The Green School in Bali: A conversation with John Hardy

I met with John Hardy last weekend here in NYC, he had just come from Haiti as he was thinking about building a Green School there as well. Needless to say he was profoundly committed to the use of bamboo construction for building as it "is about growing a building from the earth", as he put it. John will be giving a skype lecture to our students in the Haiti Studio next week on the 30th of March. He will be talking about the material of Bamboo and the new design additions of the Green School in Bali. Anyone can come to join us we will be on the 3rd Floor of 25 W.13th street. We will look forward to your company.
Here are a few images that John had so generously shared with us.

you can also make a model like this using bamboo skewers

New Textiles: Milkofil Fabric from milk and good for your skin!

Milkofil is an yarn derived from milk existing out of 65% cotton and 35% milk fiber. The fiber that is made from casein, which is the main protein in milk, has long-term emissions of negative ions. It is beneficial for air quality, it stimulates blood circulation, is a natural antibacterial agent and is sterile.

Milk amino acids, which are transferred to the fiber, are a treatment for the skin. Milkofil creates light weaves with a silky look that allows the skin to breathe and humidity to be absorbed.

The yarn is particularly suited for contact with the skin in clothing, underwear and bedding.

Remix Recycling » Blog Archive » You, Me and the Organic Cotton Tee says:

[...] Ecouterre is about changing people’s minds about what “fashion” design entails, beyond fleeting fads and mindless consumerism. Like any good product design, clothing production can be accomplished in a better, smarter, and more socially and environmentally sustainable way. And we’re not the only one’s who think so—organic clothing, produced without toxic pesticides and dipped in low-impact dyes, is gaining popularity across the globe. In 2006, retail sales of organic cotton products reached $1.1 billion globally—85 percent higher than the year before, according to the Organic Exchange. Organic cotton is by no means alone on the playing field. With improved technology, other strange and wonderful eco-fabrics have entered the fray, from salmon leather to fiber derived from milk. [...]

Milkofil: Milk Fiber That Does a Bodice Good

by Yuka Yoneda, 09/09/09

MILKOFIL \ˈmilk-ˈō-ˈfil\

n. 1 a: A silk-like fabric by made from casein, the white, odorless protein from which cheese is made. Made by Maclodio Filati, Milkofil is said to have naturally antibacterial properties and perhaps even boost circulation. It does, however, take about 100 pounds of skim milk to make 3 pounds of milk fiber, a likely reason why it isn’t more widespread. b: Can be blended with other fabrics like cotton, silk, and cashmere to give it different characteristics

A Look Book of Projects

The Open Architecture Network is a fantastic resource for Projects that make a difference.
You can see many examples of projects that are working with the same opportunities and the same boundaries as we do, in Haiti. Here are some of the projects have a look at others at the following website.
http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/results/taxonomy%3A75

http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/4064

http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/4698

Site: Village Tounesol by Studio Unite'

Bamboo Projects to be Inspired...

The Green School, in Bali, by John Hardy
Please look at these amazing spaces that can be created with out any impact on the earth with no carbon foot print. It is inspiring to see such amazing spaces come from such a humble material.

Consider using bamboo skewers or bass wood to make your models for your projects in studio...

http://www.architectoo.com/2010/01/bamboo-structure-design-at-assembly-room/

This project which is a kindergarten uses the earth and hill to be the entrance to the school at a lower level. So the kids can go up the stairs to the classroom from the level of the play ground...

bamboo house reminds me of Lea's material studies

http://www.architectoo.com/2011/01/home-design-versatility-as-library-kindergarten-and-places-to-gather/

Bamboo version of Bejing stadium 

Bamboo Codes

BAMBOO REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION

February 1966
U. S. NAVAL CIVIL ENGINEERING LABAORATORY
Port Hueneme, California
By
Francis E. Brink and Paul J. Rush

ABSTRACT

This report has been prepared to assist field personnel in the design and construction of bamboo reinforced concrete. The information in this report has been compiled from reports of test programs by various researchers and represents current opinion.
Comments on the selection and preparation of bamboo for reinforcing are given. Construction principles for bamboo reinforced concrete are discussed. Design procedures and charts for bamboo reinforced concrete are given and conversion methods from steel reinforced concrete design are shown. Six design examples are presented.
 

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EDITOR'S NOTES - DECEMBER 2000

NOTE: This document was originally a publication of the U.S. Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory.  We have placed this document on the web because of its historical interest to those interested in the topic of alternative methods of concrete construction.  These notes were added after this document was entered into a modern word processor and are not part of the original document.
DISCLAIMER: This document was scanned and retyped from a hard copy of the original that was about 35 years old. No effort has been made to verify the correctness of information or calculations contained herein, and the reader takes all responsibility when applying this information in his or her work.  It is possible there is more recent research and studies that supercede the material contained in this study.  Use this information at your own risk.  No one at romanconcrete.com or its associates takes any responsibility as to the fitness of this material for use in actual construction. This study is being shared for research use only.
CHANGES: The only changes to the original document, besides these notes and the formatting changes available in a modern word processor, (besides potential mistakes in typing) are purely formatting and include the addition of a table of contents, numbering of sections, a list of tables and figures, and the change from table I in the original document to table II in this document.  Please report all mistakes in this document to:

RECOGNITION: Recognition is given to Rear Admiral Jack E. Buffington, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, United States Navy, Retired, for his encouragement in placing this unusual article on bamboo concrete construction on the internet.  It  identifies the potential for an alternative light construction method at low cost for areas where steel reinforcement might be prohibitive.  In this case, bamboo might replace steel in light construction as the tensile element in concrete design.  This report highlights the technical expertise that exists in the Navy's Civil Engineering Corps and the personnel at the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, Port Hueneme, California in particular.   Their willingness to share such creative information with the world is truly creditable and appreciated.

