PA 2-Opinions

Step 1

The architecture from its actors

1. Presentation of the architect (photo and relevant data)

Simón Vélez (2 of february of 1949) is a Colombian architect. His work is characterized by the use of wood and a plant called Guadua,a kind of bamboo that grows fast,  as an structural and decorative element. He has obtained different prizes of architecture and has been on some important events such as the Biennial of architecture in Venecia

He learnt architecture in the “Universidad de los Andes” of Bogotá. He was influenced by Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus school of design but he started to explore the indigenous architecture and the traditional materials of his country and that determined the path that he would follow during his career as an architect.    

Vélez has created union systems that incorporate the guadua as an structural permanent component in the commercial and residential structures The guadua is a kind of Bamboo that can reach  30 meters high and 22 centimeters of diameter. This species is a sustainable and renewable resource because it automultiplies itself without needing seeds for reproducing .It also grows very fast, almost 11 centimeters per day and it’s said that in only six months this plant can reach its maximum height. 

Some of his work

  • The Zeri’s pavilion was built for the Hannover exposition 2000, it was one of his last works in wich he experimented with the unions of the different structural elements  and he got excellent results. The Zeri’s pavilion is a circular construction, therefore it has no start neither end. It is open and without obstacles. 
  • The non-religious cathedral:The first church with this design was a provisional cathedral in the city of Pereira, Colombia. It was built in a month and lasted a year. The architect Simon Velez and his team rebuilt the same church but this tiime without religion and on a way that it stayed permanent. The first cathedral was in the urban area and the second in the middle of an artificial lake and it’s access is from the water.

  • Crosswaters ecolodge: Simon Velez was part of a larger team that planned and designed the first ecolodge and wellness center in the Nankum Mountain Reserve in China. Crosswaters Ecolodge has won several prestigious awards. The buildings are constructed with environmentally friendly materials and follow the vernacular style of the region. Simon Velez designed and constructed the bridge, a kilometer long walkway, watchtower and restaurant.

2. Write the chosen quote and comment it from your point of view

“My proposal as an architect is to make a more vegetarian architecture without that much  concrete. We need to have an equilibrated diet that contains as much minerals as vegetals, and we use too many minerals in the architecture.

“I want to work on social living places without that much concrete. I want to show that high quality and cheap houses can be made applying a mixt technique with concrete, steel and laminated bamboo”

In these quotes we can see at first sight that this Architect, Simón Vélez, cares about the planet and the people that live on it. He approaches architecture from a more sustainable point of view, trying to do some good with his work and not only to benefit himself or his client.

I think that nowadays one important characteristic of every architect should be his responsibility towards the planet and his commitment to, with his work, leave a better place than what he found. 

In my opinion architects create spaces so that people can use them in very different ways but mainly for living. That is why from my point of view social buildings have a special importance because they don’t respond to some architect’s void ambition but to the need of shelter of people. 

As we can see in the previous quotes,  this architect tries to do his best for humanity without letting humanity do its worst on the planet.

Bibliography

Websites: 

https://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/tag/simon-velez

https://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/896067/el-bambu-colombiano-segun-simon-velez-y-marcelo-villegas-montajes-conexiones-y-soportes-estructurales/5b2bb26ff197cc81860001ea-el-bambu-colombiano-segun-simon-velez-y-marcelo-villegas-montajes-conexiones-y-soportes-estructurales-imagen

https://www.crehana.com/es/blog/diseno-grafico/arquitectos-famosos/

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_V%C3%A9lez#Trayectoria

https://ecohabitar.org/la-guadua-una-maravilla-natural-de-grandes-bondades/

https://www.google.com/search?q=simon+velez&rlz=1C1VDKB_esES970ES970&sxsrf=AOaemvKtzl8bmcx89kCy0wSdFTq3wG0yQg:1633361890969&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAsLOai7HzAhULO8AKHRb_D1wQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1536&bih=696&dpr=1.25#imgrc=UmH8MmvnZACgtM

http://www.arqsustentable.net/zeri.htm

Youtube:

Blogs:

http://www.simonvelez.net/

Step 2

After reading the text “Quiero ser un arquitecto” I’ve realized of different important things that matter for an architect.

At the beginning of the text it talks about the importance of the patience while the process of doing projects by comparing architecture with going up and down of the stairs. It says that we can go up the stairs two steps a time, saying that the carreer of architecture can be done in five years but, it also says that we have to be careful while going down these stairs, what means that we have to be careful and patient while doing projects to be constructed.

Then it talks about the importance in architecture of making dream those who live in the buildings that an architect creates.

I find it inspirating how it talks about the optimistic vision that an architect must have by quoting the following poem:

“In a grain of sand see a world,

and in each wild flower a paradise

Live eternity in an hour

hold infinity in your palm”

After this it talks about what an architect must ne. Architecture is a very artistic profesion so an architect must be an artist. But that is not the only recquirement because architecture is also very technic so thats what an architect must also be, a technic. Finally an architect must be a constructor, able to build something based on something he came up with only in his mind.

There are four important habbits an architect must have:

Drawing

Taking photographs

Thinking

Writing

Al these habbits build the knowledge and ability if analyzing, drawing and creating a building.

Finally, being an architect takes effort and is a carreer that never ends because a good architect should never stop learning. Great works of architecture come with maturity.