Blue Temple creates earthquake-proof bamboo homes for "the price of a smartphone"

Myanmar-based architecture studio Blue Temple has teamed up with construction company Housing Now to build a series of low-cost bamboo homes capable of withstanding natural disasters.

Located in Myanmar's Bago region, the homes are built from a modular, earthquake-resistant structure that, according to the studios, can each be built in just seven days for "the price of a smartphone".

The project, named Housing Now Modular Bamboo Housing, was established to create low-cost housing for displaced families and public infrastructure in the country.

Blue Temple and Housing Now designed the 26 seismic-resistant homes to be a solution for surviving conflict and natural disasters.

Since being built, the homes, which cost around 1,000 US dollars per unit, have survived a 7.7 magnitude earthquake.

"In a region marked by conflict and extreme environmental stress, Housing Now Modular Bamboo Housing has shown that safe, dignified housing can be built for as little as the price of a smartphone," Blue Temple said.

"Our focus is on making high-performance architecture accessible under extreme constraints – using local materials, local labour, and prefabrication methods that can survive conflict and natural disasters," Blue Temple founder Raphaël Ascoli told Dezeen.

The homes, which were assembled in collaboration with the families, are constructed of prefabricated frames designed to carry all seismic loads.

These structures are composed of interlocking arched bamboo elements made from "small-diameter" bundled bamboo, which is widely available in the country and has a timber-grade strength, according to Ascoli.

"In Myanmar, bamboo is the cheapest construction material, and small-diameter species are the most abundant," Ascoli said.

"By bundling, overlapping, and strapping them through a jig-guided system, we achieve timber-grade strength with a fraction of the cost and a fully local supply chain," he explained.

Each of the homes is held within matching volumes raised on concrete plinths and sheltered by sloping roofs with overhanging eaves. Large operable windows blend into their textured facades.

Rising from ground level, concrete and wooden steps lead up to their entrances.

Inside, non-structural panels and partitions allow residents to create personalised internal layouts without compromising the home's seismic resistance.

Blue Temple's structural approach means that the homes' aesthetics are a result of the building geometry rather than stylistic intention, Ascoli explains.

"The aesthetics are the direct result of field-engineered geometry – clarity through necessity, not styling," he said.

The wider goal for the Housing Now Modular Bamboo Housing project, Ascoli explains, is to establish construction methods for "safe, fast, low-cost builds" so that "others can copy them".

Elsewhere, Abari designed a Buddhist meditation hall in Nepal crowned with a Mandala-shaped bamboo truss and Jonathon Mizzi co-designed a bamboo learning centre with students in Indonesia.

The photography is by Aung Htay Hlaing.

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