The Growing Library
Building with living trees
M. Gomez Iradi (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
E.J.G.C. van Dooren – Mentor (TU Delft - History, Form & Aesthetics)
R.R.J. van de Pas – Mentor (TU Delft - History, Form & Aesthetics)
R.R. van den Ban – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / AE+T)
W.H. van der Spoel – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Environmental & Climate Design)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
Baubotanik – a German term combining ‘build’ and ‘botany’ – is an emerging architectural approach that uses living trees as building material. It integrates architecture, landscape, and structural design to create living structures, raising new questions for contemporary architectural practice.
But what can you actually build with it? What forms can it take? And what are the potentials - and limitations - of designing with a material that grows, adapts, and evolves over time?
These questions form the starting point for The Growing Library. Set in the tropical urban context of Yogyakarta, the project proposes a public library that grows together with a tree, gradually evolving from an urban park into a living architectural structure. Conceived as a place for knowledge exchange, the library extends beyond a conventional building to include outdoor spaces, living systems, and ongoing ecological processes as core parts of its collection.
At the heart of the design is the Ficus benghalensis, whose aerial roots are trained and shaped to form spatial and structural elements. As they thicken over time, the roots intertwine with bamboo to form a hybrid structure, merging living growth and constructed elements into a single evolving architectural system.