When bamboo is transformed into furniture, it brings an elegant and dramatic accent to a home, both indoors and outdoors.

Bamboo is a plant with a hard, woody stem that is lightweight, but extremely tough. It gives a light, earthly feel to your home as it possess the same structural integrity as many hardwoods and have much more versatility to turn into different shapes and sizes. Bamboo is also a more environmentally friendly alternative to wood, as it is one of the fastest-growing plants on earth and can be harvested again and again from the same stalk.

Meanwhile, in recent years the demand for bamboo furniture has increased due to environmentally conscious buyers and more people are becoming aware of the unique properties that the material possess. Designers have also recognised these qualities and have produced a series of wonderful designer furniture.

The Jun Zi bamboo chair by Jeff Shi Dahyue.

Chinese designer, Jeff Shi Dahyue, from DragonFly Gallery who was the former jewellery designer for Harry Winston, has created the Jun Zi (meaning noble man in Chinese) bamboo chair. Using moso bamboo, the largest bamboo found in subtropical areas, the chair has a neat geometric box design. The side view of the chair corresponds to the shape of the Chinese character for “noble man”, reflecting the strong connection between bamboo and the Chinese culture. When you sit on the bamboo chair, it has a slight bounce to it that shows the natural flexibility of the bamboo slats and what’s more impressive is that it can sustain a load of up to 200kg.

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The Grasswork furniture series by Jair Straschnow.

 

Dutch designer, Jair Straschnow created the Grassworks furniture series in dedication to bamboo. Grassworks, which won the 2010 Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Award in the furniture category at the London Design Museum, is a collection made from bamboo-laminated sheets. It uses an interlocking system of component parts in order to assemble each piece with dry mechanical fastening and a minimal use of glue and screws. Designed to be simple, space-saving and wholly sustainable, the pieces in the collection are multi-purpose objects that can be folded away for easy storage.

 

Check out some designer furniture for the summer here.
 

Designer Kent Gration from Australia created the Wambamboo series, which include pieces of stools, benches, tables ,lights, lamps and sculptures. Bamboo poles, cross-laminated boards and veneers are incorporated into each piece to showcase the versatility of bamboo as a high-end renewable material.

 
The award-winning O-table from the Wambamboo collection.
 

The pieces are all handcrafted, made from recyclable materials, non-toxic glues and water-based finishes to make it a green collection. The range received international recognition winning various awards including the Queensland Design and Design Product Design Award in 2009, it also exhibited at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan and the Sydney Powerhouse Museum.