Good to be back at Memutar! Finally got to see the AR overlay on top of the as-built bamboo structure and watch the app come to life.
Download Memutar from the App Store to project this pavilion right into your own backyard and let us know if you’d like one of your own!
Check out the full project on the website in the bio, or watch the full AR construction video in an earlier post.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#bamboo #bamboodesign #bamboarchitecture #augmentedreality #ARconstruction #sustainabledesign #pavilion #architecture #bambooconstruction #ARapp #designtech #parametricdesign #naturalmaterials #sustainablearchitecture #futureofconstruction
It’s a wrap! Reflecting back at a great exhibition and AR app for the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture @uabbhk :
Explore the pioneering work of Dr. Kristof Crolla and Dr. Garvin Goepel on the integration of digital technology into bamboo architecture. By downloading the augmented reality (AR) app (BambooAR), you can access an immersive experience that allows you witness the physical scale models of their bamboo projects at full scale through holograms made visible directly onto your mobile device.
The exhibition includes seminal projects like the 2015 “ZCB Bamboo Pavilion” in Hong Kong, which celebrated its 10th anniversary; “MemutAR”, a bamboo pavilion created for the Bamboo World Congress in Taiwan in 2024; “Bale Timbang”, a community project built with Hong Kong students for a farming community in Bali, 2025; and the “Bamboo U Dome”, a lecture hall, workshop, and cultural event space at the Bamboo U campus in Bali, 2024.
These projects utilised innovative computational workflows throughout their design, fabrication, and construction process, including AR- driven holographic instruction methods. This approach offers a far more intuitive and comprehensive alternative to traditional construction drawings, thus simplifying construction, making complex geometries more accessible—the philosophy of “Building Simplexity.”
Download the App: https://augmentedarchitecture.pro/uabb/
#augmentedreality #architectureexhibition #uabb #bambooarchitecture #augmentedrealityapp
How to knot Cantonese Bamboo Scaffolding?
After the recent tragic fire in Tai Po, Hong Kong, public discussion has turned to bamboo scaffolding, its practice, cultural value, and fire safety.
Bamboo scaffolding has shaped Hong Kong’s skyline for generations, from bamboo theatres to temporary residential tower façades. Hong Kong’s bamboo theatre building technique (竹棚戲台建造技藝) is recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the trade operates within established safety guidelines, statutory codes, and licensed training.
In this short tutorial, Cantonese bamboo scaffolding sifus (師傅, masters) demonstrate three core knots used for temporary scaffolds and theatres, which could also be applied elsewhere. Up close, quick wrist movements turn loose nylon into tight joints, enabling scaffolds to be erected and adjusted quickly and effectively. Within the regulatory framework, these knots support the swift, flexible construction of temporary structures. The same knots were used in the ZCB Bamboo Pavilion (Kowloon Bay, 2015), where scaffolders tied them with thin stainless-steel wire, translating craft into innovative gridshell architecture.
Bamboo has quietly shaped Hong Kong’s built environment. We must recognise the skill in this low-carbon craft, and remember that safe scaffolding depends on regulation, licensed professionals, and disciplined site practice.
Want to learn more?
- “Code of Practice for Bamboo Scaffolding Safety”, Hong Kong Labour Department: https://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/os/B/Bamboo.pdf.
- “Guidelines on the Design and Construction of Bamboo Scaffolds”, Hong Kong Buildings Department:
https://www.bd.gov.hk/doc/en/resources/codes-and-references/code-and-design-manuals/GDCBS.pdf.
- “Guide on Construction and Work Safety of Truss-out Bamboo Scaffolds”, Hong Kong Labour Department:
https://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/pdf/os/D/TOS_Guidance_notes_eng.pdf.
#BambooScaffolding #CantoneseBambooScaffolding #BambooArchitecture #HongKongArchitecture #IntangibleCulturalHeritage #ConstructionCraft #LowCarbonConstruction #FireSafety #SustainableDesign #ZCBBambooPavilion
This is real! Building Simplexity at Urban Scale: “The Park by K11” (Ningbo, 2016–2024)
Located in the heart of Ningbo in Zhejiang, China, the project’s kilometre-long façade was designed by our Hong Kong–based Laboratory for Explorative Architecture & Design (LEAD) and realised with AGC Design Ltd. It spans four interconnected plots around a central park, uniting a vast mixed-use programme through computational clarity, material intelligence, and fabrication logic.
