Tag Archives: bamboo

These Balinese cabins use natural materials and minimal design to immerse guests in the environment!

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We are out of 2020, but since things are more or less the same with the gloomy global mood I have continued to find cabins that can uplift us all – this one quite literally will! The Eibche by Shomali Design takes the cabin game to a new level by incorporating the best of Balinese culture, modern architecture, and cozy interiors.

The elevated structure weaves concrete and bamboo into its design. The team has used locally sourced building materials – wood for the structure and a brick-stone combination for the foundation. The frame is then ‘cemented’ by concrete which brings in a hint of modern minimalist architecture. The designers chose organic materials in order to create harmony with the environment so Eibche showcases a lot of bamboo poles, woven bamboo, coconut wood, and teak wood in both the interior as well as exterior.

“As Balinese people traditionally use tripartite divisions, we tried to hold the spirit of this format and use it in a modern way. On the other hand, splitting the cabin in half with the separating walls allowed nature to move inside. Using natural materials encouraged us to hold their color. No natural colors were altered and the only addition we made was a white wash to make their harmony and contrast pop more. Residents can now be immersed in the scenic setting even if they are indoors,” says Yasser Shomali. The Eibche cabin has managed to blend the contrasting aesthetics of a tropical mood board with contemporary architecture and has not disturbed the delicate balance between them – it all looks like it was born from the Balinese land.

Designer: Shomali Design Studio

These origami greenhouses reduce plastic waste using a sustainable material: inflatable bamboo!

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You will find that in a lot of Southeast Asian countries people still use the traditional plastic-covered greenhouses and they are super popular in India which is the world’s second-biggest agricultural country. Polythene sheets are cheap and easy especially for those in developing countries like India where over 60% of the population depends on agriculture for income. We know that plastic is bad (and still find it so hard to remove it from our lifestyles), but most people in these countries don’t fully grasp that and the quickest way to convince them is by providing them with an accessible sustainable alternative while educating them simultaneously. This way we fast-track their sustainable journey and Designer Eliza Hague has already come up with the alternative solution – inflatable bamboo greenhouses!

Hague is a student at the University of Westminster where she is pursuing her Masters in Architecture. Her design features shellac-coated bamboo to emphasize the use of biomimicry in different disciplines of design – in her case it is providing eco-friendly architectural solutions inspired by nature. For the main structure, Hague drew inspiration from the Mimosa Pudica plant which closes its leaves when it senses danger and that is how she came up with collapsible beams featuring inflatable hinges. It gave the greenhouse a unique origami effect (it actually looks like paper too!) and also enables the structure to be easily flat-packed for transportation/storage. Rows of these bamboo-paper greenhouses can be connected to shared houses constructed from the soil, which has a high thermal mass, providing shelter from extreme temperatures in India. Hague envisions that the greenhouses would be shared by multiple families and would provide each family member with enough food to be self-sufficient, creating communal greenhouse villages in the city’s more rural and isolated areas.

“The tutors in Design Studio 10 encourage you to analyze what it means to be truly sustainable in architecture, rather than integrating sustainability as a generic requirement which is often seen throughout the industry. This helped to develop my project into something that challenges the suitability of widely used materials and current lifestyles. In light of the pandemic, the idea that architecture can provide spaces to encourage self-sufficient living has become more prevalent as we rely on supermarkets more than ever. This notion stimulated the desire to create a design that not only responded to its local environment but proposed innovative solutions to these challenges,” says Hague as she continues to develop her design so it can someday be an accessible alternative that will reduce plastic waste and educate people at the same time. Also, who wouldn’t love a cool, sustainable, origami dome as a greenhouse?

Designer: Eliza Hague

Polythene is used all over India because it is cost-effective for the rural demographic but it needs to be replaced each year which generates tonnes of plastic waste. With Hague’s alternative, the environmental impact can be minimized as the design uses locally sourced bamboo and natural resins extracted from trees.

The bamboo is then coated with shellac resin which makes it weather-resistant and gives it a texture similar to paper.

