As bamboo climbs the popularity ladder, more people are beginning to be involved and work with bamboo. Some are jumping ahead, in my opinion, and promoting themselves as ‘bamboo architects’ while trying to design and perhaps construct in bamboo for their clients. 

While you can call yourself an architect after getting the right qualifications and credentials in a similar time it takes to qualify as a doctor, nobody can prevent you from calling yourself ‘bamboo architect’ because there is no regulation as yet for what it means – how much training have you done in bamboo design and what bamboo experience have you gone through to get there? 

For a conventional architect, it will take training and experience in the many stages of architectural practice to eventually connect the dots from inception to completion. From experience I can say that this does not happen in a linear way and some architects never get the full spectrum of experience anyway either by choice or lack of opportunity. This would be similar for a person learning about bamboo as a material and then be able to design and construct with it. It will take years and not months and you also need to be at the right place at the right time to complete and join up all the necessary bamboo dots. What I am therefore saying is for us not to rush into it because it takes time, exposure, persistence and hard work.

I know that we are all clear to what it means when we use the term ‘architect’. In many countries, it is a licensed title that comes with regulated study, competencies and responsibility. In other words it is not something we can learn in a couple of years. When we start adding ‘bamboo’ to this term, we also need to understand that the architect involved has to have the equivalent or recognised study, experience and responsibility in bamboo - this combination is still a rarity.

There are many avenues to becoming a ‘bamboo architect’ and I declare that I am still travelling on the bamboo avenue and I am not there yet.  My personal approach to this is not to call myself a bamboo architect. Well not for a while yet anyway. I am an architect working predominantly in bamboo and a bamboo advocate. Like many of you, I am still learning so much about bamboo each and every day. 

 It may sound the same or it is just semantics but to me anybody claiming to be or accepting the title, ’bamboo architect’ has to be well experienced in both fields of architecture and bamboo and be recognised as a specialist with a proven track record of built bamboo work. Not many persons have achieved this. Just google ‘bamboo architect’ and you will get only 3 or 4 persons cited. Among them stand Simon Velez and Vo Trong Ngia both deservingly. (To be careful and open here, I want to say that there are also many bamboo masters, craftsmen, designers, engineers and maestros past and present who may not be architects but who design and construct buildings and do more than what some architects in their roles do).

Attending a 5 day workshop or 2 week course in bamboo does not make even an experienced conventional architect transform instantly to a ‘bamboo architect’.  Learning about bamboo properly takes opportunity, time and patience – learning to design and construct in bamboo (without failing) takes even longer!

How much experience and exposure then does it take for a person to confidently call themselves a ‘bamboo architect’? Surely one would ask how many bamboo buildings have they done, what was their relevant experience and apprenticeship and how long have they worked in architecture and bamboo before. Those would be the questions that a prudent client would ask if they were looking specifically for a bamboo architect to design and build for them. 

While it is so good to see bamboo designs and projects growing in numbers all around Asia, It is disheartening for me to note that many of the projects have not been designed and built to incorporate basic bamboo design principles. By this I mean that the designs, some already built, will result in the bamboo having to be replaced in the short term – because of poor design and detailing in terms of inadequate bamboo protection or the wrong selection and application of bamboo materials. (See post ‘How long does bamboo last?’). Also, has the bamboo used been harvested and treated correctly? Who is constructing these buildings? And these designs are appearing online daily getting hundreds of likes! Many still fall for the unique building forms and ‘wows’ that bamboo architecture can evoke, without realising the potential pitfalls that will require bamboo replacement and maintenance in the near future.

What will this do to bamboo as a whole if most of these bamboo buildings begin to fail or underperform because of negligent or under designed bamboo buildings. What will clients and users have to say about bamboo, about the architects, designers or constructors?

As I see it there are perhaps under 10 persons in the world currently that I would dare list as a ‘bamboo architect’. There are many that are getting there though through their dedication and persistence and that I applaud you! For those that deserve the title, you will know who you are. You would probably not even call yourself that because you know that with bamboo, it is a long learning curve and it takes years of proper immersion and onward experience to get to an almost bamboo Jedi stature. One has to enmesh the years of experience practising as an architect with the years of immersion in bamboo to be able to be called, to practice and to succeed as a ‘bamboo architect’. 

 For those that are starting out (and I include bamboo enthusiasts and designers), I say this for the benefit and future the bamboo industry. Let’s first immerse and learn bamboo design and building carefully as the many before us have still been learning and sharing. Bamboo is rising and let’s not jump in and make mistakes which will pull back the growth and re-emergence of bamboo. Be careful and do your research and get opinions and reviews before striding out. Work with experienced and proven bamboo people that genuinely want to help out – I know that there are more than a handful that are willing to. It is totally ok to trail blaze but it is also not wrong or shameful to be humble and to ask for help. Talent is always emerging and we need to ensure that this talent is nurtured and that we collectively can take bamboo forward and not backward. 

‘As surely as the sun rises daily, bamboo will also rise’ – @betterbamboobuildings