The façade’s geometry was developed through a rationalised parametric system based on the repetition of simple curved and straight elements. An adaptive module was digitally optimised to respond to local conditions, adjusting in depth, colour, materiality, perforation, and ground connection while remaining easy to fabricate and assemble. Using only two shingle types installed under varying angles, the system translates computational precision into buildable craft. Each segment was calibrated for efficient prefabrication, minimal waste, and rapid manual installation within local construction capacities.
The design draws from Ningbo’s craft traditions and temple roof geometries without direct citation, instead translating their logic of repetition and tactility into a contemporary material language. As daylight shifts, the façade shimmers and settles, giving the complex a living surface that changes with its environment.
“The Park” demonstrates how computational design and craftsmanship can converge to produce architecture that is both technically rigorous and deeply rooted in place.
More info: https://l-e-a-d.pro/portfolio/k11-art-mall-facade-design/
#Architecture #FaçadeDesign #ComputationalDesign #ParametricDesign #BuildingSimplexity #Fabrication #Sustainability #UrbanDesign #LEAD #K11 #Ningbo #BSL
10 Years of ZCB Bamboo Pavilion!
Precisely a decade ago today, on 14 October 2015, the ZCB Bamboo Pavilion opened to the public at the Construction Industry Council’s Zero Carbon Building in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong, marking a milestone in merging computational design, performative geometry, and traditional Cantonese bamboo scaffolding craft.
Built in 3.5 months from 475 bamboo poles and tensile fabric, the pavilion demonstrated that large-span (37 m) bending-active bamboo structures could be realised within Hong Kong’s risk-averse, typhoon-prone construction environment. Once considered unbuildable, it was realised through the collaboration of visionary engineers, architects, and bamboo specialists who pushed the limits of local building culture.
Although commissioned as a permanent structure, the pavilion was dismantled after nine months due to local building regulations. Yet its legacy endures: to this day, the ZCB Pavilion remains among the world’s largest bending-active bamboo shells and continues to influence contemporary bamboo architecture globally as a reference point for what is achievable when computation and craft meet.
Read more:
- Crolla, Kristof. Building Indeterminacy Modelling – the “ZCB Bamboo Pavilion” as a Case Study on Nonstandard Construction from Natural Materials. Visualization in Engineering, 5:15 (2017): /10.1186/s40327-017-0051-4
- Crolla, Kristof. Bending Bamboo Rules: Beyond Century-Old Typologies. Journal of Architectural Education, 72:1 (2018): /10.1080/10464883.2018.1410669
- Project page: https://l-e-a-d.pro/portfolio/zcb/
#Architecture #Sustainability #BambooArchitecture #ComputationalDesign #Innovation
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival from 2012!
Golden Moon (Victoria Park, Hong Kong) marked our first exploration of the magic of bamboo through the fusion of computational design and vernacular craftsmanship.
The 20-metre-diameter urban installation was a design experiment built in just 12 days from bamboo, fabric, steel, and light. Over 400,000 visitors experienced it during its six-day life before it was fully recycled.
Our ongoing journey with bamboo as a medium for design innovation has since evolved through projects like the ZCB Bamboo Pavilion (2015, Hong Kong) and the Bamboo U Dome (2024, Bali), demonstrating how craft, computation, and community can come together to advance meaningful and sustainable architectural innovation.
#Architecture #Sustainability #BambooArchitecture #ComputationalDesign #Innovation
...
Golden Moon | @lead.architecture
Inshort it is Everything Design.
DOWNLOAD THE APP.
*** LINK IN BIO ***
Golden Moon, a temporary public pavilion designed by LEAD in Hong Kong, won the Gold Award at the 2012 Lantern Wonderland competition. Displayed at Victoria Park during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it reinterprets the traditional Chinese lantern, drawing on the legend of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess. The six-story spherical structure features abstract flames symbolizing passionate love, blending bamboo craftsmanship with digital design. Built in just 11 days, the pavilion’s geodesic dome and bamboo grid create an immersive light and color experience. The project exemplifies “building simplexity,” combining modern technology and traditional techniques to achieve complex geometry quickly and efficiently, drawing nearly 500,000 visitors.