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Contents

ABSTRACT

EDITOR'S NOTES

1.   INTRODUCTION

2.   SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF BAMBOO

2.1   Selection

2.2   Preparation

3.   CONSTRUCTION PRINCIPLES

3.1   Concrete Mix Proportions

3.2   Placement of bamboo

3.3   Anchorage and Splicing of Reinforcements

4.   DESIGN PRINCIPLES*

4.1   Beams and Girders

4.1.1   Example 1. Design of Bamboo Reinforced Beam:

4.1.2   Example 2. Replacement of a Steel Reinforced Beam with a Bamboo Reinforced Beam:

4.2   Columns

4.2.1   Example 3. Square Bamboo Reinforced Column Design:

4.2.2   Example 4. Replacement of Steel Reinforced Square Column Design with Bamboo Reinforced Square Column:

4.3   Ground-Supported Slabs

4.3.1   Example 5. Ground-Supported Slab Design:

4.3.2   Example 6. Replacement of Steel Reinforced Slab with a Bamboo Reinforced Slab:

4.4   Walls

5.   REFERENCES

Tables

Table I. Mechanical properties of bamboo reinforcement

Table II. Properties of bamboo and steel reinforcing bars

Figures

Figure 1. Resistance coefficients for bamboo reinforced concrete beams and their flexural members.

Figure 2. Bamboo substitute beams and reinforcement.

Figure 3. Slab thickness and reinforcement for ground supported slabs.

Figure 4. Size and spacing of bamboo reinforcement in slabs and walls.

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1. INTRODUCTION

The use of bamboo as reinforcement in portland cement concrete has been studied extensively by Clemson Agricultural College.(ref 1) Bamboo has been used as a construction material in certain areas for centuries, but its application as reinforcement in concrete had received little attention until the Clemson study.
A study of the feasibility of using bamboo as the reinforcing material in precast concrete elements was conducted at the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station in 1964.(ref 2) Ultimate strength design procedures, modified to take into account the characteristics of the bamboo reinforcement were used to estimate the ultimate load carrying capacity of the precast concrete elements with bamboo reinforcing.
Bamboo was given recent consideration for use as reinforcement in soil-cement pavement slabs in which the slabs behave inelastically even under light loads. For this case ultimate load analysis was shown to be more economical and suitable for use.(ref 3)
The results of these investigations form the basis of the conclusions and recommendations presented in this report. Further studies will be required before complete confidence can be placed theoretical designs based on the material presented here.

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2. SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF BAMBOO

2.1 Selection

The following factors should be considered in the selection of bamboo culms (whole plants) for use as reinforcement in concrete structures:

1. Use only bamboo showing a pronounced brown color. This will insure that the plant is at least three years old.
2. Select the longest large diameter culms available.
3. Do not use whole culms of green, unseasoned bamboo.
4. Avoid bamboo cut in spring or early summer. These culms are generally weaker due to increased fiber moisture content.

2.2 Preparation

Sizing. Splints (split culms) are generally more desirable than whole culms as reinforcement. Larger culms should be split into splints approximately 3/4 inch wide. Whole culms less than 3/4 inch in diameter can be used without splitting. (See Fig 4)
Splitting the bamboo can he done by separating the base with a sharp knife and then pulling a dulled blade through the culm. The dull blade will force the stem to split open; this is more desirable than cutting the bamboo since splitting will result in continuous fibers and a nearly straight section. Table II shows the approximate net area provided by whole culms and by 3/4-inch-wide splints, as well as the cross-sectional properties of standard deformed steel bars and wire mesh.
Seasoning. When possible, the bamboo should be cut and allowed to dry and season for three to four weeks before using. The culms must be supported at regular spacings to reduce warping.
Bending. Bamboo can be permanently bent if heat, either dry or wet, is applied while applying pressure. This procedure can be used for forming splints into C-shaped stirrups and for putting hooks on reinforcement for additional anchorage.
Waterproof Coatings. When seasoned bamboo, either split or whole, is used as reinforcement, it should receive a waterproof coating to reduce swelling when in contact with concrete. Without some type of coating, bamboo will swell before the concrete has developed sufficient strength to prevent cracking and the member may be damaged, especially if more than 4 percent bamboo is used. The type of coating will depend on the materials available. A brush coat or dip coat of asphalt emulsion is preferable. Native latex, coal tar, paint, dilute varnish, and water-glass (sodium silicate) are other suitable coatings. In any case, only a thin coating should be applied; a thick coating will lubricate the surface and weaken the bond with the concrete.

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3. CONSTRUCTION PRINCIPLES

In general, techniques used in conventional reinforced concrete construction need not he changed when bamboo is to be used for reinforcement.

3.1 Concrete Mix Proportions

The same mix designs can be used as would normally be used with steel reinforced concrete. Concrete slump should be as low as workability will allow. Excess water causes swelling of the bamboo. High early-strength cement is preferred to minimize cracks caused by swelling of bamboo when seasoned bamboo cannot be waterproofed.

