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Writer's pictureNandini Avadhanam

Bamboo, an unexplored material for high-end interiors


This fast-growing grass has been used in iconic buildings, which all of us have been fantasizing of, dreaming a vacation in Bali, but just in the last years has been initiated as a material for luxury interiors. Here some pioneering projects.


© Credits: Ibuku

Bamboo is possibly one of the most useful grasses in the world. For centuries, countries in Asia, South and Central America, as well in the Pacific Islands have used bamboo for a variety of purposes – including but not limited to paper, food, firewood, and transportation. With its quick growth rate, durability, high compressive strength, tensile strength comparable to that of steel, and natural column-shaped growth, bamboo is more than just panda food. Through proper treatment and preservation techniques, bamboo can last up to a lifetime.

Due to these modern preservation methods, there has been a revival in bamboo construction.


Ibuku, a Bali-based architecture firm, has designed some of the most innovative and beautiful bamboo structures.

Echo House is one of the most iconic houses in Green Village, Bali. Built with a combination of steel, wood, terrazzo, stone, and glass, it exists in beautiful harmony with the natural environment.


Over the past few years, bamboo has seen a resurgence in interior décor. Its eco-friendly aspects, coupled with the airy, tropical style, have invited bamboo into the homes and spaces of the trendsetters.

Housed inside the modernist building Casa Lleo Morera in Barcelona is the flagship of Spanish luxury fashion brand Loewe. The store was renovated to accentuate the original features of the building. The store also houses art collections and curated furniture along with the brand’s attires, accessories, and fragrances.


A highlight of the interior is the twisting bamboo installation titled Yugo by Japanese artist Tanabe Chkuunsai IV. The installation uses 6,000 pieces of tiger bamboo woven together to create tubular forms that wind up and around the store’s ceilings, walls, and columns.



Another example of the extensive use of bamboo in the interior is this Bangkok hair salon by Thai designer Nattapon Klinsuwan. Inspired by the natural mineral formations – stalactites and stalagmites - in caves, Klinsuwan used bamboo rods hanging from the ceiling to divide the space

Thousands of these bamboo rods hang from the ceiling, and in some places also touch the floor, to screen the different areas within the salon.


© Credits: Nattapon Klinsuwan

These projects and a handful of others around the worldwide have strived to bring bamboo into the mainstream of high-end interior design. Understanding the versatility and beauty of this material can do wonders for the world of interior design and the future of sustainability.


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