The Patterns, Construction, Composite Bamboo Foam Beam

The second of Alexander’s early works published by the Center for Environmental Structure, lays out the process of creating the pattern language for a group of houses designed for an experimental housing competition in Lima, Peru in 1969. It ...

One of the main topics of research, included in every building project, was to identify, early on in the design process, the material and techniques of construction. This would re-establish building as an art, and allow rapid shaping and adaptation, ...

Boxed beams rectangular in section, 20 cm wide, 40 cm deep and 5 meters long, made of 6cm bamboos, placed over plywood templates, with a core of poly-urethane fire-retardant foam, foamed in place. The bamboos are pinned and spot glued ...