The advantages offered by bamboo, one of the world’s most important construction materials, are being rediscovered today: not only is it considered extremely cost-effective and lasting, it also has an unmistakable aesthetic appearance, whilst its internal structure is remarkably similar to that of high-tech materials.

Architect Simón Vélez, born 1959 in Columbia, recognized the benefits this material offers and put them to practical use in a large number of buildings. His most recent project, the pavilion for the ZERI Foundation at Expo 2000 in Hanover - at 40 meters in diameter and 17 meters high one of the largest bamboo structures in the world - is described in great detail. Other architects who experimented with bamboo include Buckminster Fuller, Frei Otto, Renzo Piano, Shoei Yoh and Arata Isozaki. Charlotte Perriand employed it to create fascinating furniture and Japanese designer Hiroshi Teshigahara demonstrates the aesthetic diversity of bamboo in his impressive stage sets.

The inclusion of these trends together with many further examples of sophisticated bamboo architecture make Grow Your Own House the first publication which pays homage to the architectonic significance of bamboo within the context of high-quality design. It demonstrates that bamboo is a material with a great future, since it unites qualities long considered incompatible: high tech and sustainability, global thinking and regional traditions.