You might have heard buildings that use eco-friendly materials or which has self- sustaining energy needs as green buildings. But have you ever wondered if the entire building was actually made up of a tree – a bamboo tree. Well yes, there is this building – “THE GREEN SCHOOL”, located along the river Ayung, Bali, Indonesia.
The campus is designed around the principles of an organic permaculture system. It has been reported as an example of large –scale building potential of bamboo architecture, especially “The heart of school” is a 60 m long still structure constructed with 2.500 bamboo poles!
The bamboo tree really grows fast compared to the other plants and it is a locally available material in Bali. Bamboo which was just used as a scaffolding material was not generally considered for construction until now. A bamboo house lasts a life time if treated properly.
Small building models were built with bamboo itself, which served as the base model for construction. This would require technicians and artists build a miniature model and then it was passed on to engineers for CAD drawings. The scribbles and sketches helped to build its beautiful interiors.
The school was awarded the – “Greenest school on earth” by the Centre for Green Schools at the U.S.Green Building Council. The school was a finalist for the 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
This school provided a door to the future vision, it would set an example to the children playing, to improve their creativity in real life. The surrounding habitat would let them think out of their minds and create innovative ideas.
It would alter the way they look at things, they would never see their school as just another building, but as their INSPIRATION.
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Written by Sruthi Subramani.
