The European Bamboo Expo – international meeting point of the bamboo industry – took place in early June and for the first time in Europe. The Competence Center for Renewable Building Materials from the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences (HSRM) presented some of its projects in Dortmund.

Experimental pavilion made of bamboo slat girders

The Competence Center for Renewable Building Materials presenting an experimental pavilion made of bent bamboo slat girders was one of the main attractions at the international expo. The competence center is still in a project phase and is part of the research group Resource Efficient Construction and Development of New Materials at HSRM. As part of a series of seminars on climate-friendly building by Professor Sascha Luippold, instructors Andrés Bäppler and Christoph Diekhans, and Dr. Oliver Bletz-Mühldorfer from the Laboratory for Timber Construction at HSRM, the concept for the pavilion was developed in the winter semester of 2022/23 and practically implemented in a design-build workshop in the current summer semester and now built for the expo in Dortmund. The interdisciplinary and international team is made up of 26 students from multiple faculties, exchange students from various partner universities and international auditor students who came to HSRM especially for this project.

International projects at HSRM

For several semesters, the Department of Climate-friendly Building in the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering has been dedicated to building with bamboo and clay and carried out various projects in Europe and beyond. In cooperation with the Laboratory for Timber Construction, HSRM has initiated the process to launch the Competence Center for Renewable Building Materials. Together with international partner organizations, the university of applied sciences presented both the socially and ecologically motivated project for a bamboo training center in Ghana and the similar project for a bamboo research center in Mozambique at the European Bamboo Expo in Dortmund.

Intercultural exchange between researchers and activists

The practical and experimental work with the renewable material bamboo on the one hand and the international and intercultural exchange with climate committed researchers and activists from all continents on the other hand made the pavilion project and the expo appearance a sustainable experience for all participants. “A perfect kickoff for the Competence Center for Renewable Building Materials at HSRM!” said Prof. Sascha Luippold.
More than 40 speakers presented at the accompanying conference. Bamboo researchers and experts from the industry, NGOs and universities traveled from all continents to attend European Bamboo Expo 2023. According to these experts, bamboo is the plant with the greatest and most diverse socio-ecological potential to fight global climate change and its social and environmental consequences.