Triakonto BB100: Dynamic Systemization Meets Big Bamboo

Bamboo construction is not widely accepted as a viable, modern means to making buildings in tropical markets, despite its environmental benefits. Some recent commercial attempts have been made to use bamboo for architectural structures but they are either prohibitively expensive because of the lack of standardization and labor-intensive techniques or the fibers are reconstituted into dimensional lumber, no longer recognizable as bamboo. The Triakonta BB100 structural system was developed at Cornell University to overcome these problems. It is designed to offer a lower cost alternative to building with bamboo than with other bamboo building systems available in tropical markets. It is also designed to provide great formal variety using a very limited set of components, rather than customizing every component for each new project. The Triakonta system incorporates the low-embodied energy of bamboo into a structure and offers a modular, reusable structural framing system that is designed to weigh less, sequester carbon, disassemble, and generate exciting new geometries with which to work.