Photography: kngp, Grandy Lui, Pano Kalogeropoulos, LEAD
.#MidAutumnFestival #MidAutumnFestivalHK #HKarchitecture #HongKongArchitecture #VictoriaParkHongKong #VictoriaParkHK #HKTourismBoard #FestivalArchitecture #Bamboo #BambooArchitecture #LightArchitecture #LightWeightArchitecture #Craftsmanship #SustainableDesign #ParametricDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalArchitecture #ComputationalArchitecture #ParametricArchitecture #PostDigitalArchitecture #Simplexity #buildingsimplexity
The concept of Villa LU originated from our client’s inquiry into incorporating light as a central element within a private residence, transforming it into a “Theatre of Light.” Nestled in an exceptional location in Hong Kong, this architectural project offers unparalleled views of the serene Port Shelter and seamlessly assimilates the beauty of its natural subtropical surroundings. Villa LU effectively captures the intrinsic qualities of light and its interaction with the area’s distinct conditions. By skilfully combining carefully framed viewpoints, meticulously sculpted wall geometries, and strategically placed skylights, the residence transforms into a thoughtfully calibrated, functional timepiece. Throughout the year, Villa LU unveils a perpetually evolving narrative through the dynamic interplay of light and shadow
LOCATION | Clear Water Bay, HONG KONG LEAD DESIGN TEAM | Kristof Crolla, Julien Klisz CLIENT | Private
“Sarab” is a public event and exhibition space, capable of holding up to 100 people, built up from a dramatic geometric reflective structure placed in sand. Through its expressive materiality from mirroring faceted geometries, the pavilion captures, reflects, absorbs, and projects the ever-changing surroundings, presenting visitors with a unique experience when inside. The project is prefabricated and assembled onsite, built up from steel and stainless steel mirror panelling, and lit up with white LED lighting. The project is designed to be a travelling pavilion that can be dismantlable and rebuilt in various locations.
The project is based on the concept of duality that one can find in cultures and religions across the world. On the one hand, there is the idea of ‘perfection’ and ‘purity’, as represented by the circle or the sphere. This represents ‘idealism’, ‘centrality’, ‘control’ and through that ‘comfort’, but also ‘aspiration’ and ‘hope’ for something larger, for ‘divinity’ On the other hand, there is the idea of ‘entropy’ and ‘unpredictability’ found throughout our everyday lives; ‘perceived volatility’ and ‘change’, which in return presents us with ‘chance’ and ‘opportunity’. This quality can be observed throughout ‘nature’ all around us.
Design tools available to work with these concepts include ‘logic’ and ‘mathematics’ for the former, as exemplified in for example the purity of platonic shapes. The latter can be incorporated through the embedding of for example ‘randomness functions’ inside those logics. Applied to the topic of ‘light’, this can be made visible through the idea of ‘kaleidoscopy’.
#Riyadh #KSA #SaudiArabia #ArtPavilion #EventSpace #Art #Kaleidoscope #InnovativeDesign
#Architecture #LEADarchitecture #ParametricDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalArchitecture #ComputationalArchitecture #ParametricArchitecture #PostDigitalArchitecture #Simplexity
“Sarab” is a public event and exhibition space, capable of holding up to 100 people, built up from a dramatic geometric reflective structure placed in sand. Through its expressive materiality from mirroring faceted geometries, the pavilion captures, reflects, absorbs, and projects the ever-changing surroundings, presenting visitors with a unique experience when inside. The project is prefabricated and assembled onsite, built up from steel and stainless steel mirror panelling, and lit up with white LED lighting. The project is designed to be a travelling pavilion that can be dismantlable and rebuilt in various locations.
