Building Six-Story Bamboo Houses: Testing Boundaries and Creating Magical Experiences

Elora Hardy grew up in the world of imaginative actualization, and when her architect parents built a home off of the “fairy mushroom house” drawn by their nine-year-old daughter, Hardy didn’t realize that it was unusual. Now a innovative architect herself, Hardy is building beautiful and immersive living spaces most people couldn’t dream up, out of bamboo with Bali locals in a desire to increase infrastructure with sustainable resources.   

Bamboo has the tensile strength of steel and the compressive strength of concrete, and since its hollow, it can still be carried by just a few people. In addition to this breathtaking six-story house, Hardy’s team has built restaurants, schools, bridges, and entirely out of local resources. I highly recommend taking the short trip through her design process in this 10 minute TED talk.