Ecobamboo is a bamboo timber and laminate factory near the City of Cali, Colombia, invites you to its Guádua – Workshop from Wednesday 15. to Friday 18. of August 2007.

Guádua is the most frequently used of the giant Bamboos growing in tropical South America. Its abundant resources from Panama to Paraguay are used for traditional architecture and farm work. Especially in Colombia we find a wide range of sub species, there is intensive investigation on all levels for possible uses. Since the 80´s there are some conservation efforts of the still abundant resource, cattle and coffee farmers are not anymore allowed to eradicate the clumps, even a sustainable harvesting cycle has been developed by local environmental authorities. An even more successful rescue effort was the added value generation through preservation of the beautiful culms and its use in architecture. In recent years some fabulous masterpieces have been built, even outside the continent, but still more than 75% of the mature culms in natural clumps are rotting away, instead of being harvested, borax treated and put into long term use and CO2 fixing applications.

To promote the knowledge about the existence of this “Gift of the Gods” (Oscar Hidalgo’s recent book on Bamboo) and to teach “hands on” its multiple uses in architecture and furniture industry, we offer periodically an international workshop. Before or after the workshop you could plan an additional week to travel around in Cauca Valley, guided or individually, to visit the bamboo collection in nearby Tulua, rent a bamboo raft on “Rio la Vieja”, visit the Theme Parks like “Panaca” or the “Coffee Park”, etc.

This workshop intends to build a variety of little projects, to give an overview of successful techniques, and going even a little bit into the practice of each item. What you learn here avoids tremendous expenses once having your own projects.

The daily routine
starts with some technical explications on tools, techniques and tricks. Then the participants form workgroups and built under guidance the different elements like:

• Woven walls, - a technique brought in from Indonesia.
• Bamboo boards, - thanks to our new bamboo dowels its gluefree.
• Bamboo trusses, - traditional King Truss and modern Fish belly truss.
• Spaced Column, - for one or two story buildings like pavilions or houses.
• This time we will focus on the new “scew free” joinery and promote the use of natural or carbonized bamboo dowels.
• We will analyze the bamboo construction methods. This will lead to a sisteamtic approach using techniques like the traditional (“fish mouth”), the threaded rods (“Sceleton”), the “woven Bamboo” (Leo da Vinci - Bridge), and even Bamboo “space frames” (BuckyBall or Bridges).
• Ultralight systems for Membranes. (Hangar).

During the coffee and lunch breaks there is time for small talk and discussion. The 20 to 25 participants are located (Bed and food already included) at a nice neighborhood farm. After supper, a film or a PowerPoint conference on the daily theme gives a wider understanding and leads to interactive discussion for those who still don’t want to sleep…..

Workshop language is Spanish and if needed, English or German. .
A graphic artist will join us, to initiate a “Do it yourself” manual on Bamboo in English.

Las conferencias
Powerpoint presentations will give an introduction into bamboo architecture and the different styles developed in our works over the past 12 years..

The Films show some recent bridge projects in Indonesia and the first bamboo bridges in Colombia between 1995 and 2006.

The following program covers a wide range of items, - eventualy too much for three days. That’s where we will separate in several workgroups and the outcome will be determined by your interest and skills.

This workshop is not aiming to build something special, but to experience and analyze a variety of approaches.

The workshop takes place at ECOBAMBOO Factory in Candelaria, which is a little town 20 km east from Cali. The accommodation and lunch is at Hacienda PROVENZA, a neighborhood farm with nice rooms and even a little swimming pool. Candelaria is easy to reach with 15 minutes ride in taxi or bus from the city of Cali and Palmira, or with Taxi from the Cali Airport.

The cost will be $ 550.000 Pesos or $ 300 Dollars, three daily meals and rooms are included from Monday to Friday. For further travels after the workshop you should have a budget of 30 to 50 Dollars a day. Best way to get Colombian cash is a credit card machine. Participants from abroad will have to confirm subscription by email to joerg@joergstamm.com there will be no downpayment necessary, but they are asked to pay cash on the first day. If the arrival is at Cali Airport, you could advise me y email, or contact me by my mobile phone – 57 - 300 - 557 10 21, eventually somebody could catch you up there. There are direct flights from Houston and Miami to Cali Airport (3,5 hours).

Conference language is mostly in Spanish, - people from Brazil, Germany and USA etc. should just ask for translation if needed. Anyway most of the message is transmitted hand to hand. Participants should have normal work cloth, a big hat is provided here. Candelaria is hot and has about 30 degrees Celsius during the day, during the night its perfect. The rooms have protection against mosquitoes, - there is no malaria, but mosquito spray is a good protection for outside. It’s recommended to have your own health insurance, ECOBAMBOO is not responsible for accidents.

Colombia is a nice country with very friendly people, normal crime is not more frequent than in every other Latin American country, anyway- we are a big group. The political conflict with armed rebel forces is actually limited to remote areas and is not taking place near our workshop. I know about statistical numbers and the consequent alert by American authorities, but from my own 15 years experience in living in Colombia, I can easily feel responsible for making this invitation.

El idioma durante el curso será principalmente en español e ingles, pero traducciones en portugués y alemán son posibles. De todas maneras se transmite la mayor parte de la enseñanza de mano a mano. Los participantes deberían llevar ropa de trabajo, - un sombrero grande será ofrecido aquí. Candelaria es con mas de 28 grados, durante el día bien caliente, durante la noche es bien agradable. Los cuartos tienen protección contra mosquitos, pero una loción de protector ayuda a menudo. Se recomienda a cada participante su propio seguro, ECOBAMBOO no se hace responsable de accidentes.

The workshop is focusing on craftsmen, architects and civil engineers, do-it-yourself men and women. The message of the workshop is to learn a common language on bamboo utilization, to overcome social hierarchy and to achieve the great challenges in bamboo trade. National and international Participants will get friends and may join on future Bamboo projects. A Guádua network will be launched.