a+u Architecture and Urbanism 20:12_603

This issue features Colombian architect, Simón Vélez. He received his architectural education in Colombia and founded his studio in 1972. Having invented the use of bamboo as a structural material by filling it with cement mortar, Vélez has gained international reputation for his designs using bamboo. He believes that architecture should incorporate more plants (vegetarian), and his work is seen to use a diversity of natural materials. Local vegetal materials – such as Guadua bamboo native to South America, Moso bamboo from Asia, and local wood like Ariso, Alboroco, and Eucalyptus – are used to maximize the restrictions and limitations of materials. Conscientious with the materials and site, he continues to create structurally rational buildings. In addition, a dialogue with architect Shigeru Ban is included in this issue. Their interaction…

This issue features Colombian architect, Simón Vélez. He received his architectural education in Colombia and founded his studio in 1972. Having invented the use of bamboo as a structural material by filling it with cement mortar, Vélez has gained international reputation for his designs using bamboo. He believes that architecture should incorporate more plants (vegetarian), and his work is seen to use a diversity of natural materials. Local vegetal materials – such as Guadua bamboo native to South America, Moso bamboo from Asia, and local wood like Ariso, Alboroco, and Eucalyptus – are used to maximize the restrictions and limitations of materials. Conscientious with the materials and site, he continues to create structurally rational buildings. In addition, a dialogue with architect Shigeru Ban is included in this issue. Their interaction began…

Images on pp. 6–14 courtesy of the architect.…

This project started as a gift from my father when I was a student of architecture. It was a humble Colonial-era construction typical of Bogota’s historic center, sitting on a rectangular lot with an 8 m street frontage and a 50 m depth. The front of the lot is along one of the main streets where the social and financial elite lived for 72 years until an assassination of a significant political figure resulted in social unrest. The event destroyed many constructions and motivated this class of people to abandon the sector and look for security and modern comfort elsewhere. When I bought my first house, it was occupied by 20 very poor families that paid a very modest rent. I demolished everything except the façade on Calle 10. In…

This project started as a gift from my father when I was a student of architecture. It was a humble Colonial-era construction typical of Bogota’s historic center, sitting on a rectangular lot with an 8 m street frontage and a 50 m depth. The front of the lot is along one of the main streets where the social and financial elite lived for 72 years until an assassination of a significant political figure resulted in social unrest. The event destroyed many constructions and motivated this class of people to abandon the sector and look for security and modern comfort elsewhere. When I bought my first house, it was occupied by 20 very poor families that paid a very modest rent. I demolished everything except the façade on Calle 10. In…

This project was one of my first works as an architect, when I was still a student. The clients were a couple, a Belgian married to a Colombian woman. They jokingly asked for a house, “where their friends could not drink alcohol.” A house on top of a bolder was proposed, in a site where a sweet water river meets the sea, a place so dangerous that if someone did want to drink, they would risk accidentally falling and killing themselves. Credits and Data Project title: Oceanfront Bolder House Client: Simón Vélez Location: Santa Marta, Colombia Design: 1971 Completion: 1973 Architect: Simón Vélez Design Team: Simón Vélez Project Team: Simón Vélez and craftsmen Project area: 150 m2 Altitude: Sea Level…