Summary + Reader Response (Draft 4)
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 explains 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, such as the challenges faced when finding a reliable
bamboo supplier, how brittle bamboo is and why is it not being used commonly.
From the article written by Vadot, he mentions the advantages
such as bamboo being available at low cost. He should also mention about the
challenges faced when finding a reliable bamboo. In the article “Bamboo as a
Construction Material”, Veronica, (2016) mentions that “finding a reliable
bamboo supplier that provides a 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 will be
challenging to look within 1200 species of bamboo and select the right one. In Singapore there isn’t any bamboo field. To obtain construction
graded bamboo Singapore must import from other countries which will increase
the cost. Vadot should have written the disadvantages for countries that do not
have their own bamboo field.
Secondly, Vadot fails to mention on how brittle bamboo is,
which is a major disadvantage of bamboo as a construction material. In his
article he states the advantage of bamboo over steel. With his explanation “due
to its hardness” that steel can be replaced by bamboo. 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”, Ogunbiyi et al. (2015) states that “The tensile test result
indicates that bamboo unlike steel has a very poor tensile property and
undergoes brittle failure when loaded”. From this article It shows that bamboo
is much more brittle than steel. For a material to be used in constructing of a
structure, the safety consideration is the most important aspect. This shows a
huge disadvantage of bamboo as it experiences brittle failure when loaded.
Lastly, Vadot should have given reasons why bamboo is not
commonly used. Currently Bamboo are not used in
constructing building, landmarks around us, we can hardly find any structure
built with it nowadays. In the article “Bamboo as a Building Material”, Dhenesh
and Bindu, (2014) mentioned 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 as durable compared to those commonly used construction materials. Therefore,
bamboo is not commonly used. An important property of a construction material
is to be durable. Nowadays with materials evolving, choices of material for
construction increases. Hence, bamboo loses its popularity.
In conclusion, Vadot article focus mainly on the advantages
of bamboo, it shows a one-sided point of view. If Vadot had included more
disadvantages and reasons why bamboo is not commonly used, his article would
seem less biased.
Reference
Ar. Dhenesh Raj & Ar. Bindu Agarwal. (2014). Bamboo as a
Building Material. krishisanskriti.
https://www.krishisanskriti.org/vol_image/03Jul201502074415.pdf
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.
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/
Thanks very much, Cheng Quan, for the revision.
ReplyDelete