Bamboo trees

Photo by and courtesy of Ivonne Valencia

Architects looking at cut bamboo.

Photo by and courtesy of Ivonne Valencia

Warehouse of drying bamboo.

Photo by and courtesy of Ivonne Valencia

Architect at the drawing board.

Photo by and courtesy of Francisco Quiñónez

Cutting bamboo

Photo by and courtesy of Francisco Quiñónez

Bamboo frame

Photo by and courtesy of Francisco Quiñónez

Pulling white canvas over bamboo frame.

Photo by and courtesy of Francisco Quiñónez

Adult under finished guadua tent.

Photo by and courtesy of Simon Hosie

Children under finished guadua tent.

Photo by and courtesy of Simon Hosie

Colombian architects and builders for the Colombia Program will travel to Washington, D.C. for the Festival. Right now, they are harvesting and warehousing bamboo, and assembling a prototype of bamboo (guadua) tents.

Our Colombian partners sent this photo essay of the different stages of the building process.

For many generations, Colombians in the coffee-growing region have creatively used guadua for constructing homes, churches, bridges, and aqueducts. Guadua is native to the Andean forest and is ideal material for constructing earthquake-resistant structures. This is the first time that bamboo tents will be assembled on the Mall.

Come to the Festival to see these innovative tents!

Van Luong is the festival blogger for the 2011 Folklife Festival.