Bamboo and Wood in Design

Luring you to relax to the max.

I so love bamboo incorporated in architectural design. In fact, I prefer bamboo sofa sets to urban modern ones. I love bamboo anywhere in the house, even in toilet and bath, and especially in the kitchen. I also love it in bedrooms, especially mixed with modern furnishings. Bamboo and wood design are excellent accents for heavy-concrete architecture.

Architectural philosophy encourages balance and symmetry with contrast. This makes the overall impression stick to the mind and the recall effect impresses on people and makes them repeat the design in their own home projects. Contrast eliminates boredom and puts spice and life to the composition. Here, bamboo and wood in design proves very effective.

All-concrete is always an eye sore for me. When mixed with metal, it becomes a bit tolerable, especially if the metal is colored strikingly contrasting. But a triad mix of concrete, wood, and metal is altogether something else. It makes me want to rush into the edifice to see what's inside. It sparks up active interest.

Bamboo creates a vacation mood, an idea of rustic relaxation even if one is amid the hassle and bustle of city life. Better if the hardness of bamboo is made pliant by the sight of soft cushions or its simpler rendition to lengthy strips. Bamboo and wood in design lends life to the coldness and rigidity of concrete and metal.

A mix of concrete, metal, and wood is often the spice of design.

I would like to have my city house retain an out-of-town atmosphere, always having the air of a resort. To attain this, I would consider the presence of bamboo and wood in design, no matter how they are susceptible to termite attacks. I would even have an actual bamboo tree in a corner of my property, as well as other partially wooded corners. Bamboo trees create whispers of sounds indicative of rural breeze gently passing by. And I definitely would like to enjoy that in my city habitat all year round.

I believe city architects should well consider the above when designing urban abodes for the busy and stressed urbanite. To lessen the toll of work pressure and tension, architects have the duty to re-produce the peace and calm of the countryside in the work place and at home, or at least recommend the same to their clients, stressing their importance.

And in this task, bamboo and wood in design would prove invaluable. In Deep Asia, bamboo always brings back time to the simple old days of our ancestors at the same time that we realize the needs of the present. Seeing bamboo puts us somewhat in a meditative mode. Deep Asians find the sight of bamboo and wood in design quite conducive to healthy and beneficial rumination of what is real, needful, and soul-satiating.

That's my ideal HOUSEpinoy--always putting hints of the province in your daily routine. Thus, I like gathering Pinoy architectural ideas I see around and composing them into a blog.