -
5:06 - 5:09bamboo has been in use across
the tropical regions of the world -
5:09 - 5:12for literally tens of thousands of years.
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5:12 - 5:18There are islands and even continents
that were first reached by bamboo rafts. -
5:18 - 5:21But until recently,
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5:21 - 5:25it was almost impossible to reliably
protect bamboo from insects, -
5:25 - 5:30and so, just about everything
that was ever built out of bamboo is gone. -
5:31 - 5:33Unprotected bamboo weathers.
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5:33 - 5:36Untreated bamboo gets eaten to dust.
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5:36 - 5:40And so that's why most people,
especially in Asia, -
5:40 - 5:44think that you couldn't be poor enough
or rural enough to actually want -
5:44 - 5:46to live in a bamboo house.
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5:46 - 5:48And so we thought,
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5:48 - 5:50what will it take to change their minds,
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5:50 - 5:54to convince people
that bamboo is worth building with, -
5:54 - 5:56much less worth aspiring to?
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5:56 - 5:59First, we needed safe treatment solutions.
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5:59 - 6:01Borax is a natural salt.
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6:01 - 6:04It turns bamboo into
a viable building material. -
6:04 - 6:07Treat it properly, design it carefully,
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6:07 - 6:09and a bamboo structure
can last a lifetime. -
6:10 - 6:14Second, build something
extraordinary out of it. -
6:14 - 6:16Inspire people.
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6:16 - 6:17Fortunately,
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6:17 - 6:19Balinese culture fosters craftsmanship.
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6:19 - 6:21It values the artisan.
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6:21 - 6:24So combine those
with the adventurous outliers -
6:24 - 6:27from new generations
of locally trained architects -
6:27 - 6:31and designers and engineers,
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6:31 - 6:34and always remember that you are designing
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6:34 - 6:37for curving, tapering, hollow poles.
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6:37 - 6:41No two poles alike, no straight lines,
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6:41 - 6:43no two-by-fours here.
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6:43 - 6:48The tried-and-true, well-crafted formulas
and vocabulary of architecture -
6:48 - 6:49do not apply here.
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6:49 - 6:52We have had to invent our own rules.
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6:52 - 6:56We ask the bamboo what it's good at,
what it wants to become, -
6:56 - 7:01and what it says is: respect it,
design for its strengths, -
7:01 - 7:04protect it from water,
and to make the most of its curves. -
7:04 - 7:06So we design in real 3D,
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7:06 - 7:08making scale structural models
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7:08 - 7:11out of the same material
that we'll later use to build the house. -
7:11 - 7:13And bamboo model-making, it's an art,
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7:13 - 7:16as well as some hardcore engineering.
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7:23 - 7:25So that's the blueprint of the house.
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7:25 - 7:27(Laughter)
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7:27 - 7:29And we bring it to site,
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7:29 - 7:32and with tiny rulers,
we measure each pole, -
7:32 - 7:36and consider each curve, and we choose
a piece of bamboo from the pile -
7:36 - 7:39to replicate that house on site.
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7:40 - 7:43When it comes down to the details,
we consider everything. -
7:43 - 7:46Why are doors so often rectangular?
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7:46 - 7:47Why not round?
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7:47 - 7:49How could you make a door better?
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7:49 - 7:50Well, its hinges battle with gravity,
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7:50 - 7:53and gravity will always win in the end,
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7:53 - 7:55so why not have it pivot on the center
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7:55 - 7:58where it can stay balanced?
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7:58 - 8:02And while you're at it,
why not doors shaped like teardrops? -
8:02 - 8:05To reap the selective benefits
and work within the constraints -
8:05 - 8:07of this material,
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8:07 - 8:09we have really had to push ourselves,
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8:09 - 8:14and within that constraint,
we have found space for something new. -
8:15 - 8:18It's a challenge: how
do you make a ceiling -
8:18 - 8:21if you don't have any
flat boards to work with? -
8:21 - 8:25Let me tell you, sometimes I dream
of sheet rock and plywood. -
8:25 - 8:27(Laughter)
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8:28 - 8:32But if what you've got
is skilled craftsmen -
8:32 - 8:34and itsy bitsy little splits,
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8:34 - 8:37weave that ceiling together,
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8:37 - 8:40stretch a canvas over it, lacquer it.
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8:40 - 8:42How do you design durable
kitchen countertops -
8:42 - 8:46that do justice to this curving
structure you've just built? -
8:46 - 8:49Slice up a boulder like a loaf of bread,
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8:49 - 8:51hand-carve each to fit the other,
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8:51 - 8:53leave the crusts on,
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8:53 - 8:58and what we're doing,
it is almost entirely handmade. -
8:58 - 9:00The structural connections
of our buildings -
9:00 - 9:05are reinforced by steel joints, but we use
a lot of hand-whittled bamboo pins. -
9:05 - 9:09There are thousands of pins in each floor.
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9:09 - 9:14This floor is made of glossy
and durable bamboo skin. -
9:14 - 9:17You can feel the texture under bare feet.
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9:17 - 9:20And the floor that you walk on,
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9:20 - 9:21can it affect the way that you walk?
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9:21 - 9:26Can it change the footprint
that you'll ultimately leave on the world? -
9:26 - 9:28I remember being nine years old
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9:28 - 9:30and feeling wonder,
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9:30 - 9:32and possibility,
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9:32 - 9:34and a little bit of idealism.
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9:34 - 9:37And we've got a really long way to go,
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9:37 - 9:40there's a lot left to learn,
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9:40 - 9:45but one thing I know is that
with creativity and commitment, -
9:45 - 9:49you can create beauty and comfort
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9:49 - 9:52and safety and even luxury
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9:52 - 9:55out of a material that will grow back.
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9:55 - 9:58Thank you.
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9:58 - 10:03(Applause)
- Title:
- Magical houses, made of bamboo
- Speaker:
- Elora Hardy
- Description:
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You've never seen buildings like this. The stunning bamboo homes built by Elora Hardy and her team in Bali twist, curve and surprise at every turn. They defy convention because the bamboo itself is so enigmatic. No two poles of bamboo are alike, so every home, bridge and bathroom is exquisitely unique. In this beautiful, immersive talk, she shares the potential of bamboo, as both a sustainable resource and a spark for the imagination. "We have had to invent our own rules," she says.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 10:17
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo | ||
Madeleine Aronson accepted English subtitles for Magical houses, made of bamboo |