This furniture set is a graduation project at the Industrial/Product Design Section of the Faculty of Arts and Design at Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia. The student (now designer/fresh graduate), Artha Sanjaya, has been interested in exploring bamboo in the recent years of his study at ITB. His project concerns not only the ‘new’ treatment to bamboo as a constructional material, but also how bamboo can be quickly acquired, built and used in a post-disaster condition (provided the availability of abundant bamboo groves). Artha has conducted a number of experiments in forming bamboo for construction purposes; he also contacted an Indian designer whose construction type “Truss Me” inspired him, who allowed him to develop and modify the treatments and applications.

Following are a number of slides from Artha’s materials that were presented during his project defence.

Experiments

A slide that shows the results of his experiments and a brief analysis that ends up in the choice of construction variation.

Sketches

Samples of sketches in the process of determining the forms and assembling phases of the products (a set of furniture for temporary shelters)

Final Design

Here are the variations he came up with. Below at the left handside is the basic module, which, after assembling, can be formed into shelves, a table and a low bed.

Building prototypes

In building the prototypes, Artha was assisted by a local bamboo craftsman. These photos show a bit of the process.

Manuals

Artha also included a booklet that includes a guideline in how to build the furniture.

Artha graduated with a satisfactory grade in 2010. He currently lives and works in Bandung.