Simón Vélez is an outstanding architect whose aesthetic and technical innovations have enhanced the construction potential of bamboo and challenged mainstream architectural trends. Completing his studies at Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Vélez moved away from the predominant international modernist stream to focus on indigenous architectural practices. Commissioned to build a stable using bamboo – a material with strong roots in vernacular Colombian architecture – he researched the structural possibilities of the local species, Guadua. With his partner Marcelo Villegas, Vélez invented a revolutionising joinery method, a new system of structural support, and more appropriate methods for foundations and roofing. These innovations transform one of the world’s oldest building materials – considered substandard and suitable only for the marginalised – into a modern resource that meets the strictest international construction regulations and often outperforms steel. Bamboo’s elasticity also proves highly suitable for earthquake-prone regions.
Furthermore, Vélez has evolved an elegant aesthetic that responds to bamboo’s natural qualities and collaborates with nature to create beauty in form, space and surroundings. His deceptively simple designs appeal to a wide public and his roofs are inspirational. Working with hand-drawn sketches and low-tech processes, Vélez demonstrates bamboo’s attractive versatility in the complete range of building types, from his own house in Bogota and the Nomadic Museum in Mexico City, to an ecotourism lodge in China and a prototype energy-efficient retail store in Giradot.
Vélez has successfully synthesised indigenous design, avant-garde technology and ecological processes. His book, Grow Your Own House, and his seminars and workshops demonstrate that bamboo is an efficient and aesthetic building material, with profound implications for social development and the environment. Because it flourishes in diverse climates, particularly in less developed countries, bamboo has the potential to revolutionise developing economies through low-cost construction and reduced imports. Its cultivation and processing are ecologically sound and sustainable, and it is one of the best plants for absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Simón Vélez is honoured for his aesthetic use of natural materials for contemporary design, for transforming local traditional indigenous knowledge through innovation that renews and extends its relevance as a source of solutions for global problems, and most importantly he is honoured for highlighting the essential rapport between sustainable design practices and social development, and between culture and nature.
Simon Veléz 2009 - photo Pedro Franco
Nomadic Museum main theatre– México DF México – 2007 design by Simon Veléz – photo ashes&snow exhibition
Carrefour – Girardot, Colombia- 2006- design and photo by Simon Veléz
Publication Grow Your Own House by Simon Veléz on Amazon
Wikipedia
www.ashesandsnow.org
www.koolbamboo.com
Designs by Simon Velez on YouTube
2009