Exploring Bamboo Craft Works of North East Region for Developing Furniture & Equipment for School and Relationship to an Indian Design Institute for Being a Driver

Bamboo being a green material is evergreen and is becoming recognised as an alternative material for building various products worldwide. It is light in weight and flexible which is its most unique quality. It grows faster than trees and produces more oxygen and thus can be branded as a sustainable material. Indian preschool market is USD 735 million and there are varieties of requirements which include toys, furniture, equipment, etc. Bamboo can be a potential material for manufacturing a variety of these products. The preschool toy, furniture & equipment market is ever changing and growing over the decades and extensive use of plastic has become a concern for long term environmental impact. This research is performed to understand the acceptability of bamboo products among the children and educators of preschools. The research was conducted by collecting data, observing and analysing problem, product design and product testing. The prototype was created with the help of artisans of functional bamboo clusters of MSME (Ministry of micro, small and medium scale enterprises) present in north east India. The design innovation was explored in collaboration with an Indian design school. The result indicated that products required at Early Child Care & Education centres can be manufactured using locally available bamboo and can develop a model of self-reliant rural preschool. The research has identified the challenges in product design with bamboo as material. However, once products are developed, such products can make the bamboo clusters self-sustainable.