New Book by Kent Harries Explores Bamboo Architecture in China

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet, with some varieties growing almost a meter in a single day. Its quick regrowth is one reason for its emerging use as a building material.

A new book coauthored by Kent Harries, FASCE, FACI, FIIFC, P.Eng., professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, describes the development of the bamboo construction industry in China, presenting more than 100 representative examples of bamboo construction ranging from simple structures to components of underground infrastructure. 

The book, “Contemporary Bamboo Architecture in China,” describes the distribution of bamboo forest and bamboo species for construction and the characteristics of bamboo construction materials. It explores the potential of bamboo in engineering applications, introducing the use of bamboo construction for bridges, highway landscape fences, bus stations, landscaping, water pipelines and urban municipal tunnels. 

“Bamboo will be a key component in how we—as a global society—address the many critical infrastructure needs brought about by global climate change,” said Harries. “This book is intended to help to bring bamboo from being nonconventional to being nonnegotiable.”

“Contemporary Bamboo Architecture in China” was written by K.W. Liu, Q.F. Wang, F.M. Chen, Y.B. Leng, J. Yang, and K.A. Harries.