To set it up, all one has to do is inflate the greenhouse with air, cover it up with the bamboo-shellac material and fit the expandable fin-like black solar balloons that would sit between the inflatable beams and cladding for the hinges to facilitate natural ventilation based on the heat from the sun.

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As each individual requires 40 meters-squared of greenhouse space to grow enough food to maintain self-sufficiency, the concept accommodates the potential different typologies based on two-person, three-person, and four-person homes.

This sustainable eco-resort uses bamboo + rammed earth as concrete alternatives to reduce emissions!

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The new normal has given us a new perspective on the value of nature in our lives, we have longed to be outdoors freely and breathe in fresh air without any worries. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we must take care of our environment because it does have the ability to heal if given time and space – this is why a sustainable lifestyle is now more crucial than ever as we still may have a chance to slow down the climate crisis. However, when most people think about living sustainably, they think it means sacrificing luxury but the Ulaman Eco-Retreat Resort made mostly from bamboo is here to show you that sustainability can be well integrated into luxury.

Designed by Inspiral Architects, this eco-resort is located in Bali’s Kaba-Kaba village. It has been constructed using materials found directly on the site and the immediate locality which helped the resort become completely carbon zero. Apart from bamboo, rammed earth has been used for the resort‘s ground-level walls. Rammed earth is a wonderful green alternative to concrete which is responsible for more than 8% of the construction industry’s emissions which contributes to 30% of global greenhouse emissions. Traditional rammed earth is made from clay-rich soil, water, and natural stabilizers like animal blood or urine and plant fibers that have been packed down tightly for durability. The resort showcases the qualities of rammed earth in a luxury setting and shines more light on it in hopes to make it a popular choice as we work towards reducing emissions. Each guest villa has a curvilinear roof that looks like art from any height or angle.

“We need to be inspired by the spaces we live in, both the built environment, the natural, and their harmonious existence,” says the team at Inspiral. By harnessing available natural resources like the nearby river’s flow, the resort is able to power a hydroelectric generator that sustains the buildings within the resort. “Being very intensive to build, we were able to recruit the nearby village to work on what has become the most substantial rammed earth project in Indonesia,” explains the Balinese architectural collective when describing the curved walls on the ground level. Bamboo was the right choice for this tropical resort as it is sustainable, flexible, cost-effective, seismic-resistant, and fire-resistant. It also brings a cultural element of abundance and good luck to the space which makes it more authentic. The luxury resort includes all amenities but the two most interesting ones are the yoga studio and pool. The yoga studio floats from the cliff’s edge with a cantilevered structure supporting a parabolic bamboo pavilion and the meandering pool resembles the river nearby that also powers the resort. The Ulaman team hopes to expand their retreat with a river spa and suspended pods to further immerse guests in their lush natural surroundings.

Designer: Inspiral Architects

Uncle Iroh approves of this bamboo-inspired tea set!

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You already know Uncle Iroh would 100% approve of this simple bamboo tea set, he would probably give you a wise lesson on being like bamboo as he brews his tea! I can already hear his voice saying “Zuko be like bamboo, resilient, flexible, and versatile.”

This tea set will appeal to any minimalist looking to add zen to their kitchen and their life. Designed for a luxury hotel brand located in southern China’s natural treasure—Jintan District, it is a nod to the scenery and bamboo fields. Jintan is known to have some of the best bamboos and high-grade green tea, both these natural gems are blended into this one tea set. “We perfectly interpreted and integrated the bamboo shape with the tea set for tea ceremony. The minimal bamboo-shaped tea set showcases the elegant contour of the product and the features of the tea set as well,” explains the team. It includes a teacup, a teapot, and a tea spoon that can all be stacked on top of each other to create your own bamboo. The little leaf/green shot is a thoughtful detail turned into a spoon that highlights the elegance of bamboo.

The stacking is symbolic of the layers of different steps of a traditional tea brewing process. It gives you a chance to enjoy the gradual progress and appreciate it – as Uncle Iroh would say, the tea is the reward.

Designer: RONG Design

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Celebrate the versatility of bamboo with these unique product designs this world bamboo day!

