Bamboo Bamboo | Turn Turn / LlLab.

Architects: llLab.
Area: 270 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Wen Studio
Engineering Collaborators: LuAnLu Partner Structure Consulting
Construction Contractors: Studio EMCC
Lighting Consultant: ELA Lighting
Design Team: Hanxiao Liu, Luis Ricardo, Lexian Hu, Ziyu Wei, Luyao Hou, Yicheng Wang
Lighting Consultant: Zhaolong Jiang, Feng Liu, Chuang Wang
Clients: Element
Bamboo Contractors: Yi Zhu Fan Gong
City: Jing An Qu
Country: China

Bamboo Bamboo | Turn Turn by llLab., located at HKRI Taikoo Hui, reimagines retail spaces through material sustainability and site integration. Aligned with Element’s sustainable philosophy, it forms an ethereal bamboo landscape as part of the Element Bloom pop-up and TURN TURN exhibition. This third phase of llLab.’s bamboo research follows Bamboo Bamboo in Guilin, which used traditional bamboo techniques, and Bamboo Clouds in New York City, showcasing engineered bamboo. This phase pushes boundaries by exploring bamboo’s potential, from raw material to engineered applications, creating spatial sensations at scales from architecture to microscopic integration. The installation’s flowing bamboo structures, just 3mm thick, highlight bamboo’s resilience and flexibility in a groundbreaking material experiment.

The Element pop-up store at HKRI Taikoo Hui presents an innovative approach to curatorial retail spaces. Through careful spatial design, the project examines material sustainability while integrating material properties and applications with the site. By bridging macro-level perception and micro-scale perspective, it delivers a unique spatial experience that conveys lifestyle in an unprecedented way.

In line with Element’s sustainable branding philosophy, this project utilizes bamboo to explore a spatial practice that evaluates the practicality and sustainability of materials. The interconnected Element Bloom pop-up retail and TURN TURN exhibition installation create an ethereal landscape of flowing bamboo. This endeavor represents the third phase of llLab.’s ongoing material research on bamboo.

In the first phase, Bamboo Bamboo, the Canopy and Pavilion were built in Yangshuo, Guilin, within a natural setting, utilizing native bamboo materials and traditional craftsmanship to integrate nature into the design. The second phase, Bamboo Clouds, was created in New York City, employing engineered bamboo to transport a mobile representation of nature across geographical boundaries. In this third phase, the project seeks to transcend conventional perceptions of bamboo and its applications, exploring the material’s properties and limitations to deliver a wholly unique spatial experience.

Bamboo, as one of the most significant traditional building materials in the East, has evolved from its raw form to engineered bamboo, expanding its applications across various scales. Engineered bamboo has become as versatile as wood, commonly used in building structures and cladding. This evolution leads the architects to ask: can new applications for bamboo be explored from an entirely fresh perspective?

Imagine perceiving bamboo at the scale of an insect, where its fibers transform into objects, structures, architecture, or even crumble into powder to integrate seamlessly into walls and spaces. This shift redefines material understanding, transitioning from a macroscopic perspective to a more intimate, microscopic experience.

Bamboo Bamboo | Turn Turn represents a new experiment with bamboo, creating an ethereal landscape of flowing forms. At just 3mm in thickness, the design captures the essence of bamboo—resilient, flexible, and gracefully swaying upon impact.