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December 30, 2020
Text: Colleen Curry
LLLab.’s Bamboo Installation Nestles into the Lush Landscape of Southern China
A bamboo installation by LLLab. nestles in the lush landscape of southern China, setting the scene for a longstanding outdoor performance.
A Photoshop rendering by LLLab. illustrates the pavilions and canopy composing Bamboo Bamboo, the firm’s set design for Impression Sanjie Liu, a 600-person musical about a legendary Tang Dynasty Chinese folk singer, now in its 15th year, performed outdoors in Yangshuo, a mountainous resort area. Image courtesy of LLLab.Referred to as lanterns, an illustration reveals a pavilion’s substructure: a lashed bamboo frame sandwiched between layers of woven bamboo and a waterproof, polycarbonate-lined interior. Image courtesy of LLLab.In wooden dowels, coconut fiber, acrylic, and cork, a 1:50 scale model of a single canopy module programs the placement of the steel structural columns and demonstrates how light from LEDs flows through the canopy during the nightly performances. Image courtesy of LLLab.The construction team raises a large bamboo stalk that has been heat-bent to create the curved framework for a lantern. Photography courtesy of LLLab.Steel tubes provide the canopy’s main support. Photography courtesy of LLLab.Handwoven on-site, it’s made of thousands of bamboo strands using no adhesives. Photography courtesy of LLLab.Intended to foster a sense of intrigue and anticipation, the lanterns and canopy guide visitors from the show’s entry pagoda to an enormous main stage on the bank of the Li River. Photography by Arch-Exist Photography.The steel support columns are camouflaged by clusters of bamboo, which help bear the canopy’s weight. Photography by Arch-Exist Photography.Composed of four distinct modules, the canopy’s form references the surrounding landscape. Photography by Arch-Exist Photography.
