by Will Cottrell | May 2, 2026 | Writing
How I Work When I make a work, there’s not usually a clear image in my head. What happens instead has to be improvised: a bamboo split bends differently than expected or a joint doesn’t hold. Reversals, hesitations and breakages are all part of the game. There’s a...
by Will Cottrell | Apr 17, 2026 | Writing
The Idea Wasn’t There I don’t start with an idea. Or at least, not in the way people tend to imagine. When I make a work, there’s no clear image in my head. What happens... Writing Shape As Structure Structure is not only created only through the strength of a...
by Will Cottrell | Apr 17, 2026 | Writing
Shape As Structure Structure is not only created only through the strength of a material. It can also emerge from how forces are organised within a form. For example: an eggshell is extremely thin, yet surprisingly strong because its curved shape distributes...
by Will Cottrell | Apr 3, 2026 | Writing
A Balinese Bamboo Education As an artist trying to understand bamboo, I went to Bali to study the structural languages developed there. Bali is the home of contemporary bamboo and the structures they are creating are both visually mind-blowing and structurally...
by Will Cottrell | Apr 3, 2026 | Writing
Bali’s Bambu Indah: A Working Bamboo Lab 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....
by Will Cottrell | Apr 3, 2026 | Writing
Lessons from Bali’s Green School The Green School in Bali represents an enormous body of knowledge about contemporary bamboo practice. It’s the global reference point for bamboo innovation. In 2024 I studied with Bamboo U, part of the architectural team...