3.2 Placement of bamboo

Bamboo reinforcement should not be placed less than 1-1/2 inches from the face of the concrete surface. When using whole culms, the top and bottom of the stems should be alternated in every row and the nodes or collars, should be staggered. This will insure a fairly uniform cross section of the bamboo throughout the length of the member, and the wedging effect obtained at the nodes will materially increase the bond between concrete and bamboo.
The clear spacing between bamboo rods or splints should not be less than the maximum size aggregate plus 1/4 inch. Reinforcement should be evenly spaced and lashed together on short sticks placed at right angles to the main reinforcement. When more than one layer is required, the layers should also be tied together. Ties should preferably be made with wire in important members. For secondary members, ties can be made with vegetation strips.
Bamboo must be securely tied down before placing the concrete. It should be fixed at regular intervals of 3 to 4 feet to prevent it from floating up in the concrete during placement and vibration. In flexural members continuous, one-half to two-thirds of the bottom longitudinal reinforcement should be bent up near the supports. This is especially recommended in members continuous over several supports. Additional diagonal tension reinforcement in the form of stirrups must be used near the supports. The vertical stirrups can be made from wire or packing case straps when available; they can also be improvised from split sections of bamboo bent into U-shape, and tied securely to both bottom longitudinal reinforcement and bent-up reinforcement. Spacing of the stirrups should not exceed 6 inches.

3.3 Anchorage and Splicing of Reinforcements

Dowels in the footings for column and wall reinforcement should be imbedded in the concrete to such a depth that the bond between bamboo and concrete will resist the allowable tensile force in the dowel. This imbedded depth is approximately 10 times the diameter of whole culms or 25 times the thickness of 3/4 inch wide splints. In many cases the footings will not be this deep; therefore, the dowels will have to be bent into an L-shape. These dowels should be either hooked around the footing reinforcement or tied securely to the reinforcement to insure complete anchorage. The dowels should extend above the footings and be cut so that not more than 30 percent of the splices will occur at the same height. All such splices should be overlapped at least 25 inches and be well tied.
Splicing reinforcement in any member should be overlapped at least 25 inches. Splices should never occur in highly stressed areas and in no case should more than 30 percent of the reinforcement be spliced in any one location.

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4. DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Bamboo reinforced concrete design is similar to steel reinforcing design. Bamboo reinforcement can be assumed to have the following mechanical properties:

Table I. Mechanical properties of bamboo reinforcement

Mechanical Property	Symbol	Value (psi)
Ultimate compressive strength		8,000
Allowable compressive stress	s	4,000
Ultimate tensile strength		18,000
Allowable tensile stress	s	4,000
Allowable bond stress	u	50
Modulus of elasticity	E	2.5x106

When design handbooks are available for steel reinforced concrete, the equations and design procedures can be used to design bamboo reinforced concrete if the above mechanical properties are substituted for the reinforcement.
Due to the low modulus of elasticity of bamboo, flexural members will nearly always develop some cracking under normal service loads. If cracking cannot be tolerated, steel reinforced designs or designs based on unreinforced sections are required.
Experience has shown that split bamboo performs better than whole culms when used as reinforcing. Better bond develops between bamboo and concrete when the reinforcement is-split in addition to providing more compact reinforcement layers. Large-diameter culms split into 3/4-inch- wide splints are recommended. (References to splints in the following examples will be understood as meaning 3/4-inch-wide splints of a specified thickness unless otherwise stated.
Design principles for the more common structural members are presented in the following sections. Examples of the use of these principles for each member discussed are included.

4.1 Beams and Girders

Flexural members reinforced with bamboo can be designed with the use of Figure 1. Bamboo longitudinal reinforcement should be between 3 and 4 percent of the concrete cross section.
Figure 2 can be used to convert existing designs for steel reinforced beams to equivalent bamboo reinforced designs. The curve provides the cross-sectional dimensions of a bamboo reinforced beam that will have the same bending moment resistance coefficient as a balanced steel reinforced beam, singly reinforced. Economy of concrete increases going to the left on the curve; therefore, deeper, narrower replacement beams are recommended.
The number and size of bamboo reinforcing rods (culms or splints) can be selected from Figure 2b. These curves are drawn for 3 percent of the concrete cross section as bamboo reinforcement which is in the optimum range for flexural members. Other reinforcement percentages can be used as noted on the figure. A minimum number of rods should be used to provide adequate spacing. The bamboo stirrup area should always be about 4 times the steel stirrup area.

4.1.1   Example 1 - Design of Bamboo Reinforced Beam:

Design a bamboo reinforced concrete beam to span 8 feet and to carry a uniform dead load plus live load of 500 pounds per linear foot and two concentrated loads of 12,000 pounds each symmetrically located 2 feet each side of the center line of span. Assume the ultimate strength of the concrete is 2500 psi; the allowable compression stress is 0.45 f'_c or 1125 psi. Allowable unit diagonal tension stress, , in the concrete is 0.03 f'_c or 75 psi. Allowable tension stress, s, in the bamboo is 4000 psi; the allowable unit bond stress between bamboo and concrete is 50 psi.
1. At the intersection of the allowable stress curves (Figure 1) for concrete and bamboo, find R = 115 and p = 3.1 percent.
2. Maximum bending moment, M, is given by:

