KAWAYAN JOURNEYS

I am Anthony Demin Sarmiento and I am on my Kawayan journey. I called this kawayan journey simply because I am trying to record my discovery and mastery of Bamboo Architecture and how it will manifest or give form to Parametric Design.

In my Kawayan journey I have met a lot of interesting people who delve really deeply in bamboo design and architecture and so I set out to get to know all of them. The first in the list was Architect Jed Michael de Guzman, a fellow alumnus of Bamboo U in Bali, Indonesia and the pillar of Bamboo Bootcamp. Here is what he has to say on his own kawayan journey and what really is Bamboo Bootcamp.

Anthony: What is Bamboo Bootcamp?

Jed:

OUR VISION

Activated catalysts influence communities engaging in sustainable lifestyle and act as stewards of our natural and built landscapes. This results in a global movement where biodiversity is mainstream and sustainable products are the norm.

OUR MISSION

Provide communities innovative mentoring supported by relevant data, knowledge and skills to demonstrate supply, process and fully utilize bamboo, thereby producing a sustainable proof of concept. This will influence responsible agri-food and agro-forest commerce for the Philippines.

OUR CORE VALUES

We are conscious catalysts who act with integrity and are totally committed to sustainable stewardship of the environment through innovative, tailor-fit mentorship that produces multipliers.

Anthony: What was the inspiration behind Bamboo Bootcamp?

Jed:

Directly after I graduated from Bamboo U November 2018, I saw the need for Bamboo Education in the Philippines and the need to revive the Bamboo Craftsmanship and also augment it with new building methodologies being practiced Globally. I wanted to build with Bamboo but there was no one that could build it for me, so a need for training similar to what I experienced in Bamboo U was the quickest solution I could think of.

It first started to echo Bamboo U, but along the way it has become contextualized to the Philippine setting with much emphasis on the need to stabilize the supply of Bamboo through proper syntropic farming and resilient Bamboo Forestry. The climate and context of the Philippines, compels you to adapt to a Filipino way of doing things. As of now Bamboo Bootcamp has become a truly Filipino way of Bamboo Education, where it is not fixed on a specific location but rather a traveling movement that goes to areas where there is Bamboo and the potential to develop it.

It is a revival of our Bamboo Craftsmanship with the challenge of giving something to aspire for especially for our carpenters and lay people that still view the kawayan as poor man’s timber. By showing quick Bamboo builds in a challenging and holistic approach by tackling the full supply chain we hope to slowly change perspectives and create appreciation for Bamboo as a spiritual Material.

Anthony: Can you share significant lesson that you have learned in the course of this project?

We are about 10-20 years behind in terms of skill set, when it comes to building Bamboo structures in the past decade, in comparison to countries such as China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Columbia and the other pioneering countries for Bamboo.

The patience to acknowledge that our workforce still needs a learning curve as we continuously train them is very apparent. We first started with post and lintel structures and gradually shifted to curve structures and grid shell techniques, doing so, a lot of mistakes were made which cost time and money, these are significant steps in order to move forward. In essence each of our builds tells a story of progression and how we are gradually tempering our future Bamboo craftsmen. A community that supports you and collaboration with a good team made this possible for Bamboo Bootcamp.

Anthony: Moving forward what can we expect on Bamboo Bootcamp?

Jed:

We have planned our short-term and long-term goals, and are constantly reviewing and introspecting ourselves. Every Bamboo Bootcamp is unique and we keep on improving the contents as the situation calls for it. Moving forward as a catalyst, we want multipliers that will share our vision and mission and echo Bamboo Bootcamp in their own sphere of influence. There will be more Bamboo Bootcamps throughout the country and we are expecting there will be regional growth centers for Bamboo in order to complete the full supply chain of Bamboo taking us one step closer to our vision.

Anthony:

Bamboo Bootcamp is contextualizing what I have learned from Bamboo U in Bali. It is most fitting in the locality, having local species of bamboo together with local craftmanship. I am set to join the bootcamp on February so join me again in the second installment of this article in my kawayan journey. Also, I am interviewing the founder of The Regenesis Project another pillar of the Kawayan Architecture in the Philippines.