Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Guwahati’s Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport turned into a hub for sustainable design on September 18. The airport displayed its new Terminal 2, which features Bamboo Village Arrival Vaults. It is a bold move. The site hosted the 17th World Bamboo Day to prove the material belongs in modern architecture.
Kamesh Salam, who founded World Bamboo Day in 2009 during the World Bamboo Congress in Bangkok, keeps pushing for better recognition of the grass. Celebrations went global this year. Events popped up across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia to honor the material.
A major focus in Guwahati was the launch of a new book titled From Forest to Flight. The project traces the journey of bamboo from rural forests to airport construction sites. It aims to build a chain that links farmers, engineers, and designers. The organizers want to move past simple handicrafts.
Art met industry during the celebration. Kerala’s Vayali Bamboo Band played instruments built from the stalks. A large mural composed of bamboo strips decorated the terminal, showing off local wildlife. Meanwhile, the Northeastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation ran an exhibition to show off old-school skills. Artisans from Majuli also presented Mukha Banona and Mukha Bhaona, featuring roughly 50 to 60 masks. The play Jumbo: The King rounded out the day by exploring human and animal relationships.
Bamboo is part of the backbone of Northeast India. Kamesh Salam, the founder of the movement, states: "The project illustrates how bamboo could support a wider value chain in the Northeast, connecting cultivation, processing, traditional craftsmanship, design, engineering and construction rather than limiting the material to handicrafts and other traditional applications."
Connecting tradition to technology remains the goal. The airport project serves as a model for future construction. Planners now look to integrate traditional knowledge with modern quality standards to reach new markets.
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