Mastodawn

John Carlos Baez

One of the things I love about Hong Kong is the use of bamboo rather than metal scaffolding for the construction of buildings. You see elaborate bamboo scaffolds towering into the sky.

Here's a story about this ancient craft, what's happening to it today, and one of the few women who practices it:

https://archive.is/VqeXK

Lots of great pictures!

"As a truckload of bamboo poles pulled into a narrow street, Daisy Pak stubbed out a cigarette, pulled a safety harness over her paint-streaked leggings and began blasting Prince from a Bluetooth speaker.

After maneuvering a loaded cart into an elevator, she opened a tiny window on the ninth floor and ducked out onto a narrow pipe, a bunch of zip ties sashaying behind her back like a bushy tail. She called for mid-length bamboo poles that she tied into a latticework clinging to the outside of the building."

[....]

"The city is one of the last bastions of an art — and later industry — that was first depicted in scroll paintings from the Han dynasty around 2,000 years ago, and it has thrived in bamboo-rich regions in China. But in the past two decades, the rest of China pivoted toward metal amid an overproduction of steel.

Lattices of bamboo poles bound together by intricate knots regularly rise across the city to build and renovate apartment blocks and commercial skyscrapers that can be dozens of stories high.

Advocates of the material, including Ms. Pak, say it is lighter and cheaper than metal to transport and carry in Hong Kong’s tight urban spaces. Builders particularly favor the material when erecting platforms that support workers who patch up building exteriors and replace old pipes and window sills."

HoldMyType 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez it happens in india too

@johncarlosbaez Oh, the HK gov is gradually replacing bamboo scaffolding recently.

https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/hong-kong-construction-association-supports-governments-metal-scaffolding-policy/

Hong Kong Construction Association supports government's metal scaffolding policy

The Hong Kong Construction Association (HKCA) has expressed its full support for the Development Bureau's announcement to gradually promote the use of metal scaffolding in public works projects.

Dimsum Daily

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@e7_87 - yes, that's the reason for the article I pointed you to: nostalgia for a diminishing craft. But I wanted to focus on the positive side.

The article says metal scaffolding is more "sustainable", but they don't compare the energy costs, carbon footprint etc. with bamboo.

Winchell Chung ⚛🚀5d ago

@johncarlosbaez

There are cases where cities have been hit by earthquakes. The bamboo scaffolding just sways a little bit while all the metal scaffolding collapses.

@nyrath @johncarlosbaez I just can't comprehend how tied together wood stand stronger than fockin metal!

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@bloodynine - I think the point is that it flexes better, bending rather than breaking.

There's a Japanese proverb: "The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.

Winchell Chung ⚛🚀5d ago

@bloodynine @johncarlosbaez

https://bamboosahihai.com/bamboo-comparison/bamboo-vs-steel-pros-and-cons-for-construction/

Bamboo Vs. Steel: Pros And Cons For Construction - BambooSahiHai India

The construction industry is increasingly exploring sustainable and efficient building materials to reduce its environmental footprint. Two materials that

BambooSahiHai

David Cohen 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez @e7_87 When I worked in HK for a spell 15 years ago they were talking about measures to move to more steel scaffolding.

@johncarlosbaez @e7_87 not sure what could be more sustainable than making scaffolding out of a fast growing plant.

@johncarlosbaez @e7_87 and now I’m reminded of https://youtu.be/6-9-FkwUrRo

You can't grow concrete.

YouTube

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@cinebox - that's great!

@cinebox @johncarlosbaez @e7_87 While the posts are bamboo, it does seem they tie it with plastic. I don't expect that to be reused, and across thousands of joints that's going to be an appreciable amount of waste.

Tristram Brelstaff 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez My daughter studied structural engineering at HKUST and I occasionally joked with her about using bamboo scaffolding for building sky-scrapers. But she now works on cooler things, like studying how wind-turbines collapse and earthquake-proofing a sauropod skeleton in preparation for a tour of the Far East ( https://www.nhm.ac.uk/press-office/press-releases/opening-friday--see-one-of-the-biggest-creatures-to-ever-walk-th.html )

Opening Friday: See one of the biggest creatures to ever walk the Earth at Titanosaur: Life as the biggest dinosaur at the Natural History Museum | Natural History Museum

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@tristrambrelstaff - That's great!

Fahri Reza 🍉5d ago

@johncarlosbaez some Russian drone engineers use wood for the propeller because it will cut cost and the supply is abundant.

Winchell Chung ⚛🚀5d ago

@johncarlosbaez

A couple of scifi writers have suggested that bamboo is an important resource for space colonies.

https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/stellarcolony.php#bamboo

Settlement - Atomic Rockets

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@nyrath - nice thought! I'm impressed by your use of the present tense.

Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈5d ago

@nyrath @johncarlosbaez sitting in my bamboo garden chair, spinning in a huge tube near the Earth....