3. From 

bd² = 336,000/115 = 2920 in.³

4. If b = 8 in. is chosen, then d = (2920/8)^1/2 = 19.1 in. 5. Bamboo reinforcement = pbd = 0.031(8)(19.1) = 4.75 sq in.
6. Use 3/4-inch-thick splints, area = 0.563 sq in. (from Table II). Number required = 4.75/0.563 = 8.4; round up to 9. Space evenly in three rows. Bend up top row randomly in the outer one-third ends of the beam.
7. Check the bond stress. Maximum shear at the support, V, is determined as:
  The perimeter of one splint is 4(3/4) or 3 in.; the total perimeter of the longitudinal reinforcement, , is 9(3) = 27 in. The value of j = 0.925 is taken from Figure 1 for 3.1 percent reinforcement. The bond stress, u, is calculated from:  
This is less than the allowable bond stress of 50 psi.
8. Calculate the shear, V', taken by the concrete from
  Where is the allowable diagonal tension stress of the concrete. 9. Try 1/4-inch-thick splints for stirrups. The area provided by one stirrup bent into a U-shape, A, is 2(0.1875) = 0.375 sq. in. Maximum spacing, s, is given by:

Common practice is to include two additional stirrups past the point where diagonal tension reinforcement is not needed.

4.1.2   Example 2 - Replacement of a Steel Reinforced Beam with a Bamboo Reinforced Beam:

Construction drawings call for the beam given in the sketch below. Replace it with a bamboo reinforced beam. There are no objections to deepening the member.

 
 
1. Select the cross-sectional dimensions from Figure 2a. Avoid using sections with depth to width ratios greater than 4 for reasons of stability. Try width of 1.0b or 10 in. and a depth of 1.32d or 29.0 in. The area is 290 sq in.
2. The amount of reinforcement can be selected from Figure 2b. Assume that 3/4-inch-thick splints will be used. The number of splints required for 200 sq in. is determined at 11. This number is multiplied by the ratio 290/200 to get 16 splints. These should be-distributed evenly in four rows.
3. Determine the vertical stirrups required. The No. 4 steel stirrups have a cross-sectional area of 0.2 sq in. (Table II). These stirrups are spaced at 10 in. which provides (12/10)(0.2)= 0.24 sq in. of reinforcement in a 12-inch length. Four times this area should be used for bamboo stirrups or 0.96 sq in. per foot of length. From Figure 4, select 3/8-inch-thick splints spaced at 4-inch centers.
4. The top two rows should be bent up randomly in the outer one-third sections of the beams to assist the vertical stirrups in resisting diagonal tension.
The final design is shown in the following sketch.

 

4.2 Columns

Bamboo reinforcement in columns serves to resist a compression load equal to that taken by the concrete it displaces; it also will resist shear and tensile stresses. Of the full cross section of concrete, only 80 percent is considered effective in rectangular tied, columns. Allowable concrete stress should not exceed 0.225 f'_c where f'_c is the ultimate compressive strength of the concrete.
Vertical reinforcement should be approximately 4 percent of the column cross section for rectangular columns. When bamboo is used as lateral tie reinforcement, the ties should be spaced not over 16 times the least dimension of the vertical reinforcement nor farther apart than the least dimension of the column. Enough ties should be provided so that every vertical bar is held firmly in its designed position and has lateral support equivalent to that provided by a 90-degree corner of a tie. A common rule for determining the size of a tie is that its cross-sectional area is 2 percent of the area of all the vertical reinforcement confined by it.
The concrete cross-sectional area of bamboo reinforced rectangular columns conservatively should be 2.25 times the concrete area of steel reinforced rectangular columns, indicating a 50-percent increase in face dimensions.
 

4.2.1   Example 3 - Square Bamboo Reinforced Column Design:

Determine the cross section and bamboo reinforcement of a column required to carry an axial load of 70,000 lb. Ultimate compression strength of the concrete, f'_c, is 2500 psi.
1.  For an unreinforced rectangular column the safe axial load, P, is given by:

P = 0.8A_g (0.225 f'_c) where A_g is the cross-sectional area of the concrete column.

2. The column should have a cross-sectional area of:

3. If a square column is chosen, it will have face dimensions of

b = (155.5)^1/2 = 12.47 in., say 12.5 in.

4. The amount of vertical reinforcement should be 4 percent of the concrete area and can be obtained from Figure 2. Try 3/4-inch-thick splints. The number required is 8.8 for an area of (12.5)(12.5) = 156 sq in. However, Figure 2 provides only 3-percent reinforcement; thus 8.8 should be multiplied by (4/3) to get 11.7. Thus, 12 splints should be used; these should be spaced evenly around the perimeter with 1-1/2 in. of cover. Lateral ties should be arranged as shown in the following figure to provide each vertical splint with a 90-degree corner (or smaller). 5. Tie reinforcement size should be 2 percent of the total area of the vertical bars confined by it. Each tie confines four vertical bars or an area of 4(3/4)(3/4) = 2.252 sq in. The cross-sectional area of the ties should be at least 2 percent of this or 0.02(2.252) = 0.045 sq in. Try 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch splints. The cross-sectional area is (1/4)(1/4) = 0.063 sq in. and therefore is adequate. The least dimension of the column is 12.5 in., and 16 times the thickness of the vertical reinforcement is 16(3/4) = 12.0 in.; therefore, spacing of the lateral ties is restricted to a maximum of 12 in.
 

