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
Bamboo U: My Bamboo Education in Bali 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...
by Will Cottrell | Apr 3, 2026 | Writing
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,...
by Will Cottrell | Apr 3, 2026 | Writing
Situating My Practice: 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...
by Will Cottrell | Mar 18, 2026 | Writing
Working thematically and in Series I am greatly influenced by Henry Moore’s idea of a form having a “power of expression.” I work until I recognise that a structure carries this expressive force. For Carl Jung, the power in an expression lies in its psychological...
by Will Cottrell | Mar 13, 2026 | Material Investigation, Writing
Form Studies: Bamboo Hyperbolic Paraboloids Often used in contemporary Asian bamboo architecture, a hyperbolic paraboloid is a doubly-curved surface, simultaneously concave and convex. This deceptively complex form is actually made entirely from straight lines. Every...