The project is based on the concept of duality that one can find in cultures and religions across the world. On the one hand, there is the idea of ‘perfection’ and ‘purity’, as represented by the circle or the sphere. This represents ‘idealism’, ‘centrality’, ‘control’ and through that ‘comfort’, but also ‘aspiration’ and ‘hope’ for something larger, for ‘divinity’ On the other hand, there is the idea of ‘entropy’ and ‘unpredictability’ found throughout our everyday lives; ‘perceived volatility’ and ‘change’, which in return presents us with ‘chance’ and ‘opportunity’. This quality can be observed throughout ‘nature’ all around us.
Design tools available to work with these concepts include ‘logic’ and ‘mathematics’ for the former, as exemplified in for example the purity of platonic shapes. The latter can be incorporated through the embedding of for example ‘randomness functions’ inside those logics. Applied to the topic of ‘light’, this can be made visible through the idea of ‘kaleidoscopy’.
#Riyadh #KSA #SaudiArabia #ArtPavilion #EventSpace #Art #Kaleidoscope #InnovativeDesign
#Architecture #LEADarchitecture #ParametricDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalArchitecture #ComputationalArchitecture #ParametricArchitecture #PostDigitalArchitecture #Simplexity
MemutAR 竹旋幻居 is a design research exhibition project featuring an elegant bamboo pavilion, nested next to a beautiful lake, that was prefabricated by Balinese craftsmen and re-assembled in Taiwan by local contractors using Augmented Reality (AR) technology. It demonstrates how latest cutting-edge AR technology applications in bamboo architecture enable the straightforward construction of non-standard spaces and geometries by combining locally available and overseas specialised skill, thus allowing for the scaling-up and exporting of craft-demanding bamboo projects.
COMPLETION | January 2024
LOCATION | 新竹市陽明交通大學光復校區新竹市大學路1001號 - National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), Hsinchu City Campus, No. 1001, Daxue Road, Hsinchu City, Taiwan
DESIGN | Laboratory for Explorative Architecture & Design Ltd. (LEAD) / Dr Kristof Crolla, Julien Klisz
AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) CONSULTANT| Augmented Architecture Ltd. / Dr Garvin Goepel
MANUFACTURING | PT Bamboo Pure / Orin Hardy
IMPLEMENTATION | 國立陽明交通大學建築所 - National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), Graduate Institute of Architecture (GIA) / Yu-Tung Cheng
CONSTRUCTION TEAM | 藝創木構 - Wood Art And Structure
MEMBRANE CONSULTANT | 冠閤企業股份有限公司- F.I.T. Industrial Co.. Ltd
TECH SUPPORT | University of Hong Kong (HKU), Faculty of Architecture, Building Simplexity Laboratory (BSL)
CLIENT | 臺灣竹會 - Taiwan Bamboo Society
EXHIBITION | 「島嶼構竹」新銳建築展 - Tectonic of The Island
EXHIBITION PERIOD | 2024.04.12 - 2024.04.28
INSITUTE |臺灣竹會 - Taiwan Bamboo Society
PROJECT WEBSITE | https://l-e-a-d.pro/portfolio/memutar/
PHOTOGRAPHY | LEAD, Augmented Architecture Ltd., 拾蒔生活製作所 - Shao-Chi Ho
PROJECT APP | https://l-e-a-d.pro/memutarqr/
APP DEVELOPMENT| Augmented Architecture Ltd. i.c.w. LEAD
@lead.architecture@bamboopurebali@augmentedarchitecture@nycuarch
#Bamboo #BambooArchitecture #Taiwan #Bali #ShellStructure #FormFinding #LightWeightArchitecture #Craftsmanship #SustainableDesign
#LEADarchitecture #ParametricDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalArchitecture #ComputationalArchitecture #ParametricArchitecture #PostDigitalArchitecture #Simplexity #BuildingSimplexity
Morphing modules façade shaping up in Ningbo!
3 years after the first mock-up, the nearly 1km long façade is close to completion, stay tuned!
.
#Ningbo #China #FacadeDesign #K11 #ArtMall #DigitalCraftsmanship
.
#LEADarchitecture #ParametricDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalDesign #DigitalFabrication #DigitalArchitecture #ComputationalArchitecture #ParametricArchitecture #PostDigitalArchitecture #Simplexity #BuildingSimplexity