4.2.2   Example 4 - Replacement of Steel Reinforced Square Column Design with Bamboo Reinforced Square Column:

Construction drawings call for a 12-inch-square concrete column reinforced with 12 No. 6 steel reinforcing bars. Three No. 2 ties on 12-inch centers are required. Replace this column with a square column reinforced and tied with bamboo.
1. The face dimensions should be increased by 50 percent. The bamboo reinforced column will have sides of 1.5(12) = 18.0 in.
2. The cross-sectional area is 18.0(18.0) = 324 sq in. Use 4 percent of the concrete area as vertical reinforcement. Figure 2 is used to determine the size and number of bamboo reinforcement. Assume 3/4-inch-thick splints will be used. For a concrete area of 200 sq in., the number of these splints required is 11.0. Since this figure provides 3-percent reinforcement, the number of splints should be multiplied by the ratio (4/3); it should also be multiplied by the ratio (324/200) as a correction factor for concrete area. These multiplications indicate that 24 splints should be used.
3. Lateral ties should be arranged as shown in the following figure. Tie reinforcement should be 2 percent of the area of the vertical bars confined by it. Each tie confines four 3/4-inch-thick splints; therefore, the calculations for tie size and spacing are identical to those in Example 3.

4.3 Ground-Supported Slabs

Figure 3 is used to determine slab thickness and required amount of bamboo reinforcement. Figure 4 can be used to determine the size and spacing of the reinforcement. In general, the reinforcement spacing should not be greater than the slab thickness.
When designs are available for steel reinforced slabs, no change in thickness is required when reinforced with bamboo instead of steel. However, the volume of the bamboo matting reinforcement should be about 4 times the amount used for steel matting.
 

4.3.1   Example 5 - Ground-Supported Slab Design:

Design a bamboo reinforced concrete slab to support a maximum wheel load of 7000 pounds. The wheel contact area on the slab is estimated at 60 sq in. Slab length between joints will be 8 ft.
1. The slab thickness is determined from Figure 3a to be about 5-1/2 in.
2. The required reinforcement is determined from Figure 3b to be 0.11 sq in. per foot of slab width.
3. The amount of the reinforcement is determined from Figure 4. The required amount of reinforcement can be provided by 1/8-inch-thick splints on 12-inch centers. However, in general, the reinforcing spacing should not be greater than the slab thickness; a 6-inch spacing is adequate.

4.3.2   Example 6 - Replacement of Steel Reinforced Slab with a Bamboo Reinforced Slab:

Construction drawings call for a 6-inch-thick slab reinforced with No. 10 gage steel reinforcing wire on 6-inch centers. Replace it with a bamboo reinforced slab.
1. The thickness of the slab does not change.
2. From Table II, the cross-sectional area of a No. 10 gauge wire is 0.0143 sq in. Since these wires are spaced at 6 in., the area per foot is 0.0286 sq in. Bamboo reinforcement should be 4 times that of the steel reinforcement or 0.114 sq in. per foot of slab width. From Figure 4, 1/8-inch-thick splints on 8-inch centers is adequate; however, the spacing should not exceed the slab thickness so a 6- inch spacing should be used.
 

4.4 Walls

Non-bearing concrete walls should have a thickness of not less than 5 inches and not less than 1/30 the distance between the supporting or enclosing members; they should be reinforced with at least 3/4-inch-diameter culms on 6-inch centers in both vertical and horizontal directions. This reinforcement should be provided as a one-layer mat in the middle of the wall. Two bamboo culms 1/2 inch or more in diameter should be placed above and at the sides of openings, and two 3/4-inch-diameter culms 4 feet long should be placed diagonally across the corners of openings.

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5. REFERENCES

1. H. E. Glenn. "Bamboo reinforcement in portland cement concrete," Engineering Experiment Station, Clemson Agricultural College, Clemson, South Carolina, Bulletin No. 4, May 1950.
2. U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. Technical Report No. 6-646: "Precast concrete elements with bamboo reinforcement," by E. F. Smith and K. L. Saucier. Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 1964.
3. S. R. Mehra and R. G. Ghosh. "Bamboo-reinforced soil-cement," Civil Engineering and Public Works Review, Vol. 60, no. 711, October 1965; vol. 60, no. 712. November 1965.
4. "Concrete floors on ground," Portland Cement Association Concrete Information, ST-51.
5. American Concrete Institute. "Building code requirements for reinforced concrete," (ACI 318-56). May 1956.
6. Department of the Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks. Design Manual NAVDOCKS DM-2, Structural Engineering. October 1964.

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Figures and Tables

Figure 1. Resistance coefficients for bamboo reinforced concrete beams and their flexural members.



Figure 2. Bamboo substitute beams and reinforcement.



Figure 3. Slab thickness and reinforcement for ground supported slabs.



Figure 4. Size and spacing of bamboo reinforcement in slabs and walls.