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Bamboo is a wonderful natural renewable resource that is capable of rapid growth and an alternative the designers can use to avoid deforestation. It’s tensile strength and flexibility makes it an ideal material for durable products as well as seismic-resistant constructions. It is incredibly lightweight and fire-resistant (it can withstand temperatures up to 4000°C). While it gets all points for being eco-friendly, we’ll give it a few more because it’s also cost-effective. Happy World Bamboo Day! Scroll down for our top 10 Bamboo designs!

The Everloop Toothbrush from NOS tackles this problem head-on by using a recycled plastic handle and disposable bamboo bristles. Taking on a unique cradle-to-cradle approach, the brush comes with a plastic handle that is, in fact, made from recycled toothbrushes. At the very end is a clamping mechanism that allows you to attach 100% natural bamboo bristles to the toothbrush’s head. The idea is to retain the plastic handle and periodically replace the bamboo bristles every few months. The bamboo bristles have absolutely no plastic in them, allowing them to easily be disposed of, or composted in a way that doesn’t harm the environment.

Ice Mouse by Aloic claims to be the only mouse designed with ventilation and breathability in mind. Now I don’t possess any data in front of me that says traditional mice tend to heat up, mine probably doesn’t, but I do like the idea of a mouse that is both unique looking and 100% plastic-free. The Ice Mouse comes with a bamboo upper that promotes breathability, making sure your palms don’t work up a sweat with hours of use. The bamboo component is CNC machined from a layered block of bamboo plies, doing a pretty remarkable job of showcasing the wood-grain while remaining entirely unique in its grain pattern. Some may say it almost reflects the uniqueness of the fingers and palm that rest on it! Sitting underneath it is the aluminum base, giving your fingers a metallic surface to hug and sort of complementing the feeling of typing on an aluminum-constructed MacBook.

Indian designer, Saksham Mahajan, who has come up with a sustainable version of an iron made from bamboo! The designer started the project as a challenge to explore bamboo as a material, “It’s sustainability can be exploited to make so many different things”, says Saksham – and we agree! Bamboo is structured, sturdy, easy to grow, and eco-friendly, in fact, it is used to make houses in Asia so why not use it to make household items too? The bamboo iron box was selected as one of the best entries in the Green Concept Award 2019 which furthers the conversation of using this versatile material in more products.

Teaming up with the renowned Japanese Architect Kengo Kuma, ASICS has unveiled the latest edition of the Metaride, an all-white running shoe with a pattern inspired by Japanese Yatara bamboo-weaving, on the shoe’s body. The fabric strips wrap themselves in a seemingly chaotic way, but in fact, are strategically placed to hold the foot steady by binding with the shoe’s innovative Flytefoam base that uses cellulose nanofiber, a strong and lightweight wood-pulp derived material currently being researched and explored in Japan. The shoe is described as ‘moving architecture’ by Kuma, who relied on the age-old technique of Yatara to provide aesthetic dynamism as well as a comfortable fit.

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The Knot chair by Qiaolin Gong will check all your boxes when it comes to a stool-style seating solution. The structure is made almost entirely of beautiful, eco-friendly bamboo. The natural material is bent using a unique crisscross weave that reinforces its natural strength and creates an exquisite, sculptural aesthetic. Lightweight, long-lasting, and integrable into a variety of styles, it’s sure to be a timeless addition to any interior.

With an aesthetic that melds Japanese and French aesthetics together, the iFi Aurora by Julien Haziza is a hi-fi speaker that literally looks like it’s levitating off the surface of the table or mantelpiece it’s kept on. The audio unit is clad in a casing made of bamboo, with slatted strips around its periphery, adding contrast while also creating what one would perceive to be the grill for the speaker’s 8 drivers. The speaker is lifted using a pyramid-shaped aluminum frame that helps demarcate Aurora’s control unit and display on the front, as well as it’s series of input and output ports at the back.