Solar Sailor 4d ago

@Lazarou @nyrath @johncarlosbaez Bamboo furniture, agriculture based on yeasts, plants, mushrooms, and small fish and fowl... Space as Infinite Tiki Bar Crawl?

Michael Busch 5d ago

@nyrath @johncarlosbaez

Consider Serina; Dylan Bajda's speculative evolution work imagining a terraformed world initially populated with canaries and bamboo - https://sites.google.com/site/worldofserina/home

Bajda had some bamboo evolve to be self-scaffolding.

Serina: A Natural History of the World of Birds

~~~ Imagine, if you will, a hypothetical world much like our own, seeded with life as an experiment by an aloof and ancient creator. While our world's rich diversity of life arose naturally through sheer chance, here it would get a head start - thanks to the Observer - with an introduction of a

Winchell Chung ⚛🚀5d ago

@michael_w_busch @johncarlosbaez

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisyworld

Daisyworld - Wikipedia

John Carlos Baez 4d ago

@michael_w_busch -
Hey, that book on Serina is fascinating! Thanks!

@johncarlosbaez that's amazing!

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@lps - it is indeed cool.

Mr. Lance E Sloan (IRL) 👤5d ago

@johncarlosbaez
I have bamboo growing in my yard. It's not as big as that shown in the photo, but I feel like I need to learn to do something useful with it instead of just cutting it back when it gets out of control.

I've seen bamboo scaffolding in use when I visited Singapore and Malaysia. I thought it was strange and dangerous at first glance. After considering careful engineering of it and the reduction of carbon footprint, I think it must be quite good.

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@sloanlance - bamboo is very fast-growing and invasive. If you don't have a solid wall around it, it will take over your yard... which is fine if you want a yard of bamboo... and so do your neighbors.

There are lots of things to do with bamboo; Chinese culture took full advantage of it. But most of them take work!

Emmy, Gendermancer 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez what an absolute badass woman

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@sillyCoelophysis - Indeed! For anyone who doesn't click the link I gave:

"Ms. Pak, 31, is one of the few female bamboo scaffolding workers in Hong Kong, using an ancient Chinese practice that is synonymous with the city even as its use has faded elsewhere in China. She turned to the industry for a fresh start in 2021, after a hardscrabble upbringing and falling into drug addiction and debt. There was a demand for skilled construction workers, it paid relatively well, and she had a passion for the time-honored craft. “It’s so special, to build something completely all out of bamboo,” she said.

Traditionally, workers learn their craft by shadowing one master with knowledge passed down through generations. But Ms Pak learned any way she could, working with different bosses to broaden her skills and techniques, and overcoming taunts about her ability as a novice and her 5-foot-1 stature. While dismantling a scaffold, a colleague once tossed her poles to catch instead of passing them downward. Contractors have tried to pay her less than she was promised. Her arms and legs were constantly bruised, but she carried on.

“I was born with the will to prove people wrong, to do things that they say cannot be done,” she said."

Microplastics101 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez I am not sure it still does but bamboo held the record for the tallest scaffolding (last i looked 10 years ago?). I was a scaffolder and it still amazes me how good it is. Its just grass on steroids. It's still the choice for ladders in Vietnam.

The Wrew (Ultimate Edition)5d ago

@johncarlosbaez That's pretty rad

Robin Barton 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez Damm hard job

Mark Prior 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez this sort of thing in Macau did seem a little concerning at the time.

John Carlos Baez 5d ago

@markrprior - don't worry: it's made out of bamboo!

Mark Prior 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez I assumed they did know what they were doing, I just wasn't expecting it as I walked past.

Erik Kramer 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez this is amazing work. It is also featured on the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lashing_(ropework)?wprov=sfti1# in the header image.

I’m curious (perhaps someone can answer: why no frapping? I was taught that it was essential for tightening the lashing, especially on a square lashing.

Lashing (ropework) - Wikipedia

DB Schwein 5d ago

@TecherKramer @johncarlosbaez

I think (no hands-on knowledge) is that the frapping comes into play when the items being lashed together are significantly different in size, and it allows for a tighter bond. When they're the same size there's not a need for the extra layer.

Cedar Fen Farm Cedar Fen Farm 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez

Use this technology all over malasia, too. Bamboo is amzing for building.

Weird Socks 5d ago

@johncarlosbaez
I want to say I read somewhere that part of the move away from bamboo is that it is not sustainably harvested.
Metal scaffolding pieces are usable for decades. My guess is one gets a handful of uses out of those bamboo pieces before it is time for new.

Phangurl Di 🖖5d ago

@johncarlosbaez very cool.

On Some One's Mind🎯5d ago

@johncarlosbaez pliant like a bamboo 💚

@johncarlosbaez
I saw that in Macau, and it was indeed impressive. I never thought I'd be stopping to appreciate construction sites.