Agritecture: engaging with the environmental and ecological economy of bamboo in Vietnam

Developing an understanding of the relationship between bamboo as a building material and as part of an ecological and economic supply chain is central to the ‘agritecture’ project being developed through collaboration between the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and Sydney-based architects and bamboo specialists Cave Urban. The cross-disciplinary field of agritecture explores the intersection between agriculture and architecture, investigating the relationship between buildings and places through collaborative design research projects. This project explores the cultivation of bamboo to bamboo in buildings that utilise low-tech construction techniques. It investigates the potential of assist with biodiversity, water filtration and soil remediation, and the parallel use of unprocessed temporary buildings to provide new infrastructure in villages where the economic ecology is shifting, focussing on regional and rural communities in Vietnam.