Table II . Properties of bamboo and steel reinforcing bars
BAMBOO

Whole Culms
Diameter (in.)	Area (sq. in.)
3/8	0.008
1/2	0.136
5/8	0.239
3/4	0.322
1	0.548
2	1.92

 

3/4 Inch Wide Splints
Thickness (in.)	Area (sq. in.)
1/8	0.094
1/4	0.188
3/8	0.282
1/2	0.375
5/8	0.469
3/4	0.563

STEEL REINFORCING

Nominal Dimensions - Round Sections
Bar Designation No.	Nominal Diameter (in.)	Cross Sectional. Area (sq. in.)
2	0.250	0.05
3	0.375	0.11
4	0.500	0.20
5	0.625	0.31
6	0.750	0.44
7	0.875	0.60
8	1.000	0.79
9	1.128	1.00
10	1.270	1.27
11	1.410	1.56

STEEL WIRE

AS&W Wire Guage Numbers	Diameter (in)	Area (sq. in.)	Weight (lb/ft)
0000	0.3938	0.12180	0.4l36
000	0.3625	0.10321	0.3505
00	0.3310	0.086049	0.2922
0	0.3065	0.073782	0.2506
1	0.2830	0.062902	0.2136
2	0.2625	0.054119	0.1838
3	0.2437	0.046645	0.1584
4	0.2253	0.039867	0.1354
5	0.2070	0.033654	0.1143
6	0.1920	0.028953	0.09832
7	0.1770	0.024606	0.08356
8	0.1620	0.020612	0.07000
9	0.1483	0.017273	0.05866
10	0.1350	0.014314	0.04861
11	0.1205	0.011404	0.03873
12	0.1055	0.0087417	0.02969
13	0.0915	0.0065755	0.02233
14	0.0800	0.0050266	0.01707
15	0.0720	0.0040715	0.01383
16	0.0625	0.0030680	0.01042

GOT YTTRIUM?: Times Article on Rare Earth Minerals and Technology

Where can you find rare earth minerals?
Mostly used in Hybrid Vehicles. i pods, Fiber optics, Energy efficient Light bulbs, Wind Turbines LCD TVs

Times Article by Bryan Walsh: March 28th, 2011.
Mark Kristoff has rare-earth minerals in his blood. His father was an executive with Molycorp, which owned and operated the biggest American rare-earth mine, near the Mojave Desert town of Mountain Pass, Calif. When Kristoff was a kid, his father gave him a tour of the mine in full production, at a time when the U.S. was a global leader in the mining of rare earths — a handful of metallic elements that are minor but key ingredients in electronics. In the mid-1970s, it seemed impossible to imagine that the U.S. would one day be dependent on imports for the raw materials that made its high-tech industries go. "They were mining the elements that put the red in every color television," says Kristoff, the 49-year-old CEO of metal-trading company Traxys.
But over the years, the U.S. saw domestic production of rare earths dwindle even as the metals became that much more important for high tech (think fiber optics and the iPad) and nascent clean tech (like solar panels and wind turbines). Tougher environmental rules and the costs associated with them led to the closure of rare-earth mines like Molycorp's Mountain Pass facility, while in China, low-cost labor and little in the way of government regulation meant that production boomed. (See why Chinese firms are buying up mining and oil companies.)
Today China produces 97% of the world's rare earths. The vulnerability of the rest of the planet to Chinese dealers became apparent last year, when Beijing — allegedly out of concern for the environmental cost of mining — suddenly restricted rare-earth exports, sending prices soaring. Chinese leaders now say they'll cut the export quota for rare earths 35% over the first six months of 2011, threatening a shortage that could put the brakes on the U.S.'s green growth. "The problems are real and serious," says Robert Jaffe, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "If appropriate steps are not taken, we face possible short-term constraints of supply to what could otherwise be game-changing energy technologies."
Rare earths are rare in the sense that they are not often found in concentrations that are economically worth mining, though China, the U.S. and Australia all have major reserves. Despite their scarcity, rare earths have become a vital part of the global economy, and the gray and silvery metals are only going to become more valuable. For instance, iPods contain small quantities of the rare earths dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium and terbium. Fiber-optic cables need erbium, europium, terbium and yttrium. Rare earths serve a number of purposes. Praseodymium is used as a pigment, while neodymium is a critical component of strong magnets. (See photos of old bombs turned into scrap metal.)
Rare earths are especially essential to clean-tech products, including solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. Each Chevrolet Volt — GM's new extended-range electric vehicle — uses 7 lb. (3.2 kg) of rare-earth magnets, while each utility-scale wind turbine uses 661 lb. (300 kg) of neodymium. As the clean-tech industry has grown and as China has curtailed exports, the price of rare earths has skyrocketed. Dysprosium — one of the most critical rare-earth elements, with a name that means "hard to get" in Latin — has gone from $6.50 per lb. ($14.33 per kg) in 2003 to over $130 per lb. ($287 per kg). "Almost any clean-tech product or any electronic gadget needs these elements in one way or another," says Craig Cogut, founder of Pegasus Capital Advisors, a private-equity firm that has invested in rare earths. "They are absolutely critical to the growth of green tech and IT."
If that's the case, why has the U.S., which as recently as 1995 was producing as great an amount of rare earths as China, all but abandoned the industry? The key reason is environmental. Mining rare earths and processing the ore can be a dirty, difficult business, in part because of the toxic acids needed for refining. At one point in the 1990s, the Mountain Pass mine was producing hundreds of gallons of wastewater an hour, mixed with radioactive elements from the thorium and uranium that are often found with rare earths. As U.S. environmental standards tightened, the costs of producing rare earths increased — even as domestic mines were undercut by Chinese producers who seemed to operate with little or no oversight.

