Located at the entrance of the Woodford Folk Festival, the ‘pupa’ serves as a welcoming space designed to be warm, cool, and shaded. It offers a gathering spot for visitors to meet family and friends before entering the festival. This expansive pavilion is crafted entirely from locally harvested bamboo, providing shelter from the heat and inviting exploration of its organic woven structures, created by volunteers involved in the Woodford Folk Festival special project.
Under the artistic direction of Juan Pablo Pinto, the “Cave Urban” team trained a diverse group of volunteers of varying ages and backgrounds. They learned how to select and prepare bamboo, then applied simple splitting and tying techniques to construct the pavilion.
The entire construction process, from bamboo harvesting to completion, took just four weeks—a remarkably short timeframe given the project’s scale and complexity. The use of simple construction techniques made the building process accessible to community members without prior bamboo construction experience. This inclusive approach fostered a symbiotic relationship where education and craftsmanship were shared through time and effort.
The ‘pupa’ features two interconnected arched spaces: a 5.5-meter-high dome attached to a larger 7-meter-high circular area. The larger space is crowned by a bamboo dome, resembling an inverted fig tree flower emerging from the ground. The ceiling and walls are covered with randomly woven bamboo patterns, casting dappled light that changes throughout the day, reminiscent of a bamboo forest. At night, the pavilion transforms into a glowing amber lantern, inviting visitors to enjoy the festival’s evening events.
Festival constructions often produce significant waste and carbon emissions. Given the temporary nature of these events, structures must be designed for single or repeated use while minimizing environmental impact. To address this, Cave Urban collaborated with international bamboo experts to develop specialized bamboo construction techniques that streamline building large temporary structures using natural materials and local community involvement.
For this project, the bamboo was untreated chemically, reflecting the material’s ephemeral quality. The pavilion’s lifespan is estimated at 2 to 5 years, aligning with bamboo’s natural maturation cycle of 3 to 5 years. When the structure decomposes and returns to the forest floor, new bamboo can be harvested to build the next pavilion, promoting a cycle of renewal and ecological regeneration.
We extend special thanks to Taiwanese art master Wang Wenzhi for his artistic talent, generosity, and guidance throughout the project.
Project Drawings
△ Plan View
△ Roof Plan
△ Section Diagram
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Elevation Drawing
Project Information
Architect: Cave Urban
Area: 450 m²
Project Year: 2024
Photographers: Jed Long, Cave Urban, Marek Knappe, Juan Pablo Pinto
Lead Architect: Juan Pablo Pinto
Design Team: Nici Long, Jed Long, Mercurio Alvarado, Lachlan Brown
Engineer: Event Engineering, Jeremy Sparks
Construction Team: Woodford Folk Festival Volunteers led by Cave Urban
Bamboo Supply: Crystal Waters Eco Village, Earthcare Farm & Nursery (Hans Erken)
Location: Woodford, Australia
Must log in before commenting!
Sign Up