Simón vélez, the bamboo architect at the venice architecture biennaleColombian architect simón vélez is well known for developing a variety of projects using bamboo. what is less known is how many paths he has had to travel to be able to carry out such developments. he likes to call bamboo the ‘vegetable steel’, as it is an economical, renewable, extremely resilient, easily available material, capable of being used by people with very different building skills. despite all these advantages, he has had to undergo indescribable struggles every single time he has tried to use it.

Simón vélez is an architect known for his innovative use of bamboo as a building material

He has worked for rich clients in order to subsidize himself and create new knowledge that can be applied when working for poorer clients. he himself has tested innovations, such as the introduction of concrete into the nodes to improve the structural capacity of the weakest point in the system. he has lobbied for the use of bamboo in public projects because of its relevance to the place if compared to other, less appropriate materials and building techniques alien to the context. he has even tried to update obsolete building codes, highlighting the fact that new technologies and knowledge have improved the viability of this material and made it a competitive alternative for the construction identity.

In this sense, each of his buildings are a small, discrete battle that has been won in a more general attempt to expand the benefits of this material for the majority and for the environment.

This hanging structure has the part of the bamboo that goes under the soil, which is the strongest one

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The exhibition has two different models from the architect’s work.

Vélez calls bamboo the ‘vegetable steel’

Bamboo is an economical, renewable, extremely resilient, easily available material

Vélez has worked for rich clients in order to subsidize himself and create new knowledge.

He has lobbied for the use of bamboo in public projects because of its relevance to the place

Each of his building is a small discrete battle

Examples of his work

Portrait of the colombian architect.