AR. NEELAM MANJUNATH AR. SANJITA HARWALKAR

MANASARAM ARCHITECTS , BANGALORE , INDIA.

BAMBOO SYMPHONY- MY Office!

My office had to represent all my Design Philosophies which I have been Preaching and Practicing !

Nature

Man

Building

Sustainability is the Real Definition of Architecture as per Vastushastras , our

most ancient treatise on Architecture ! I don’t find anything new in there. Only that we

have forgotten the true meaning of Culture, Civilization ,Architecture etc . !?

And Nature is reminding us of our true identity, that of its Caretaker and not its Owner.

Universe

psychological

man

spiritual physical

Building with PHANCHMAHABHUTAS...

..the five elements of nature..

Sustainable living is

developing &

balancing the 3

faculties…

“I believe that a building is a living entity. It has to have a spirit and it should be

felt like a living entity by the occupants ; for ever changing with the seasons, from

spring to summer, to rainy season and so on.”

THE DESIGN STATEMENT

“An architect is a Catalyst providing social and cultural stage sets for all

human activities. Hence the magnitude of Responsibility on his/her

shoulders is of staggering magnitude ! Hence a mix of

RESPONSIBLE Creativity and CREATIVE Responsibility

should determine the

ARCHITECTURAL Character of any Building…”

My world of Bamboo !! Designing, Building, Research and

Development, Paper presentations,

Lectures , Training , Education and more.

I finished my House—’House of five elements’, at the same site in may, 2010 ; and was left with practically no money, some construction debris

and lots of ideas to start building my OFFICE!

THE STORY

BEGINS…

Proposed Site for office

Existing Architect’s Residence

The Site – my starting point… The site for the office is in front of my house with 9m roads on two sides.

And facing a 1 acre park on the Northern side. N

9 m wide road

9 m

wid

e r

oad

3 m

wid

e p

ath

way

park

New generation material --Waste 1. Stone debris from Flooring available on site. 2. Ample soil for making earth blocks. 3. Wood and bamboo waste pieces. 4. Boulders and waste from the site and infrastructure development sites nearby.

N

Site office RWH

Sump

Evolution of form…… Avoiding visual interruption to the

view of the Green roof house

Schematic sketch for connecting the structure

Temp.site office

RWH Sump

N

CONCEPTUAL FORM

Reception

Evolution of form……

Wind and Rain shadow and Comfort zone

Temp.site office

RWH Sump

Comfort Zone

Wind & Rain shadow

Ground level

Direct contact

Computer room

Studio

Board Room Architect’s

Cabin RWH Sump

Wind flow

Schematic Section for Space division in office

N

Reception Wind Direction

* Visual connectivity in the office for free

Communication among the staff…very

Essential for Team work .

• Quite and pleasant ambience for Creative work

• Ample Natural light and ventilation- no fans !

• No lashing rain or winds, AS THERE ARE HAD

TO BE MINIMUM DOORS AND WINDOWS IN

THE BUILDING ?!

RAIN WATER

HARVESTING RAIN WATER

HARVESTING

4.13

9.59

4.44 1.800.902.80

10.67

0.45

R3.85

5.02

0.75

0.45

0.4

5

0.53

1.33

7.77

3.33

6.22

1.55

A

SECURITY CABIN

PLAN

STUDIO

5.77X5.83

+0.30m LVL

COMPUTER

ROOM

6.50X5.32

-0.60M LVL

MEETING

ROOM

3.22X5.39

-1.65M LVL

LOUNGE

2.83X5.39 -1.65M LVL

ARCHITECTS

CABIN

6.59X4.94

-2.55M LVL

LOTUS POND

-3.70M LVL

-0.75M LVL +0.15M LVL

LOBBY

-1.65M LVL

RECEPTION

Ze

n /G

ard

en

+0.25 LVL

3.27X3.27

POND

BOREWELL

RECHARGE WELL

SAND PIT

TRANSFORMER

ENTRANCE

9M

WID

E R

OA

D

9M WIDE ROAD

SECURITY CABIN

A R

C

H

I

T

E

C

T’S

H O

U S

E

ENT, TO

LAYOUT

EN

T

BOUNDRHY WALL

N

P A R K

DN

Plan

Collecting roof top rain water and flowing it through water fall in the lotus pond for Rain Water Harvesting .