Furniture design is moving towards a more flexible direction and CatYou in a Circle by Jack Dogson is a wonderful display of modular pieces that work for both humans and pets. The set includes a floor sofa and a coffee table that aims to create a relaxing space for cats and their owners to have some downtime. Urban homes are only getting smaller and cat owners are faced with challenges to keep their pets entertained without taking up too much space. During quarantine, it has become more of a lesson as we share our space with them 24/7. The designer administered a questionnaire and after 233 responses it was found one-third of the cat owners living under 50 square meters. The four main problems that the design needed to solve based on their feedback were – not enough hiding space, cat furniture occupies too much living space, renovation is often not an option, and people want to have enough room to bond with their cats during playtime.

Amidst Tulum’s rapidly-growing unchecked architectural development, the Luum is an eco-friendly bamboo structure located in a conserved area in a native jungle, within a conservation-minded residential development called Luum Zama. The temple’s design is highly influenced by parametric architecture and features five catenary arches made from Bamboo. Designed by CO-LAB Design Office, the temple’s design uses bamboo sustainably grown in the neighboring Chiapas state. Flat sections of bamboo were bent and cold-molded on site, before being shaped into the 5 catenary arches. For structural stability, the designers wove together multiple bamboo beams into a triangular mesh, with a dual-layered woven bamboo lattice on top for further cover. Sitting atop the grand bamboo structure is a canopy of local Zacate, or straw thatch, giving the structure protection from heat and even rain.

The Baubax shoes are designed to be everything you want from your footwear. They’re grippy, durable, water-resistant, come in a variety of styles with both laced and laceless variants, but most importantly, are extremely comfortable. Borrowing entirely from nature and natural materials, Baubax’s travel shoes are organic from top to bottom, carefully picking and choosing materials that best fit the shoe’s needs. The rubber outsole gives the shoes the friction it needs to firmly grip onto even the slipperiest of floors, while coconut coir and natural latex insole mimic the feeling of having a cushy mattress underneath your feet. Sitting between the insole and your feet is a layer of Australian merino wool, a breathable fabric that keeps your feet feeling ventilated while letting you commit the otherwise cardinal sin of wearing your shoes without socks. Merino wool, however, possesses anti-bacterial properties too, so your feet stay healthy and your shoes don’t end up developing an odor. Sitting above everything is the Travel Shoes’ bamboo-fabric upper, which keeps your feet cool at all times, just like open-toed sandals, but without being a fashion faux-pas.

KNORK Eco’s are designed to be cutlery you can dispose of after use, but you won’t want to. Created from Astrik, a biopolymer made from sugarcane starch and bamboo pulp, KNORK Eco feels like plastic but comes with a much thicker cross-section, making them solid and incredibly durable. They can be used, reused, and are dishwasher-friendly… and in the event that they do end up in a landfill, the KNORK Eco will biodegrade into compost in just two years. What sets the KNORK Eco apart is the fact that they aren’t designed like your single-use plastic spoons and forks. Marginally thicker cross-sections mean they’re as robust as stainless steel cutlery, while the ergonomic gripping handles are perfect for eating food with. The bio-polymer is heat-resistant, making it perfect for all sorts of meals, and its glossy finish makes it look top of the line.

This modular cat furniture is designed to be a lounge for you and your pet!

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Since everyone is staying home, a lot of our attention has been captured by the furniture around us which has got thinking about how it can be more multifunctional, space-saving, and aesthetic. Furniture design is moving towards a more flexible direction and CatYou in a Circle is a wonderful display of modular pieces that work for both humans and pets.

The set includes a floor sofa and a coffee table that aims to create a relaxing space for cats and their owners to have some downtime. Urban homes are only getting smaller and cat owners are faced with challenges to keep their pets entertained without taking up too much space. During quarantine, it has become more of a lesson as we share our space with them 24/7. The designer administered a questionnaire and after 233 responses it was found one-third of the cat owners living under 50 square meters. The four main problems that the design needed to solve based on their feedback were – not enough hiding space, cat furniture occupies too much living space, renovation is often not an option, and people want to have enough room to bond with their cats during playtime. The goal was to incorporate the behavior of people and cats in one design that worked to create a functional and playful space for both.

