Elora Hardy

Elora Hardy is a Canadian designer and the founder and director of IBUKU, a design and architecture studio based in Bali, Indonesia. She is widely recognized for pioneering the use of bamboo as a primary structural material, creating architectural works that blend sustainability, craftsmanship, and poetic expression.

Born in Canada in 1980 to artistic parents—jewelry designer Penny Berton and jewelry entrepreneur John Hardy—Elora was raised in Bali, immersed in a world of local craftspeople and artisans. She spent 14 years in the United States, where she earned a degree in fine arts and worked in the fashion industry, designing prints for Donna Karan that appeared on runways worldwide.

In 2010, Elora left her successful fashion career to return to Bali and carry forward the work of the design-build team that created the world-renowned Green School, founded by her father John Hardy. She founded IBUKU, a studio that brings together young designers, architects, and engineers to explore groundbreaking ways of using bamboo and other natural materials to build homes, hotels, schools, and event spaces.

IBUKU's philosophy is centered on creating spaces in which people can live in an authentic relationship with nature. The studio combines the traditional skills of Balinese craftsmen with modern engineering and design ideas, developing a new design vocabulary based on bamboo—a material that is both sustainable and structurally extraordinary. Today, IBUKU has designed over 90 bamboo structures across Southeast Asia and Africa, including the Green School campus, the Green Village community, Sharma Springs, Bambu Indah Hotel, and numerous private residences and hospitality projects.

Elora's work has been featured in international publications including Architectural Digest, Vogue, and the Huffington Post. In 2013, she was named an Architectural Digest Innovator, and in 2015 she delivered a TED Talk titled "Magical houses, made of bamboo." Her projects have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Architizer A+Awards 2025 and a shortlist for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025.

Through IBUKU, Elora Hardy continues to push the boundaries of sustainable architecture, demonstrating that design with natural materials can create spaces that are not only environmentally responsible but also profoundly beautiful, joyful, and human.