The Hindu Business Line : Bend it like bamboo

Bamboo as a material for interiors is far from new, though the market for it is. Over the centuries, it has been used with utmost innovation by tribal and hill communities not only for interiors and accessories, but for basic architectural construction such as houses, bridges, stilts, doors, windows, partitions and irrigation equipment too. Apart from this, everyday utility items such as baskets, furniture, fishing rods, hats, walking sticks and storage bins are crafted using this wonder material.

Communities have used it for developing their environment — to cook food, practise sericulture, fence properties and build rafts. Choose the function and in nine out of ten cases bamboo could be the alternate material for the purpose.

Eco-friendly as it is and found in an astounding 700 species, this tropical and sub-tropical perennial grass is increasingly being recognised in the modern world as a substitute for plastics, steel and cement in new applications for housing, furniture construction, agricultural tools and other implements. With the application of sophisticated design knowledge and the use of improved composite technologies, bamboo has gone places in the world of design, fashion and fabrication and is being rated very high as a viable replacement for wood as a structural material.

Apart from its sustainable properties, what makes bamboo stand tall is its unique structural properties. Its flexibility, tensile strength, durability and the fact that it can be used in both the whole and split form, gives it an edge over other construction material, be it for architecture or interiors.

The revolution in design and an awareness of its market potential has, of late, given bamboo a place in the sun. Walk into any interiors shop worth its salt and bamboo furniture and accessories would surely be occupying the pride of place. Whether sofa sets, dining tables, beds, cupboards, partitions or interiors such as lights and table lamps, even flower pots, mobile cases and soap dishes — bamboo offers a shape and design for each object.

Bamboo seems to have taken over the imagination of design professionals and interior designers to such an extent that some companies import bamboo furniture from destinations such as Thailand and China, where it is in abundance.

Chennai-based Evoluzione, essentially a furniture chain, has brought in lights and furniture from a Thai company, Ayodhya, that does high-quality furniture in bamboo and wood structure. The bamboo product is then covered with abaca rope, water hyacinth or banana fibre.

Vikram Phadke, partner in the firm, says, today, bamboo furniture has become highly sophisticated and is being combined with a host of fibres. "Its main attraction in the Indian context is the affordability as well as the earthiness which ties in beautifully with our tropical Asian interiors. It has been widely accepted in the last few years due to the high standards that have been achieved in its construction and finish.''

In fact, the National Institute of Design (NID), along with the Government of India, is spearheading the industrial production of composites from bamboo for several States including Tripura, Uttaranchal, Mizoram, Assam, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. Early this year the World Bamboo Congress was organised in New Delhi, where new product catalogues and design books that showed bamboo the way to the marketplace were released.

NID's Centre for Bamboo Initiatives is doing some path-breaking design innovation with the material. Apart from the usual furniture, this centre has designed play furniture, rocking horses and partitions and also combined it with several unusual materials, including wrought iron and stainless steel. It is initiating market research and innovation in an effort to make bamboo a major source of livelihood for the craftsperson and the community.

Jindal Stainless Ltd, the company that has been trying to promote stainless steel for buildings, architecture, interiors and lifestyle products, has also clubbed stainless steel with bamboo or wicker to make furniture and lighting related products.

The current turnover of the unorganised furniture sector is Rs 3,000 crore, and even if 10 per cent of the units switch over to bamboo, this would mean a turnover of Rs 300 crore for the bamboo board industry. The economics of using bamboo-based intermediate veneers provides sufficient justification for the switchover from wood to bamboo veneer. The switchover is expected to take place in at least 20 per cent of the organised medium-sized units currently engaged in plywood production, which have been shut down because of non-availability of wood/timber material.

Hence, bamboo would not only look smart holding a plant in a verandah, magazines in a rack or drinks in a bar, but could participate actively to revitalise the industry and make it environment friendly as well.

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