Bamboo Wall

The Great (Bamboo) Wall House illustrates a stark difference from the Great Wall through its medium. Architect Kengo Kuma chose bamboo for its weakness compared to brick and stone. The material allows both light and wind to pass through and creates a meditative atmosphere, transient and dependent on the changes in the outside weather. Kuma also chose to leave the natural conditions of the landscape instead of starting on flat land, and he used locally produced materials wherever he could. The bamboo is a symbol of cultural exchange between Japan and China, which fits since Kuma is a Japanese architect and the home was built on the Chinese mainland (text from www.gradientmagazine.com).