This bamboo splitter tool stood out for me as one of the most functional and efficient tools I've seen on the bamboo trip. Similar to how an apple corer/slicer works, this heavy duty, one piece cast iron tool requires little force for maximum output. The resulting strips are used for baskets, garden fences, etc. These gentlemen were seen working just outside the mayor's home in Maasin.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 4
The next stop of the day was to Maasin municipality's naturally growing bamboo forest. This viewpoint overlooks part of Maasin's 10,000 hectares of bamboo-filled hillsides.
The 30-minute dirt road drive through the barangays gave us a interesting and amusing look at life outside the city. These rural areas are where you see how the majority of Filipinos truly live, and in this case, how they commute.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 4
As a welcoming to the mayor's office in the municipality of Maasin, local students performed a bamboo dance - accompanied by an all bamboo instrument band. The unique and delightful sounds of the various bamboo instruments reverberated a musical sense of enjoyment I've never heard or experienced before.
Tultug is an action verbalizing the act of playing sound on bamboo. Every year, the Tultugan Festival, held in Iloilo, features bamboo-based performances and competitions. This yearly event, held in the month of December, contributes to the evolution of bamboo music and dance in the Philippines.
Following the performance, we met with the mayor of Maasin, Damian Mercada, as well as his faculty to discuss the municipality of Maassin, there active involvement in the bamboo industry, and how the livelihood of the community flourishes because of it. Maasin claims to have the most abundant source of bamboo in the Philippines, with 10,000 hectares of naturally growing bamboo forests right in their backyard. We found Maasin to be an example of how bamboo can positively effect a community's economy.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Pac Man On The Frontpage
The Pacquiao - Barrera match was a fight not to missed by Filipinos here and abroad. The amount of attention it created was enormous. We found out that Pacquiao's fights are national events in the Philippines, with athletic clubs and bars and clubs turning into viewing venues for millions of fans. Tickets were even being sold to watch the match on big screens in movie theaters and amphitheaters.
We were on the road most of the morning travelling to Iloilo from Dumaguete, but were lucky enough to jump in on the match at the 6th round at a completely empty restaurant. It turned out to be a great afternoon full of delicious seafood, and of course, boxing.
At a modest height of 5'6" and age of 28, Manny Pacquiao, hailing from General Santos City in Mindinao, remains as WBC's featherweight boxing champion. He is a twelve-year pro, making his debut at the age of 16. Pacquiao's win against Barrera proved to be a huge point in his career. Four years ago, when Pacquiao dominated Barrera, he entered the fight as a 4-1 underdog. Manny is a national hero, a role model, and a much needed symbol of strength for the people of the Philippines.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 3
Our morning started off with a crowded but scenic van ride to our transfer point in Bacolod, a city situated on the north western end of the island of Negros Occidental. There we took a high speed boat (known to locals as the fastcraft) to the city of Iloilo City, the capital of the province of Iloilo on the neighboring island of Panay. With a population of approximately 370,000, it is the regional center and the main economic hub of the Western Visayas region. In the late 18th century, the development of a large-scale weaving industry started the upward movement of Iloilo's economy. But what really triggered the economic boom in Iloilo was the development of the sugar industry in the 19th century.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Dumaguete Style Tricycle
Like a little brother to the jeepney, the tricycle (a motorcycle attached with a sidecar on a third wheel) is another Philippine icon that is seen cruising the streets. They are everywhere, especially on smaller roads for short distances, and often on roads where jeepneys or buses are not supposed to operate. Tricycles are used as a kind of taxi for those who cannot afford their own motorcycle, scooter or car. With tricycles, there's no limit to the weight or number of persons that it can hold. We've seen tricycles holding as much as 8 passengers at a time, not including the driver. Beware of encountering one of these at night as they lack sufficient back, side and break lighting, not to mention the one front headlight that often shines from inside the glass. It's interesting to travel around the Philippines, from island to island, and the see their varying shapes, styles and decor as each one is customized to the driver's liking. I found the Dumaguete body and windshield style of tricycle quite attractive.
Repurposed Design
This tricycle driver decided to utilize his rainbow suspenders for more than just sweet style. The added light weight back support goes a long way on the bumpy island roads of Dumaguete.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
Our Buglas Bamboo tour de force ended with a visit to their furniture showroom. Locals of the bamboo industry were present to speak to the group which eventually lead to our summing up of our influential 2-day stay in Dumaguete. The afternoon meeting concluded with team Nagaland singing a lovely song in appreciation of Frans and crew. Before taking off for our hotel, Frans was kind enough to take the time to speak with us for a special interview. You can view the insightful interviews with Frans here.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
After visiting Buglas Bamboo's factory we visited their pre-processing factory located only 15 minutes away. All the bamboo that is harvested for building is brought here for proper treatment and drying to resist bamboo-damaging fungi and insects.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
Borax bath anyone? This vertical acidic bath process helps preserve the bamboo by making it resistant to fungi. The diluted borax water mixture is reused many times over. We are still researching its application and environmental impact as it has a history of benefits as well as toxicity implications to humans in concentrated doses. Natural anti-fungi properties exist in various vegetation here in the Philippines such as in coconut oil as well as lemon grass though it is not commercially used. These non-toxic alternatives could make for an excellent solution as well as fuel sustainable local industry. We will be conducting testing to see if this can be a viable solution.
