European Bamboo Architecture, in Europe and from Europe
Construction in the early 21st century consumes half the world’s resources. Is estimated, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, for: 16% of the planet total freshwater resources; 30-40% of all energy supplies; 50% by weight of all raw materials taken from the earth’s surface. Of the waste in landfills, 40-50% is building materials and construction accounts for 20-30% of greenhouse gas emissions. [1]
Bamboo is a vast development natural resource that provides climate-smart mitigation and adaptation solutions. The plant’s potential for green economy development in Europe is enormous. Depending on the species can be harvested in 1 to 5 years, hardwoods like oak take at least 40 years to mature before they can be harvested. Bamboo is an extraordinary sequester of CO2 and releases 35% more O2 into the atmosphere than an equivalent stand of hardwood trees. If you use bamboo for long term structural projects like housing than you are fixing that CO2 for decades to come. Bamboo is now available in Europe. [2]
I believe that introducing bamboo into the building chain will promote shaping a circular industry ecosystem, a value network that will challenge the existing construction industry supporting life-cycle thinking.
As in Europe specialized man power to build with bamboo is not available, since I founded Studio Cardenas Conscious Design in 2004, I centered my work in the design of disrupting construction systems in a time of environmental crisis such as BooTech. BooTech is the symbiosis of bamboo with dry joint technology, achieving an innovative construction system easy to produce and affordable. Unlike mainstream approach, which uses cement as a filler and high skill workers, BooTech is an easy to assemble dry-mounted system leaving bamboo poles intact making it possible to replace individual poles in case of need. BooTech is versatile, is possible to build various types of architectural geometries, typologies and sizes. BooTech construction system is a conscious and strategic choice to radically reduce embodied carbon in buildings supporting the mitigation of climate change. [3]
Mauricio’s concern about the negative impact of the construction industry on the environment has led him to develop the Conscious Design method during his Ph.D at Politecnico di Milano, becoming the philosophy of his professional practice. Considered leader in innovative sustainable design has more than 20 years’ experience using round pole bamboo for construction. Awarded “Italy of Innovators” by the Agency for Innovation of the Italian Council of Ministers for his pioneer bamboo design of connections. His built bamboo designs are of various sizes and different geographical locations, the most recent is the INBAR Bamboo Eye Pavilion, largest bamboo structure in Northern China. Since 2012 Mauricio teaches Conscious Design at Masters level at Milan Politecnico, Tongji University Shanghai and Lantao Academy Beijing. Since 2017 is member of the Construction Task Force of INBAR – International Organization for Bamboo and Rattan. In 2019 and 2020 was Scientific Curator for Under The Bamboo Tree event at Labirinto della Masone, largest bamboo labyrinth in the world. Mauricio has been jury member for several international bamboo design and construction competitions. In 2019 his Studio was awarded Best International Sustainable Architecture Practice by UK BUILD Magazine. In 2020 Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera dedicated a page to him entitled “the Bamboo Architect”. In the same year he represents Italy internationally as one of the Ambassadors of Italian Design in the IDD2020 Italian Design Day organized by the Ministry of International Affairs, MiBACT-Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism and ADI Industrial Design Association. In 2021 Mauricio is in charge of the organization of the Milano event “Italian Bamboo Culture” for AIB – Italian Bamboo Association, sponsored by Italian Minister of Ecological Transition in the context of All4Climate2021 and PreCOP26. In 2022 Mauricio is one of the 38 Italian protagonists among anthropologists, architects, artists, nutritionists, scientists, cooks and others, of the video “VISIONS Italian Ecoway of Lyfe” a project of the Italian Cultural Institute of Melbourne Australia. Currently he is developing with his team new designs for bamboo buildings in Italy, China and Colombia.