One of the semi- finalists in the World Architecture Festival (WAF), an annual festival and awarding ceremony of the architecture industry, is a unique bamboo skyscraper of CRG Architects. Jane Mountain, in her article posted at Inhabitat, described that this entry has injected a new twist in the use of bamboo as a material for construction. The design is a series of ever- rising towers that are interconnected and spiralling going up to the clouds. The group of architects responsible for the design was inspired by how the main materials look naturally in the forest, where the bamboos grow side by side, in different types, heights and widths. They asked what if cutting bamboos into our forests be put to a stop and instead start recreating them.
The firm states: "Bamboo is a giant grass. Some species grow stronger and harder than oak in just 5 years. Why wouldn't we want to build with a strong natural fiber that takes 5 years to grow instead of 20, 40 or 80 years?"
The qualities of the tall grass - light which makes it easier to transport, with high-tensile strength that matches that of the steel and elastic which makes it ideal for earthquake - prone areas, all contribute to its being an excellent building material. Another motivation behind the design is sustainable construction. Aside from the bamboo's physical properties, it shows rapid and sustainable growth.
The plan illustrates the use of pillars, made purely of bamboos and held together by stainless steel. Each of the tower is was made into 20 meter-high modules, allowing the use of a single 30-meter length of bamboo to reach between modules, while the strength of the structure is reinforced by cross-bracing the bamboo pieces.
Strengthening the bamboo tube are steel joints. The architects further explains: "We decided that stainless steel must be used as the joints' material between bamboo, because of one very simple reason: 200 m height buildings cannot be tied with ropes!"
A weather- resistant and self-cleaning material, the recyclable Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (EFTE) film, covers the building façade.