bamboo furniture system was scheduled to be part of the selection of contemporary indian design production in designboom’s curated exhibition ‘asia_now’, at dwell on design in los angeles, june 25 – 27, 2010. unfortunately, due to unforseen circumstances – road blockades enforced for political reasons, and heavy rains in the northeastern part of india – bamboo furniture systems did not make their way to the exhibition.

demonstrating the stability of the book shelf

bamboo furniture systems - 2 ‘book shelf’

bamboo furniture systems - 3 ‘book shelf’

‘truss me’ is a sustainable furniture system developed my indian designer sandeep sangaru. designboom promotes the use of bamboo in the fields of architecture and design and we asked sandeep to document his ongoing bamboo project for our readers. the concept behind the collection explores new construction possibilities with solid bamboo poles – strictus dendocalmus – and splits, using modular forms and lamination joints for new applications. enjoy!

bamboo furniture systems - 4 ‘book shelf’ rendering

 

the strong fibers of bamboo can withstand compression and tensile loads. using the properties of the fibers, ‘truss me’ was developed on a technique of splitting and laminating the poles with another strip of split bamboo. when the glue cures, the laminated module acts like a truss.

bamboo furniture systems - 5 different configurations of ‘book shelf’

bamboo furniture systems - 6 wall hung ‘book shelf’

the ‘truss me’ protoypes were developed with the help of a group of artisans in the village of sankhela, tripura, india, a region which has an abundant bamboo resource, cultivated in organized plantations by local farmers.

all of the products are completely handcrafted. the components used for construction are modular and repetitive, and can be produced in batches by a group of craftsmen. the equipment involved for production are basic hand tools. through a modular system of jigs, fixtures and templates, the construction elements were quickly realized and also maintained a formal consistency and quality to the individual components. the furniture has been designed to use locally resourced bamboo and skills in a sustainable fashion.

bamboo furniture systems - 7 adjusting the jigs

bamboo furniture systems - 8 modules being laminated

bamboo furniture systems - 9 each piece is handmade by local craftsmen

bamboo furniture systems - 10 ‘sofa’ and ‘bookshelf’

bamboo furniture systems - 11 framework of the sofa prototype

bamboo furniture systems - 12 testing the sofa prototype

bamboo furniture systems - 13 ‘chair’

bamboo furniture systems - 14process work of ‘truss me’ chair

bamboo furniture systems - 15 ‘square stool’

 

bamboo furniture systems - 16measurements and modules ready for construction

 

bamboo furniture systems - 17basic construction module

 

bamboo furniture systems - 18demonstration of load bearing qualities

 

bamboo furniture systems - 19 technical drawings of the various modular forms

 

bamboo furniture systems - 20 ‘truss me’ collection

 

bamboo furniture systems - 21

the various configurations and pieces