{"id":30,"date":"2020-04-15T18:42:11","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T17:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/?p=30"},"modified":"2020-04-16T20:40:41","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T19:40:41","slug":"joao-o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/2020\/04\/15\/joao-o\/","title":{"rendered":"Jo\u00e3o \u00d3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image05-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"36\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/2020\/04\/15\/joao-o\/aaconver_haiti_image05\/\" class=\"wp-image-36\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image05-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image05-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image05-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image05-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image05.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"994\" height=\"847\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_bios_web-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"108\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/2020\/04\/15\/joao-o\/aaconver_haiti_bios_web-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_bios_web-1.jpg 994w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_bios_web-1-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_bios_web-1-768x654.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 994px) 100vw, 994px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image04-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"110\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/2020\/04\/15\/joao-o\/aaconver_haiti_image04-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image04-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image04-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image04-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image04-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image04-1.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image03-2-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"111\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/2020\/04\/15\/joao-o\/aaconver_haiti_image03-2\/\" class=\"wp-image-111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image03-2-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image03-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image03-2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image03-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image03-2.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\n\nMacao SAR, China\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>January, 2016 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&#8220;Apparently there\u2019s going to be frost tonight!\u201d I hear the previous day\u2019s words echoing in my ears as I wake up in my shoebox hostel room at 6am on a Sunday morning. It was true, on the morning of 23&nbsp;January 2016 it was minus&nbsp;two degrees Celsius in Hong Kong, which was&nbsp;the coldest temperature ever recorded in the city. So, strange as it seemed, I zipped up to the chin my cardigan and coat, braced myself for the wintery subtropics of Hong Kong, and headed out to catch the morning ferry to Macao.&nbsp;&nbsp; In my position as Director of the AA Haiti Visiting School it is always important to see what pioneers in the field of bamboo architecture are working on. What is their process, their technique, their belief in bamboo as a sustainable building material of the future? In this spirit, as the headwinds of the Pearl River Delta battered the ferry, I headed to the ex-Portuguese colony to visit Jo\u00e3o \u00d3. &#8211; artist, architect and half of Impromptu Studio, the team responsible for the widely acclaimed \u2018Treeplets\u2019 project. &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> \u2018Treeplets\u2019 was a temporary bamboo structure constructed for the Macau Architecture Promenade in 2015. It occupied 200m<sup>2<\/sup>&nbsp;with a height of 6.5 meters. The material was the local scaffolding of choice, the bamboo species Bambusa Tuldoides Munro, native to Guangdong province. The structure was erected within 10 days and disassembled within two working days using three to seven workers skilled in scaffolding techniques. These same scaffolding techniques were evident immediately as I arrived in Macao. Driving through the streets, we found sanctuary from the cold in a Portuguese restaurant, and began to thaw out and chat.&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cThe most interesting part is how the scaffolders think to adapt to the site conditions, and that is one of the things I have learned with the bamboo masters,\u201d Jo\u00e3o explained. \u201cEven as an architect you cannot be dogmatic and ask for exactly what I am drawing to be made. I understood that for them and for us we have to adapt to work with each other. I am not the skilled worker and what I draw&nbsp;will be adjusted by them to&nbsp;suggest poles to add structure and then I will have to accept that. Then this becomes the interesting part as it is a collaborative work.\u201d &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image02-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image02-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image02-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image02-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image02-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/files\/2020\/04\/AAconver_haiti_image02.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> Jo\u00e3o continued, \u201cIt\u2019s also a mind-set. Interestingly, the scaffolders, told me that: \u2018Oh that\u2019s the drawing?\u2019 Ok, let me see the site and I will tell you if that is ok.\u2019 Therefore the drawing is going to have to be adapted to the site, for instance if they build a structure next to water and the sand is very wet, they have to reinforce, and this is something you can\u2019t expect.\u201d &nbsp; With eagerness I interceded, \u201cSo in isolation the bamboo scaffolding becomes a record of many things, the site, past weather, and even a mapping of time?\u201d &nbsp; \u201cExactly!\u201d Jo\u00e3o exclaimed. \u201cIf you look at it in a narrow way it will map everything, it\u2019s a performance work.\u201d &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given our design process on the AA Haiti Visiting School where we look for initial design opportunities through site mapping, the idea of the bamboo structure as a map in itself was&nbsp;fascinating to me. &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Most of the materials utilised in \u2018Treeplets&#8217; were intentionally chosen for their recyclable qualities. As well as bamboo, recycled PVC fabric from outdoor banners was used. The project is formed by a spatial grid of 600mm x 600mm with bamboo poles varying from 6 meters long to 1 meter with diameters between 5 and 7cm. &nbsp; \u201cCan you explain a bit about the dimension of the spatial grid?\u201d I asked. &nbsp; \u201cThey are the dimensions of your reach, 600mm downwards and 600mm outwards in order to tie the knots.\u201d &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> In effect the notion of this project being a performance work carries over to the human scale, and recording the parameters of the human body. I will definitely think of this the next time I see Hong Kong scaffolding. &nbsp; In Haiti this summer (30&nbsp;July \u2013 11&nbsp;August 2016), we are inviting participants to design and test a prototypical structure using Haitian bamboo which we hope will change national perception of the material. Haiti, like many places in the world has an attitude of bamboo as a poor man\u2019s timber.&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cWhat was the MAP committee\u2019s reaction when you suggested bamboo?\u201d I asked. &nbsp; \u201cThe brief was very open minded,\u201d Jo\u00e3o explains.&nbsp;&nbsp;\u201cThe good thing about bamboo in Macao is that it&#8217;s manageable, it&#8217;s cheap, and it can be very easily assembled and disassembled. The good thing for us, was that the committee only specified it had to be an outdoor intervention. Therefore the programme was open and we were into bamboo, this was our chosen material. We were very happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A unique city of casino modernity, Macao has raised the profile of bamboo through this one project. As we drove back to the port we couldn&#8217;t help but see the scaffolding in use, this time adorning the outside of a scaled down half-finished Eiffel Tower centre on the casino strip. I am&nbsp;very grateful to the passion and energy of Jo\u00e3o and Impromptu Projects to give their time and share their knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information:&nbsp;<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.impromptuprojects.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Impromptu Projects Ltd<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;multi-disciplinary studio practice founded by Jo\u00e3o \u00d3 and his partner Rita Machado. The studio practice is focused on the design of ephemeral structures as well as on the study of their social relevance. Impromptu Projects proposes a kind of architecture which is mindful of the territory\u2019s current situation, aiming at expanding improbable public places and at the involvement of the community in a critical participation of the urban space with installations, events and urban art as a reference. &nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Macao SAR, China January, 2016 &nbsp;&#8220;Apparently there\u2019s going to be frost tonight!\u201d I hear the previous day\u2019s words echoing in my ears as I wake up in my shoebox hostel room at 6am on a Sunday morning. It was true, on the morning of 23&nbsp;January 2016 it was minus&nbsp;two degrees Celsius in Hong Kong, which &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/2020\/04\/15\/joao-o\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Jo\u00e3o \u00d3<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8070,"featured_media":33,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/bamboointerviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}