Even though borax is commonly used throughout the year, the process only needs to be used on bamboo harvested during the wetter months. During a certain time of year (we were told the months here ending in - er) all harvested bamboo is naturally fungi resistant. Another alternative to borax could be the integration of larger and more abundant bamboo plantation resources. This could make it possible to entirely eliminate this processing stage and facility. All the more reason the world needs more bamboo plantations.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
The harvesting and processing of bamboo creates stable and steady work for both men and women. Buglas Institute's continued support of the community makes his company a shining example and model for developing economies around the world. The industrial quest for more advance and expensive machinery is not always what is needed especially in these economy building societies. Here in the Philippines it is clear how industries creating viable jobs can create the most positive change.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
Group photo taken at Buglas Bamboo Insitute's factory. This afternoon marked a significant point in our research and made our decision to join the tour unmistakable. Our confidence is greater than ever and now we have a clearer vision of how this will affect the design of our bamboo home for the Winaca Village.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
Preparation process in the making of flat bamboo sheets for flooring and walls.
1.) split bamboo in two halves, 2.) continue to split the bamboo culm from within taking care in not chopping all the way through, 3.) once bamboo is more or less flat, remove inner nodes, 4.) plane until both surfaces are smooth and to desired thickness, 5.) glue laminate, fill panels and let dry in preparation for final planing, 6.) repeat.
Video can be seen here.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
Other than power tools, these are the most common tools used by workers at Buglas Bamboo. This shows to tell how simple bamboo can be to work with, but as we have observed, demanding of craftsmanship, skill and experience. The larger blade is used to split and flatten bamboo, cutting inner nodes, and making rough cuts. The smaller blade is used for finer carving and working out details and fittings.
Bamboo 101
Bamboo, or the family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae (for you biology particulars out there) is a wood perennial evergreen, and is a true grass. There are over a 1,250 species most growing within 40 degrees of either side of the equator. Here in the PI, there are 62 species, 21 of which are endemic or native. The applications are diverse, ranging from fabric, paper, food, charcoal, and exemplary design materials. We are now in an exciting time of increasing technological advances where we will probably see sustainable bamboo replace slow-growing solid wood as the new residential building material. An interesting fact is that a 60 foot tree cut for market takes 60 years to replace. A 60 foot bamboo cut for market takes 59 days to replace. These facts come courtesy of the informative website for the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR). Link located on side bar.
// Cons
Susceptible to fungi and insects
Misconceptions as poor man's lumber
Still figuring it out...
// Pros
Appealing aesthetic
Tensile strength
Extraordinary hardness
Renewable + sustainable
Abundance and rate of regeneration
Quick to reach harvest maturity: +3 yrs.
Easy propagation
Not clearcut during harvest unlike wood
Plantations remain green + O2 producing
Diverse range of possible applications
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 2
Our day started off with a comprehensive tour of Buglas Bamboo Institute's factory located on the outskirts of Dumaguete. There, several projects were in the making, including a bamboo home that was being built for disassembly to be shipped out to a client in Belgium. Several furniture pieces were also being worked on, as well as bamboo slats and sheets for flooring and wall applications. Observing the workers in this open-air, well-equipped warehouse gave us a first-hand look at how bamboo is worked and used as a building material.
Video can be seen here.Saturday, October 6, 2007
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 1
After checking into our hotel in Dumaguete, we visited Our Lady's Garden, a beautifully landscaped paradise set on top of a hill. Several bamboo structures which were built by Buglas Bamboo added to its serene ambiance.
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 1
After experiencing the chaos of Manila's regional airport we were more than ready take off for a new island and city approximately one hour south of Manila. Dumaguete (a port city of approximately 100,000) is located in the province of Oriental Negros in the central Visayan region of the PI and is nicknamed "The City of Gentle People". We experienced some of the worst turbulence ever prior to landing but once we arrived in Dumaguete our excitement was back up again. We were greeted by our gracious host, Frans Kleine Koerkamp, member of the Philippine Bamboo Foundation Board of Trustees and chairman of the board of Buglas Bamboo Institute, Inc. Driving to our hotel we instantly had great vibes about the city, especially as it is less polluted than most places we've experienced thus far, and everyone seemed to be smiling!
Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 1
This morning we visited the Cottage Industry Technology Center (CITC) in Marikina City where we attended a bamboo-filled presentation. We then visited CITC's showroom and toured their well-equipped workshop.
The CITC:
1.) creates a critical mass of producers, production site in strategic locations where materials are abundant and skilled workers are available, 2.) creates employment at the grassroots level for additional income to the farmers, 3.) support the demand of bamboo products locally and when it is exported as they are equipped with the appropriate tools and equipment, 4.) develop and upgrade the skills of craftsmen in the area in order to increase productivity through technology transfer, 5.) link the producers with the local exporters so that they may act as the bridge between the maker and the bamboo processing bases, 6.) provide programs and services for learning how to make footwear and leather goods, fine & costume jewelry, gift wares & holiday decor, and furniture & builders woodwork made out of both bamboo and metal.
After visiting CITC we made a quick stop on our way to the airport to Budji Living, a furniture showroom featuring many pieces from our current favorite Filipino furniture designer, Kenneth Cobonpue, who is also a significant player in the design collective Movement 8.
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