Piyandeling Artisan Residence and Workshop Gives An Example of Bricolage Architecture

Located in a tranquil area of Mekarwangi Village, North Bandung, Piyandeling is a new project, consisting of the Residence and Artisan Workshop. The concept is elaborated from the previous RAW Architecture "Guha" Project.

The Residence is a three-storey house for one family with a 3.0×3.0-metre grid. It consists of 2 kid bedrooms, 1 master bedroom, and shared bathrooms. The building envelope can be opened, constructed with recycled 300×600 mm plastic panels to cover and protect the inner bamboo structure. The plastic panel is recycled from 99% Sumarah Pavilion hence the residence is named Sumarah.

The envelope forms an 800-mm service corridor with double cross air ventilation and double wall insulations to the core living space of the building. This forms an adaptation of traditional and more industrial approaches by mixing traditional joineries and glued joinery of bamboo. The technique is elaborated from Guha Bambu and Alfa Omega projects which allows the experimentation of 3-storey bamboo structure by using the diagonal bamboo structure of the floor plate construction.

The construction of Piyandeling is designed as an exercise, using 3 types of main material such as recycled plastic, the local type of sympodial bamboo, and local stone for the foundation. The composition starts as an exploration on how bamboo craftsmanship can be integrated with modular rectangular space to create such integrated craft-carving bamboo composition for the ceiling, floor, column, door handle, lock, and finishing details handcrafted in site, creating art and craft composition in the whole integrated space.

The Artisan Workshop named Kujang is a two-storey floating structure with an open-air hall for meetings and gatherings, connecting with the organic farms. It is constructed from the 4-5 metres grid of bamboo structure covered with Nipah leaf and combined with a waterproofing membrane for the roof.

Forming the Julang Ngapak as a traditional West Java vernacular building, the playful balustrade of bent bamboo is played as a more elaborated hyperboloid form. It is stronger and more flexible, creating a silhouette of birds natural movement or movement of Kujang, a traditional weapon in Sunda Tradition.

The other building named Saderhana is basically a simple 1-storey of two buildings on the perimeter used for dentist space, design studio, and the underground space. The 1-storey building is constructed with stone as a platform and bamboo as a roof, providing a Talahap or an overlapping curve traditional bamboo construction covered with layers of waterproofing membrane and Nipah.

The underground studio is constructed with bamboo skeletal and concrete which forms a retention wall and carved bamboo shape formworks. The idea is creating finishes that are raw, basic, humble, and honest in the expression, forming such an economic sensitivity.

Piyandeling is an example of bricolage architecture. It is an understanding that in designing and building something out of the land, the project needs to find the roots of local genius by understanding the adaptation of local craftsmanship and local material available on specific sites.