blue temple develops interlocking bamboo construction in myanmar

housing now by blue temple explores the wonders of bamboo

Housing NOW is a residential typology project launched by architecture studio Blue Temple in Myanmar in 2019. The proposed initiative is implemented in a series of completed constructions that explore the wonders of bamboo design and construction, actively taking part in the transition from a vernacular building technique to an engineered one. Amongst all existing bamboo species accessible on the local market, tiny bamboo represents an untapped, abundant, and cost-effective resource. Utilizing this resource to build houses can reduce the cost of a single unit to that of a smartphone. During three years of research, Blue Temple refined and mastered the design; the findings have since been published in a series of academic papers on small-diameter bundle bamboo low-cost construction.

bamboo grid shell structure by Blue Temple | image © Alex Dyl

designing low-cost, prefabricated structures with locals

The construction system for Housing NOW by Blue Temple (see more here) comprises interlocking small-diameter bundled bamboo structural frames prefabricated in the organization’s bamboo workshop in Bago, a city located north of Yangon, Myanmar. The frames are later shipped to the implementing site and are assembled in collaboration with the local community. This construction methodology reduces the construction of a single housing unit to a week while effectively responding to emergency housing needs in remote areas of the country.

Assembling the structural bamboo frames, followed by the construction of finishes, including walls, floors, and ceilings, is done in collaboration with the local community. At each location, Blue Temple employs and trains village members while constructing their own homes. By doing so, the studio has developed a network of trained workers from vulnerable communities to act as a deployable task force — creating a long-term collaborative approach that opens doors to new job opportunities for workers, who can subsequently provide for their families.

sport court | image © Alex Dyl

accelerating the housing access in myanmar for the displaced

Since the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, nearly 2 million people have been internally displaced. Accordingly, Blue Temple’s architecture design studio is seeking support to scale up the production of low-cost bamboo housing for refugees in slums in Myanmar. After three years of research, prototyping, and piloting, Blue Temple is scaling production to increase housing access in vulnerable communities. All forms of help are greatly appreciated. The studio debuted with projects ranging from micro-architecture proposals to public space designs on an urban scale to data-driven mapping projects on a national level. In collaboration with local and international universities, Blue Temple also organized nine ‘Free of Charge Architecture Design Workshops’ that promote creative and critical thinking nationwide.

bamboo playground in the French School of Yangon | image © Nyan Zay Htet

Keeping one foot in the academic world and another in the professional sphere is an advantage for pushing ideas to its full potential, while keeping actual applications in real-world projects in sight. Today, the cross-disciplinary studio is engaged in projects ranging from archeological studies of Hindo-Buddhist ruins in Malaysia to large-scale bamboo construction in Madagascar, the design of a Burmese-style chess board, and more recently, low-cost housing made of bamboo — following its earlier projects spanning playgrounds and other social-educational spaces in Myanmar.

undulating roof of the playground | image © Nyan Zay Htet