Services

Electricity- 1.6KW Solar-Wind Hybrid installed with the grid Power Supply. In Future, we plan to install another 2kw pv to take care of the power requirement with grid as stand by.

DEWAT System -We have separate lines for grey & black water with DEWATS treatment system of treating water naturally by planted gravel filter and we use it for flushing and Landscaping.

For Water , we are 100% self sufficient

with a 75,000 lts of RWH Sump to take care the year round . We have no external supply. We have a shallow bore of 120’,which we have been recharging and takes care of emergencies.

In nature we find several example ,

like cobweb etc. The reason for their

efficiency is homogenous load

distribution, which efficiently leads to

global Synchronization.

Interestingly, the tensile strength of

spider silk is greater than the same

weight of steel and has much greater

elasticity , just like

Bamboo.

Ancient local

wisdom Our traditional fishing

Platforms and Bridges

are excellent examples

of Synergetic

structural systems—

simple technology, high

science

Trying out our

ancestor’s technology… Working out the various

permutation and combinations

Of balancing the forces and

taking them down to Mother

earth. Options for various

walls, joints etc.

The STRUCTURE of the building is its most unique feature. It is based on the

model of SYNERGETIC structures. It was physically tested before concreting the

roof. These types of structures are being made across the world with modern

materials with high energy balance. Bamboo is the only Natural building material

with lowest energy balance that can be used for these structures. The columns in

BAMBOO SYMPHONY THOUGH LOOK HAPHAZARDLY

PLACED HAVE DEFINITE POSITION, SIZE AND INCLINATIONS,

i.e. are STRUCTURALLY RELEVANT, just like the highly evolved

TECHNOLOGICAL LOGIC WE FIND IN NATURE!!!

RECEPTION

LOTUS POND

STUDIO ROOM

COMPUTER ROOM

CONFERENCE/LOBBY

PATHWAY

-0.30M LVL

-0.60M LVL

-0.65M LVL

+-0.00 GLVL

SUMP

-2.55M LVL

-3.70M LVL

+7.27M LVL -0.75M LVL

-1.65M LVL

-2.10M LVL

+0.75 M.LVL

-1.65 M.LVL

STUDIO LVL

+-0.00 GLVL

SUMP

RECEPTION

GROUND LEVEL

NORTH SIDE ELEVATION

SOUTH SIDE ELEVATION

EAST SIDE ELEVATION

WEST SIDE ELEVATION

Finally we are able to get all the stresses balanced out… Hurrah…

Last minute checking in a physical model.

