Bamboo Immersion at Bamboo U

I have just come back from the Bamboo U course at Green Camp and feel it is one of the best things I have ever done in my life. My vision for the future has been cleaned and I won’t be looking back. Connecting with such a wonderful crew of people from all over the world with so much passion for bamboo, has lit a fire in my heart that is burning the trash of the past and opening doors I had never imagined were there. Immense gratitude to the organizers and everyone who came.
– Donnie, Australia

Many people come to visit Green School, GreenCamp, Bambu Indah and Green Village and they are always simply in awe of the bamboo structures around us. Their drive to know more about the process of building led us to create Bamboo U, a Bamboo Building & Design course hosted by GreenCamp. Participants come from all over the world specially for this course, wanting a hands-on experience with bamboo building including workshops on bamboo roofing, model making, weaving, planks and joinery.

One group from the Philippines in the last course wanted to build their hostels out of bamboo! Another wanted to grow their own bamboo farm after going on a walk with Arief Rabik, an environmental scientist specializing in bamboo.

Aside from doing workshops, the students were challenged to build a tensegrity buckyball, craft their own furniture out of bamboo in the  village of Bona, and even began to rebuild a chicken coop cooling system at Kul Kul Farm as part of their final design challenge. Last but not least, these participants were spoiled by the beautiful lunch at Bambu Indah and dinner at Sharma Springs. The 7-day intensive course was not enough for these eager bamboo enthusiasts. We hope to see what they have created once they head home.

About Bamboo U

Bamboo U is a 7 day residential course led by GreenCamp with technical workshops delivered by the expert craftsmen at Ibuku- the design firm spearheading bamboo building and design in Bali. The course involves theory and hands-on workshops. Participants learn how to make bamboo splits, to-scale bamboo models, bamboo joinery and wall-weaving. On the final two days the course will culminate with the building of a full bamboo structure.

Participants visit some of the most spectacular bamboo buildings in the world and observe and work alongside talented bamboo craftsmen.

This course covers:

1. Learning about the bamboo plant: its characteristics and ecological benefits
2. Learning the different types of bamboo and how to identify them
3. Learning a variety of harvesting and treatment methods
4. Making splits, planks and joinery
5. Designing and building bamboo scale- structural models
6. Bamboo structure building: A team- based build and design challenge

For more information or to sign up for the next course, please email Anna at anna@greencampbali.com