Arch angel
A contemplative Balinese space curvaceously crafted from bamboo
One of the most exciting architecture and design studios to come out of the island of Bali in recent years is Ibuku. Founded by designer Elora Hardy in 2010, its approach of ‘pioneering a new design vocabulary’ through the use of bamboo has placed it among the global leaders in the material’s construction and innovation. Having designed The Arc at Green School in Bali in 2021, showcasing its skill in sustainable architecture, its latest bamboo structure is the Alchemy Yoga and Meditation Center in Ubud.
Bali is known for its rich cultural heritage and diverse ecological and geographic landscapes, and the Alchemy Yoga Center has a form carefully embedded into this landscape. Built on a smooth, circular foundation made of timber, the structure rests on nine rugged boulders, from which spring bamboo arches, none of which is identical. These help define the roof structure and, to ensure its stability, the Ibuku team arranged these arches in a way that results in limited overlap, spreading the load.
And while the repeated structural elements allow for efficiency in construction, the studio still introduced playful asymmetries, aiming to achieve a design language that remains sensitive to yoga practices and in harmony with the interior experience of the structure. Emphasised by the circular shape of the floor, the biophilic design helps ‘the structure to escape being a structure so that you can relax and be in nature,’ says Ibuku architect Doni Nodly. This method of playing with order and randomness results in a variety of vistas, with each frame offering a unique view.
All the bamboo poles used in the structure were handpicked for structural reasons, as well as for matching colour tones and diameters, and Ibuku worked with local craftspeople, relying on their expertise of sorting between shades of black and brown. Inside, the exposed ceiling is pigmented and stained with bamboo matting in a rusty tone that reflects the curvaceous copper shingle roof above, which was handcrafted by highly skilled artisans.
Ibuku sources and harvests the bamboo it uses in Bali and nearby islands, such as Java, treating it with a boron solution with a toxicity level just one and a half times greater than that of regular table salt. The studio has an extensive history of working with local artisans, including PT Bamboo Pure, a bamboo treatment facility and custom furniture workshop, as well as local education and research enterprise Bamboo U, contributing to an innovative culture of new and future bamboo vernaculars. Its design methods and efficiency in bamboo construction has enabled the studio to complete more than 200 such projects in the last decade alone.