Ibuku in11
![ibuku in11 ibuku in11](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wwsiuYuzNwU/hqdefault.jpg)
So she and her firm, Ibuku, protect it by safely treating it with a natural salt. As she explained in a 2015 TED Talk, bamboo has been used as a building material for thousands of years, but if left untreated, it will get eaten by insects and disintegrate.
![ibuku in11 ibuku in11](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/M1a6RlDVKCM/hqdefault.jpg)
“We try to listen to the bamboo, understand how it would be best used, its unique characteristics, and design for it.” Needless to say, working with bamboo poses challenges that architects who employ more conventional materials don’t have to deal with. “Bamboo is so versatile-it can be the star, the defining feature of a space, the wow-and it can also feel invisible, natural, like a nest or cocoon around you as if it wasn’t ‘designed’ or ‘built’ at all,” Elora says. Since then, Elora and her team of Indonesian architects, engineers, and interior designers have created more than 60 bamboo structures in Asia including private homes, a yoga pavilion at the Four Seasons, Tri restaurant in Hong Kong, Como Marketplace in Singapore, and a handful of open-air bamboo treehouse suites at Bambu Indah, the boutique hotel in Ubud founded by her father and stepmother, Cynthia Hardy. Growing up on this beautiful, spiritual island gave Elora an appreciation for nature, and though she lived in the United States for 14 years, studied fine arts, and designed prints for Donna Karan, she moved back in 2010 and founded Ibuku. Originally the brainchild of jewelry designer John Hardy, who moved to Bali in the 1970s, Green Village continues to grow and thrive thanks to Hardy’s daughter Elora. Home to a community of roving expats, many of whom split their time between Bali and the U.S., Europe, or other countries, the buildings of the Village rise three or more stories high into the lush tropical jungle of Ubud, set overlooking ravines that feed into the Ayung River, surrounded by vegetable gardens.
Ibuku in11 full#
Upon arriving at Green Village, I found myself in a seemingly enchanted enclave full of incredible bamboo houses. After reading about Elora Hardy’s visionary architecture and design firm, Ibuku, and seeing photos of the stunning houses they create, I sought her out on a recent trip to Bali. As glass-and-steel skyscrapers rise in cities around the world and architects are harnessing evermore advanced technology, one firm in Bali is looking to nature to lead the way.