The environmental price of China's dominance has been horrific. Half the world's rare earths currently come from a single mine in the Inner Mongolian city of Baotou, where the landscape is strip-scarred and toxic reservoirs are full of radioactive wastewater. Even if Chinese leaders weren't restricting rare-earth exports, the pace of global demand is beyond what China's environment can endure — which helps explain why the government has cracked down recently on illegal mines. And as China's own clean-tech industries grow with the help of generous government subsidies, so has the country's internal demand for rare earths. "The Chinese put [Molycorp] out of business by cutting the price," says Kristoff. "But as they use more rare earths themselves, they are restricting their exports."
That's left an opening for new suppliers — including one that's come back from the dead. Molycorp, the original operator of the Mountain Pass mine, was purchased in 1977 by the oil company Unocal, which shut down the rare-earths facility in 2002. Unocal was bought by Chevron in 2005. A group of private-equity investors, including Pegasus, Traxys, Goldman Sachs and Resource Capital Funds, purchased the Mountain Pass mine from Chevron in late 2008 and re-established Molycorp as a private company. (Goldman later sold its interest.) (See what other nations can fill the need for rare earths.)
Flush with funds, Molycorp purchased the Mountain Pass mine from Chevron in late 2008 and reopened it. The new owners intend to spend $500 million cleaning up the mine and refurbishing the processing facility, with the goal of producing 40,000 metric tons of rare-earth ores annually within the next few years. Molycorp executives believe the mine could produce 20% to 25% of the world's rare-earth products by 2014. "We will make a difference," says Mark Smith, Molycorp's CEO.
To meet U.S. environmental standards, Molycorp is constructing an on-site natural gas plant to cleanly generate the electricity needed for rare-earth processing. The company will also recycle the mining wastewater, using it to produce the hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide needed to separate the rare earths during processing. The new facility will use just 10% of the water that was needed during the Mountain Pass operation's heyday. "We will be the cleanest rare-earth mine in the world," says Cogut. "This is going to be a combination of quantity and quality."
The market is already impressed. Molycorp successfully went public in July 2010, its stock price rising from $14 a share to more than $45, putting the company's value at some $4 billion. And Mountain Pass isn't the only rare-earth mine looking to cut in on the Chinese. The Sydney-based company Lynas is opening a new mine on Mount Weld in Western Australia, with plans to produce 22,000 metric tons of rare-earth ore a year by 2012. Element Resources is scoping a potential mine in Bear Lodge, Wyo., which could produce as much as 10,000 metric tons of ore a year. "This is about ensuring the sustainability of sustainability," says Terry Tamminen, the former head of California's environmental protection agency and a Pegasus adviser.
For the U.S., breaking China's hold on rare earths isn't just good business. It's also a matter of national security. Electronic military equipment depends on rare elements like dysprosium, used in heat-resistant magnets. Some members of Congress want the U.S. to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization about China's rare-earth-export restrictions. But the only sustainable solution will be renewed domestic production of rare earths, perhaps with government help. If a global green economy is going to truly take off, rare earths can't remain rare much longer.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2059636,00.html#ixzz1H3BtAGpo

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2059636,00.html#ixzz1H39l5pxW

HOW TO GET ON TO MATERIAL CONNEX ION WEBSITE via mynewschool

Any one who has a New School UNI can log on to Material Connexion search page for free.
Step 1: login
https://my.newschool.edu/cp/home/displaylogin

Step 2: click the Library Tab
Step 3: Under Electronic Data Bases: (Click on:) Search Data Base by Title
Step 4: Scroll or click M for Material Connexion Then Click on Material Connexion.
This should bring you to Search Page for Material Connexion

Any Parsons New School Faculty or student may arrange for a class visit and tour by
contacting Michael LaGreca [MLaGreca@materialconnexion.com]ENJOY!

BAMBOO: Natural Intelligence

The Library now Has BAMBOO from HAITI

This building is  (called the BUG) realized on a wasteland of a ruined building site in-between the Shenzhen City Hall and an illegal workers camp. The design is inspired by insects. The bamboo construction methods are based on local knowledge from rural Guanxi brought into the city by the migrating construction workers. The space is used during the SZHK Biennale for underground bands, poetry reading, discussions, karaoke and as a lounge for the illegal workers from the neighboring camp. The building offers a shade, a stage and a fireplace. After the Biennale the Bug Dome will act as an un-official social club for illegal workers from the Chinese countryside.

Bamboo: a Great Building Material Gets Even Better

Building — by Judith Goldsmith March 9, 2011

The easiest, strongest, cheapest, and most durable material for building structures may now come from your garden. A new book describes best practices, and a workshop is coming up shortly in Australia.

When architect Darrel DeBoer first encountered bamboo as a building material, he knew it was going to be revolutionary. He had a long history of researching and teaching about building with non-toxic materials, using renewable materials such as straw-bale for building, and creating innovative designs; and bamboo is proving to be a new tool to extend these areas into new, very exciting areas. Now he’s written a book packed with photographs of beautiful design ideas, and hints for working with bamboo that he’s learned from numerous projects around the globe.

A Great New (Old) Building Material
You may have already heard bamboo extolled as a wonderful building material. It’s strong as steel in tension, and stronger than concrete in compression. It’s cheap. It’s easy to work with because it’s so much more lightweight than wood, concrete, or steel; it has a huge strength to weight ratio advantage, mainly because of the hollowness of its cylinder shape.
It’s easily available, as a never-ending source — with one quarter of the grove harvestable each year. Unlike hardwood, you don’t need to wait for 75 years to get a crop. Using bamboo gives you control over your own source of building materials. Its availability is not subject to market prices, nor need it be produced far away from the building site, by people you don’t know. You can get it growing in the area of the house you want to build, and harvest just the amount you need, as you need it. Needless to say, there are projects considering the use of bamboo for building in many "third-world" countries.
And finally, it’s far less dangerous while building, plus it is far less dangerous in the case of a storm or earthquake destroying a building so badly that its building materials wind up falling on its inhabitants. But that is a rare situation with bamboo. Excitement about building with bamboo amplified when a 6.2 earthquake hit central Colombia in January 1999, and 70% of the recently-built concrete and brick buildings failed, while virtually all of the older village buildings, of bamboo, stood strong and un-damaged.

