In the age of sustainable design, bamboo has become an important resource. Kerala State Institute of Design (KSID) celebrated World Bamboo Day on September 17, 2018. Although World Bamboo Day is celebrated on September 18, it was celebrated one day early due to student evaluations scheduled for the next day.
The event began with a short introduction to World Bamboo Day by Mr. Manu T., Program Coordinator, Integrated Lifestyle and Product Design, KSID.
This was followed by a talk by Dr. K.C. Koshy, Retd. Scientist and Head of Plant Genetic Resources Division, Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute. He discussed about the various types of bamboo and their unique properties. The unique phenomenon of bamboo flowering was also discussed. He opened the eyes of the students to the amazing world of bamboo.
An interesting Q and A session was held after the talk, where students aired their questions.
The next talk was delivered by one of the most well-known architects in Kerala today, Dr. Manoj Kini from the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. He talked about sustainable applications of bamboo in architecture and design. He showed examples of bamboo being used in traditional architecture and various other applications and encouraged students to find innovative ways of making use of bamboo. An exciting Q and A session followed.
The final event of the day was the planting of Bamboo saplings in the KSID campus. The saplings were generously donated by Kumar Nursery, KilIkolloor, Kollam.
The day helped in broadening the students’ horizon on the types, properties and applications of bamboo and helped generate an interest in the material.