People in small living spaces use low furniture (such as rugs, floor chairs) to build intimate relaxing areas while cats prefer covert spaces, but due to the limited space, there are not many places to hide or play. CatYou in a Circle didn’t want to separate the pets from their owners so it is designed to cleverly bring them together while also maintaining boundaries. The hollow armrests and backrest offer cats a playground and hiding territory while the coffee table provides a place to sleep. The woven bamboo texture makes it possible for owners to see their cats even when they are hiding and play with through its holes. The size of holes is different in different parts of the furniture to adapt to the needs of the pet as well as humans. The backrest holes are smaller to make the cats feel more secure. But holes above are bigger so that when people lean on the sofa, they can see through the backrest and find their cats underneath. The armrest holes are bigger to offer more opportunities to interact. But holes above it are smaller to make resting your arms more comfortable. There are also two large holes on each side of armrests that allow the curious cats to pop their heads or hands out.

To make it more comfortable and cozy, fabric cushions are placed at the bottom of the armrests and the coffee table. They are skin-friendly and also absorb smell so it works especially well for smaller homes. The cushions are laundry-friendly and the armrests can be stretched out or pushed back in depending on the space and needs. The bamboo adds a touch of warmth and keeps it airy and visually light. Most cat furniture on the market is focused on either just the pet or just the interior aesthetic for the owners, it is rare to find pet furniture that works for the behavioral and spatial needs of both while still upholding the standards of style. CatYou in a Circle emphasizes the concept of “passive companion”, which leaves an autonomous space for cats. Flexible furniture should be extended to pets as well, after all, our house belongs more to them than it does to us!

Designer: Jack Dogson

Make meal prep hassle-free again with this space-saving cutting board!

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One of the biggest lifestyle changes for me was meal prep, it eliminates the fuss of deciding what to cook every day and made grocery shopping so much easier. One of the best parts was I didn’t have to order out when I was at work and it made me realize how quickly “But it is just $12!” adds up when you practically do it every other day. Seems like everyone was riding this meal prep wave till we were hit with WFH and that sudden change the pandemic brought on derailed the most disciplined people. For me, I stopped meal prep because I was adjusting to working from home and doing chores at the same time. So I started snacking throughout the day instead of cooking a meal because who wants to clean after a perpetual Monday (that is what it feels like in quarantine)? Enter TidyBoard! It is not wearing a cape but it is here to make your life easier and get your good eating habits back on track!

TidyBoard was designed to encourage healthy eating and turn it into a sustainable lifestyle change instead of a trend (looking at you, juice cleanse!). It streamlines your prep with strategically placed strainers, catches, and containers on the end of the cutting board so there is more to eat and less to clean. It keeps food and scraps separate and allows you to strain hands-free. When you are done with the chopping and cutting, one swipe of your hand will clear it all. TidyBoard is constructed from bamboo which is antibacterial and durable enough to last for years making the wear and tear worth the effort. Bamboo also makes it lightweight and eco-friendly. “The TidyBoard was mindfully influenced by math and physics. Our board is engineered as a lever to stay steady even with a heavy load in the containers,” says the team.

The product is calculatingly made to optimize your counter space and the collapsible containers make it super easy to prep and store. It can hang off the edge of your sink which actually makes you use less of your countertop for prep and you don’t have to worry about losing precious produce or fresh pasta to your sink! The cutting board acts as a lever to help hold the weight of the catch – it can hold up to 9 lbs of food in its container while hanging off your counter (do you even lift?). The BPA-free Food Grade silicone containers are made collapsible to save 50% of drawer/cabinet space which makes it perfect for small kitchens or homes that don’t have a lot of storage. The large catch and containers have volumetric and measuring marks to aid you in your prep so that you are never short on a meal because of wrong calculations! The collapsible strainers are nestled into the end of the board for cleaning or straining hands-free. The kit includes snap-on lids so you can store them in the containers right after prep. The lids also have a vent which makes it easy to microwave so you can store and eat from the same container.

Gordon Ramsey will be very pleased with your kitchen work ethic because TidyBoard keeps it clean and clutter-free. Say goodbye to chaotic cooking and welcome spick and span prep…something Monica Geller would say and we would absolutely agree with her! So prep ingredients without any stress, strain pasta, store cuttings, soak fruits and veggies, compost scraps, and serve up a whole cheese platter too if you feel like! It is hard enough to sanitize everything all the time, work from home, do all chores, so the last thing you should have to worry about is your meals and cleaning up after you cook. Bon appetit!

