a bamboo studio from mizoram

the mau

mizo bamboo, explored as a material — about thirty species, the crafts and knowledge around them, and what they can become.

read the journal see the work

the studio

from forest to livelihood.

the mau is a small studio working at the intersection of bio-material exploration, design, and cultural archive. we ask what the material can become, rebuild mizo craft for contemporary use, and write down what was about to be forgotten — the work moves across objects, architecture, acoustics, and the written record.

one state, about thirty species, a narrow economy.

the numbers behind the work — a forest the state is defined by, and value that leaves before it's captured.

  • 98%

    mizoram bamboo that is mautak

    Melocanna baccifera dominates the forest

  • ~30

    species in the state

    most with no public acoustic record

  • ₹66L

    annual royalty on raw bamboo

    90% of forest-department income

  • ₹1000cr+

    value once processed

    captured outside the state today

applications

what this material can become.

some of the directions worth considering — the existing, the adjacent, and the not-yet. a map of where bamboo already goes in mizoram and where it could go next, not a product list.

structural

architecture
community shelters, pavilions, small-span bridges.
housing
framed structures, rulam-panel walls, thatched roofs.
joinery & small builds
modular kits, prototyping systems, infill pieces.
bamboocrete
bamboo-reinforced concrete for civic construction.

material

textiles
bamboo fibre, spun and woven.
paper & pulp
the existing feedstock. mautak pulps cleanly.
mycelium composites
bamboo waste bonded by fungal mycelium.
3d-print filament
extruded from pulped culm, for modelling and joinery.

craft, kitchen, land

weaving
baskets, mats, containers from rawlak and rawthla.
musical instruments
flutes from rawthla, clap-poles from mautak.
food
shoots fresh and fermented; bamboo rice during mautam.
biochar & vinegar
charcoal from offcuts plus pyroligneous byproduct — soil amendment, agricultural input.

most of these are nascent in mizoram today. the studio's role is to make the research, technical, and economic case for bringing more of them home.

species reference

the landscape.

one state, about thirty species. ninety-eight percent of the forest is mautak. these are eighteen of them, mautak included — each with what it has most often been used for.

mautak
Melocanna baccifera
construction, edible shoots, weaving, paper pulp
rawthing
Bambusa tulda
housing, scaffolding, furniture
rawnal
Dendrocalamus longispathus
construction, water pipes, crafts
phulrua
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii
edible shoots, construction, poles
rawlak
Bambusa pallida
basketry, mats, fencing
rawthla
Schizostachyum dullooa
fine weaving, handicrafts, musical instruments
rawthing chi
Bambusa nutans
construction, edible shoots, poles
rawmi
Dendrocalamus strictus
furniture, tool handles, solid stock
thing-thupui
Chimonobambusa callosa
walking sticks, edible shoots, crafts
rawpui
Dendrocalamus giganteus
heavy construction, boards, bridges
rulam
Cephalostachyum latifolium
roofing, walls, mats
rawleng
Bambusa vulgaris
paper pulp, furniture, ornamental
sairil
Oxytenanthera nigrociliata
fencing, light construction, wattle
chal
Pseudostachyum polymorphum
edible shoots, fine weaving, flutes
rawtling
Bambusa balcooa
construction, scaffolding, furniture
rawhing
Bambusa bambos
handicrafts, agarbatti sticks, construction
talan
Bambusa mizorameana
weaving, handicrafts
dampa bamboo
Bambusa dampaena
handicrafts, edible shoots, agarbatti

full reference →

“we forgot that bamboo wasn't just in our forests — it was in our blood.”

— on the quiet pillaging

journal

recent essays.

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