Inflatable bamboo greenhouse
Helping residents of Jaipur, India with growing their own food
Architecture student Eliza Hague's innovative design concept uses shellac-coated bamboo to create a material similar to paper. She used this to create a greenhouse structure to encourage those living in Jaipur, India, to grow their own food. Eliza’s design aims to provide a more sustainable alternative to the current most popular greenhouse covering material in India, polythene sheeting, which needs replacing annually and creates excessive plastic waste. She covered the paper-like material with a shellac coating, a natural resin extracted from trees, which makes the covering weather-resistant and longer-lasting. She then was able to use this material to fashion origami-like domes and beams to fashion a greenhouse. "In light of the pandemic, the idea that architecture can provide spaces to encourage self-sufficient living has become more prevalent as we rely on supermarkets more than ever," Hague says.