Designer: TidyBoard

Click Here to Buy Now: $79 $99 (20% off). Hurry, only 3/3620 left, under 48 hours to go! Raised over $568,325!

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Click Here to Buy Now: $79 $99 (20% off). Hurry, only 3/3620 left, under 48 hours to go! Raised over $568,325!

The Everloop toothbrush’s creative design lets you replace its bamboo bristles

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Every single plastic toothbrush ever made still exists today in some form or another, either in a landfill or the ocean. That’s a pretty scary statistic, considering there are roughly over 7 billion people on this planet today, and the average person throws out their old toothbrush every 3-4 months. That roughly translates to 20-30 billion toothbrushes being trashed each year, which isn’t a small problem to say the least.

The Everloop Toothbrush from NOS tackles this problem head-on by using a recycled plastic handle and disposable bamboo bristles. Taking on a unique cradle-to-cradle approach, the brush comes with a plastic handle that is, in fact, made from recycled toothbrushes. At the very end is a clamping mechanism that allows you to attach 100% natural bamboo bristles to the toothbrush’s head. The idea is to retain the plastic handle and periodically replace the bamboo bristles every few months. The bamboo bristles have absolutely no plastic in them, allowing them to easily be disposed of, or composted in a way that doesn’t harm the environment.

This fundamentally different approach is what sets the Everloop apart. Most toothbrushes (even the eco-friendly bamboo ones) use synthetic Nylon bristles that eventually end up becoming plastic waste when disposed of. Everloop switches the consensus by assigning the right material to the right part of the brush based on whether it’s retained or disposed of. It uses a robust, plastic handle (which you hold onto for as long as you need), and all-natural bamboo bristles (which you periodically dispose of, so that no plastic ever enters the waste cycle). Moreover, the fact that the handle is made from recycled toothbrushes means with each Everloop, plastic waste is taken out of the environment. Pretty cool, isn’t it?? And the packaging comes from thermoformed paper pulp too, another eco-friendly disposable material!

Designer: NOS

A bamboo iron to smoothen out the wrinkles in sustainable living

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Sometimes we think we are leading sustainably by just using metal straws or paper bags, but if you carefully look at your daily life, you’ll notice there are so many products that use plastic. The best we can do is find alternatives for them and support designers, brands, businesses who are working on making the future a better place to be. One such product is the iron and Indian designer, Saksham Mahajan, who has come up with a sustainable version of it made from bamboo!

The designer started the project as a challenge to explore bamboo as a material, “It’s sustainability can be exploited to make so many different things”, says Saksham – and we agree! Bamboo is structured, sturdy, easy to grow and eco-friendly, in fact, it is used to make houses in Asia so why not use it to make household items too? The bamboo iron box was selected as one of the best entries in the Green Concept Award 2019 which furthers the conversation of using this versatile material in more products.

When they say its the thought that counts, it is true, this concept is just a thought right now but someday it’ll be a real product. Sometimes a thought is powerful enough to inspire a global movement and that’s what our planet needs right now.

Designer: Saksham Mahajan

Robot Toilet Paper or Tissue Box Holder

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This little robot neatly holds your toilet paper in his little robot body and handily dispenses sheets through his robot mouth. The HoroM Toilet Paper Holder is the hero ummm… Horo we all need right now. How does he do it? Just open up his robot back panel like Small Wonder and slide your roll over his robot dowel and he’s ready to dispense, robotically. Can you spare a square?

Because this robot is made of natural bamboo instead of metal like most other robots, it’s actually water resistant, which we’ve been told is a pretty important quality to have for items that go in bathrooms. So we’ve heard. Word on the street. Looks like it can hold tissue boxes too, or maybe just unboxed tissues. Would work nicely in a bathroom situation where you can’t wall mount a toilet paper holder but have a counter or shelf to put it on.

Robot Toilet Paper or Tissue Box Holder