CENTER LINE ROOF PLAN FOR BAMBOO BEAMS

B

A

0.4685

1.1347

4.2242

2.8241

0.3611

0.9313

2.0546

1.5452

0.6607

1.0430

1.3864

1.9587

2.6516

1.7319

0.9745

2.23100.1890

1.3135

0.2058

1.4288 1.5784

1.4420

1.4297

2.3651

2.4180

1.5396

0.1963

0.3896

RB1

4.2329

6.2230

5.3531

3.3365

2.6397

3.7492

3.6966

4.0995

5.0994

RB2A

4.9488

RB4A

RB4

RB5

RB5A

RB5B

4.2231

RB6

5.3966

3.0563

RB8

RB8A

RB7

5.8481

RB7A 6.4717

5.1199

4.8479

RB9

RB10

RB10A

RB11A

RB11

5.2049

RB12A

RB12

4.3119

10.5318

3.0480

4.3831

RB13

RB13A

RB13B

5.6279

RB15

RB15A

3.2042

RB15B3.3045

5.0186

RB15C

RB14

RB16

RB16A

RB16B

5.3811

5.3353

RB17

RB17

RB17

4.3926

3.0974

RB184.8666

5.1084

RB18A

RB19A

3.7863RB19

RB19B

3.1391

RB19C

2.5916

RB20A

2.8183

4.4366

RB20

RB20B

RB21

3.9605

1.6946

RB21A

RB21B

4.0651

3.2130

RB22

RB22A

RB22B

RB22C

RB23

3.2045

3.8917

2.9873

RB23A

RB23B

RB23C

RB24

RB24A

5.4329

RB25

4.8282

3.5814

RB25A

2.6875

RB26

4.4894

RB26A

RB27

4.4642

RB27A4.9178

2.7326

5.4160

MB1,2,3&RB1

RB1

RB5

RB2A,1

RB5,5A,28,28A

RB1,2A,4

RB2A

EQEQ

1.0262

4.7561

RB7,1

2.5236

2.2869

5.34525.7696

4.0373

RB4A,5

0.65321.7140

2.23613.0796

4.37595.8561

8.07559.7113

RB5A,5,6,7,7a

RB4A

RB9

RB6

RB7,8 &9

RB7,10

7.4064

9.7311

10.986711.4862

12.6528

7.5461

RB28A

4.6960

5.6553

RB28,10

RB11A,15,28,10

8.8712

RB11,12

10.5225

RB12A,15

RB12A

RB13

RB20B

MB1,M

B2&RB1

RB3,7A

RB7A,2

RB2,3,6A

RB1A,6A

RB28A,1A

RB28A,8&28A

RB5A,5B,

6.8991

RB28A,28

RB9A,9

RB5B,10A,12

RB14A

4.3170

RB9

RB9&14A

(0.00M,0.00M)

REFERENCE POINT

RB1

RB6,9A

RB4A,5

RB7,8,9A

RB14,14A,15,15A

R13,15

RB11,11A,12,12A

RB13,13A,14,14A

RB7,7A

RB2,2A&7A

RB3

RB9,12

RB3,7AMB1

MB2

MB3

8.9737

0.6000MB

3.2700

4.4700

C

cement morter

thread bolt

Bolted Joint: crossing beam

filling internodes with

cement morter

filling internodes with

"T" Joint :

curve this member

to join other member

DETAIL AT 'B'DETAIL AT 'A'

DETAIL AT 'C'

cement morter

filling internodes with

fish-mouth joint

thread bolt

thread bolt

Concrete grouting

1/4" clearence gap Plinth level +0.15m

Ground level

+/-0.00m lvl

4" DIA. Bamboo

2" DIA. MS Pipe

Bamboo Coloumn Foundation Details

MS Cone cap

0.30

scale 1:40

Traditional Tension Structures

The ROOF WAS ALLOWED TO DEFINE ITS OWN

SHAPE AS PER THE FLOW OF THE FORCES --

NATURALLY LIKE A FABRIC ASSUMING IT'S SHAPE.

THESE STRUCTURES ARE HIGHLY EFFICIENT WITH

MINIMAL MATERIAL USAGE.

Interior Layout Plan

Construction starts ---

The laying out on a the site……

RWH UG Sump……

Site Office

Architect’s House

Borewell

DEWAT

System

The 75,000 lts Rain Water Sump

Level change for demarketing spaces

Rain Water fed Water Garden

Assembling the roof, first with old bamboos for a full scale testing…

Marking the roof lines…

In progress…

Traditional Style testing for the roof by the Workers…

Testing the joints and the columns…

The Final roof assembling starts…

The dancing columns…in Synergy, almost off balance!!

All set to take the loads…

That’s the lean mean BEAM of the mighty bamboo…

Talk about doing more with less !!??

The single Bamboo beams criss-crossing for homogeneous

Distribution of loads.Look placed Randomly,

are all numbered and labelled

Bamboo splits for reinforcement, Big risk to take…

Thin plastering over Bamboo splits for holding the concrete

Concreting over, time to wait and prey !

All is well !

Finishing , Flooring etc being done

Flooring from my MATERIAL Waste !

EN

TR

AN

CE

WESTSIDE VIEW

The Entrance… Reception

ENTRANCE

WAITING AREA

RECEPTION

STORAGE

SPACE

FILE

STORE

locker

A

B

C

DN

PLAN

ELEVATION A ELEVATION B

HAND CRAFTED INTERIORS …

… by unskilled laborers!

Garden Lamp-post is made

with pet-bottles & bamboo

Light pipe is created with sanitary pvc pipes.

Variety of grass available on site

which is used for landscaping…

An Eagle in flight, or a frozen

river Or

FROZEN MUSIC???

…We are all The Team for Bamboo Symphony

And now is the time for

Celebration …

…with

BAMBOO SYMPHONY!!!

Journey through Bamboo Symphony…

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