Summary + Reader Response (draft 1)

 In the article, “An Architect’s Guide to Building with Bamboo,” Vadot (n.d) states that bamboo is a reliable and sustainable material for future construction. He mentions that bamboos can mature fast with little maintenance and it is being harvested in various places around the world. Bamboo is available at a low cost in these areas, and it is affordable due to its light weight as it can be transported easily. He also notes that bamboo is often referred to as an alternative for steel due to its hardness. He then explained that the bottom and top part of the bamboo can be used for different purpose in construction. He concludes that it is impossible to classify all 1,200 species of bamboo under a standardized civil building code. However, standards have been made locally in Columbia. While Vadot mentions mainly about the advantages of bamboo and how it should be used as a material in construction, he did not mention much about the disadvantages and why is it not being used commonly.

From the article written by vadot, it states that bamboo is available at low cost. However, there are reasons why it is not used widely in construction around the world and vadot fails to mention it. In the article " bamboo as a Construction Material", Veronica R mentions that " finding a reliable bamboo supplier that provides quality product may be a challenge. If the bamboo is imported, this usually equates to higher costs". To be able to use bamboo for construction, one must look for a suitable bamboo. It is challenging to look within 1200 species of bamboo and select the right one. For example, in Singapore there isn't any bamboo field. To obtain construction graded bamboo Singapore must import from other countries which will increase the cost. With this I can tell that vadot article is very biased, he should have written the disadvantages for countries that does not have its own bamboo field.

Secondly, vadot also mention that steel can be replaced by bamboo. With the explanation that he given “due to its hardness”. He should not only mention about the strength of bamboo, but also talk about the weakness compared to steel. In the article “Comparative Analysis of The Tensile Strength of Bamboo And Reinforcement Steel Bars As Structural Member In Building Construction” the author states that “The tensile test result indicates that bamboo unlike steel has a very poor tensile property and undergoes brittle failure when loaded”. It shows that bamboo is much more brittle than steel. For a material to be used in constructing a structure, the safety consideration is the most important aspect.  A material that undergoes brittle failure when loaded will lose it popularity. From this it shows that vadot article is one-sided with such huge disadvantage he should have included in his article.

 Lastly, from what we all know bamboo, is not usually used in constructing building, landmarks around us, we can hardly find any structure built with it nowadays. From my own experience, I have only seen small houses and hut. It is mainly used during the olden days where people have not been exposed to more variety of materials that are much more advantageous when used in construction, compared to modern days where materials such as steel, concrete, wood and stone are more commonly used. In the article “Bamboo as a Building Material” the author states that “bamboo is subjected to attack by fungi, insects and for this reason bamboo structures are viewed as temporary with an expected life of not more than 5 years” from this statement it shows that bamboo is not durable compared to those commonly used materials. An important property of a construction material is to be durable. We would not want to spend lots of money or stay in a structure that is not durable. Nowadays with materials evolving, choices of material for construction increases, therefor bamboo loses its popularity.

Reference

Vadot, C. (n.d.). An Architect’s Guide to Building With Bamboo. Architizer.   

 https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/how-to-bamboo/

 Veronica, R. (2016). Bamboo as a Construction Material. MODLAR.

https://www.modlar.com/news/145/bamboo-as-a-construction-material/

 

Ogunbiyi, Moses A., Olawale, Simon O., Tudjegbe, Oke E., Akinola, S. R.(2015). Comparative Analysis Of The Tensile Strength Of Bamboo And Reinforcement Steel Bars As Structural Member In Building Construction.

http://www.ijstr.org/final-print/nov2015/Comparative-Analysis-Of-The-Tensile-Strength-Of-Bamboo-And-Reinforcement-Steel-Bars-As-Structural-Member-In-Building-Construction.pdf

 

Ar. Dhenesh Raj, Ar. Bindu Agarwal. (2014). Bamboo as a Building Material. krishisanskriti.

https://www.krishisanskriti.org/vol_image/03Jul201502074415.pdf