Bali’s Bambu Indah: A Working Lab for Material and Structure

I visited the Bambu Indah eco-resort while in studying bamboo construction in Bali. What I found was something like a working laboratory where material, structure, process and building are tested, developed and deployed.

Bamboo Indah is one of Forbes magazine ‘Top 5 Must Visit’ destinations, and is made of multiple building projects. It has evolved over time, beginning with relocated Javanese houses and expanding into a series of experimental bamboo structures, including bamboo treehouses, lift cages, hydro systems as well as buildings. It is a process of learning, testing, and development.

Bamboo is unpredictable. It varies in thickness, length and strength (depending on species) and reacts to water, sunlight, and time. At Bambu Indah I began to understand how these constraints shaped the form of the buildings themselves.

Indeed, there is a strong sense of artistry running through the site. The buildings feel legible, almost like drawings in space. This has influenced how I approach sculpture. I’m not interested in concealing structure. I want it to remain visible as part of the work.

To see these issues addressed – and to understand how this had been done – at huge scale of Bambu Indah was truly inspiring.  Here, immersive, stunning, strong structures are grounded in the logic of their construction.