Problems Recently Solved
In the last 20 years two basic problems, of joinery, and of preservation, have been solved, allowing much more innovative building and moving bamboo forward as a "modern" building material.
The joints in earlier, non-engineered, bamboo buildings used to be lashed or pinned, and they would eventually come loose, as the seasons changed from wet to dry to wet again — the expansion and contraction loosened the joints.
New techniques now use bolts at the joints, followed by filling the area around the joints with the injection of a substance that becomes solid. The best material tested for this so far is mortar (made of 4 parts sand, 1 part each cement and lime). This keeps the bamboo from crushing when you put a load on it. So, if the building is properly designed, with lots of triangles, loads run along the axis of the bamboo.
As we know from the design of geodesic domes, in any building material, if the design uses a lot of triangles, when corners are fixed the structure can’t move (unlike squares which, like dominoes, can slide over and collapse). All pieces are in tension or compression, making a very strong structure. The result is no physical loss of strength at the joints, so the buildings are even stronger when facing hurricanes or earthquakes.
Applying the mortar is very simple. Drill a hole, put in the bolt; drill another hole, put fill in there.
The preservation problem has also recently been solved. The main problems are with fungus, and with powderpost beetles. It has been found that since the digestion process in beetles involves bacteria they can be affected by various salts. Especially effective is borax, which is harmless to humans; it is even used in, for example, Visine eye solution. So it is not dangerous for builders to work with.
Borax is also used as a fertilizer, as well as in mouse poisons, where it behaves similarly, infecting the bacteria in the mouse’s stomach. So it’s easy to buy in either of those preparations. To use in preserving bamboo, one only needs to combine the boric acid from either of those preparations in a 50/50 ratio with borax (from eg. Twenty Mule Team Laundry Detergent). Add water until the dry materials stop dissolving. (Another way to describe this is that you are creating a 5% solution.)
This preservative is then put into the interior of the bamboo, by drilling holes into every internode, then putting the drilled bamboos into a large bath of the solution. Or you can drill holes down the length of pole, then stand them up vertically and fill with solution. This should sit for a week, so that the solution diffuses through the pithier interior walls. Drain out the excess, and your bamboo is ready for use.
Another way to apply the preservative, especially good for shorter poles, is to stick them into, for example, a garbage can full of solution just after the bamboo has been harvested (and so still alive); the live cane will absorb the solution very thoroughly, because its processes are still sending liquid up through the capillaries. Using this technique, one can get the solution to rise up to 8-10 feet.
Innovative Buildings
DeBoer, who is based in the San Francisco Bay area, has visited building projects in a dozen countries to learn more about the material and gather great examples for his recently-published book. Extraordinary bamboo structures by architects and designers such as Colombians Simz and Marcelo Villegas, German Joerg Stamm, Celina Llerena of Brazil, Bobby Manosa from the Phillipines and Jorge Moran in Ecuador, and others, are demonstrating to the local communities and world that bamboo is a beautiful material that even the wealthy are choosing for their houses and buildings.
Following the initial innovations of the first generation of engineered bamboo buildings, the second generation is just getting started. The really thoughtful work has just begun. It’s a very exciting time in the history of building. You can be part of this innovative experiment in several ways:
DeBoer will be teaching Bamboo Design and Construction Workshops, this coming April 2011, across four Australian states (NSW – QLD – WA – VIC). Sign up here.
Examples of DeBoer’s architectural and furniture design can be seen at: deboerarchitects.com
More on building with bamboo is online at: BambooBuildingEssentials.com
The new book, "Bamboo Building Essentials: The Eleven Basic Principles" by Darrel DeBoer and Megan Groth, is available through DeBoer’s website (also, he’ll have some available for workshop participants). Topics covered: Ways to Use Bamboo, Choosing Species, Growing, How to Harvest, Treatment and Curing, Splitting, Good Hat/Boots, Shear and Triangles, Joinery, and Bamboo and Building Codes, plus hundreds of photos.

http://permaculture.org.au/2011/03/09/bamboo-a-great-building-material-gets-even-better/

http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inventory/walls/structural-bamboo

Material of Communication: FILM: check out the BIG way of doing it...

To My Students in the Haiti Studio: Do not think your getting away with not doing a video for your projects.
Look at BIG's video toward the end of his TED talk for his project in China...less than 2min long...

Attack this problem with your energy and enthusiasm to communicate your amazing ideas! Remember your Next review is in April

http://www.ted.com/talks/bjarke_ingels_3_warp_speed_architecture_tales.html

Fashion and Architecture: Alexander McQueen

Metropolitan Museum of Art announces Alexander McQueen exhibition in May 2011

One of the most brilliant designers of the 20th century, the late Alexander McQueen, will be having a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

McQueen's work not only embraces the highest standards of art, fashion, and architecture, in my view his work is a testament to the power and beautiful agony of a visceral genius. I will include his work in my next technology class on materials.