an enduring love affair with bamboo

8/9/2019 An Enduring Love Affair With Bamboo

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An enduring love affair withbamboo

TEXT: RAMU KATAKAMPICTURES: GABRIEL OSSASimon Velez' creations in bamboo have been an eye-opener on the use of this giant grass as building material.

This house designed by Simon has a bamboo roof.It is in the middle of a ranch in Colombia where

polo horses are bred.

SIMON VELEZ has been designing and making bamboobuildings in Colombia for the past 30 years. Hediscovered that he could build major structures with theindigenous bamboo called guadua' at much lower coststhan with concrete and steel. He was the first to introduce


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large-span bridges (especially over motorways forpedestrians and cyclists to get across) made in bamboo,and has made a number of other interesting structures aswell with the material.

Simon belongs to a wealthy old family that owns vasttracts of land and cattle and traces its ancestry to theSpanish invaders. Interestingly, unlike Mexico, the armiesthat invaded South America did not bring their women.Once they settled, they formed alliances with the localwomen, which ultimately resulted in a very attractiverace. Every Colombian has Spanish and Inca blood in

him/her.

THE VIEW FROM the interior of the church nearCartagena that Simon designed.


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immense pavilion for a Mexican artist, which occupiesalmost half of one of Mexico City's large squares.

The Germans invited him to build a pavilion for the

Hanover international fair in 2000. This building passedsuccessfully the stringent structural tests designed tomeet German safety standards. Apparently, the engineerwho did the tests has since been in high praise of thistype of construction.

THE HOUSE IS set in a valley near Cartagena andhas a simple design.

In December 2009, Simon Velez was honored in theNetherlands with the Prince Claus Award that recognizescontributions to communities and social change in theworld. This was followed by the Colombian stateconferring on him its highest civilian title for hisoutstanding work in that country.


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SIMON VELEZ. HE has worked with bamboo formore than three decades and created structures

that defy the imagination.

In India, the government has created a National Missionon Bamboo Application to help revive interest in the useof bamboo and in growing it. Members of the missionvisited Colombia and sought Simon's advice and alsoinvited him to India. During his visit about four years ago,Simon toured many parts of northeastern India, which isrich in bamboo, and identified some varieties that couldbe used successfully to construct buildings on a largescale.

Indian pavilion


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Its massive bamboo roof is covered with a thinlayer of concrete on which terracotta tiles have

been placed.

Pradeep Sachdeva, an Indian architect and member ofthe bamboo mission, convinced him to help build theIndian pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 (May 1-October 31). The design of the pavilion, which took aboutfive months to complete, is the result of a successfulcollaboration between two international architects and anenthusiastic Chinese builder who rediscovered the use ofbamboo in China. The bamboo dome held very well andmeasured up to the high safety standards set by theChinese. The dome is 34 meters in diameter (the dome ofthe Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur is 38 meters and was thelargest dome in India until the grand dome of the

Vipassana centre completed recently in Mumbai eclipsedit). The Indian pavilion has followed the theme ofgreening of the planet and even has a garden on the roofof the dome the theme stresses the need to use naturalmaterials for survival.


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One has to just google Simon Velez to find many of themagnificent buildings he has built and understand hislove affair with the guadua' variety of bamboo. With thistype of bamboo and his experiments with using concrete

at the joints, he was able to use the two materials todesign and build huge spaces. His bridges are path-breaking and have stood the test of time.

A long verandah faces an equally long swimmingpool. The rooms of the house are lined along the

verandah.

Among his recent buildings is a church that he has not

only designed but also owns. He felt the need to build aplace of worship that follows no religion and to give theplace a sacred feel. His intention was to use the naturalcurve of the plant to achieve the structural concept in thedesign. The church is set on a barren piece of land closeto the coastal city of Cartagena. During the rainy season


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the nearby lake rises almost to the edge of the churchand, as the night view shows, it appears to be floating onwater.

Visiting this extraordinary work of architecture, one isstruck by the intense use of bamboo and the peace andquiet of the space. Simon had requested us to visit theplace as dusk set in order to experience what a buildingmade entirely of one material can do to space. Asdarkness sets in, the lights bring on a new kind ofexhilaration, which the accompanying pictures illustratevery well.

THE GARDEN ON the bamboo dome of the IndiaPavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010.

As an architect who has visited many sacred places, I wasamazed to find that a contemporary building made ofnatural materials could achieve a quality of spacedesigners yearn for. I was later invited to see one ofSimon's more recent houses, which he had designed foran old friend.


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In Colombia, the railroads have been made redundant bythe long wars between drug lords, which have made theareas between cities unsafe. As a result, we had to flyand drive to many places. Cartagena is a one-hour flight

from the capital Bogota, which is situated 2,600 metersabove sea level. Set in line with the equator, it hasconstant weather cool during the day and chilly at night throughout the year. From this beautiful capital affluentresidents have made retreats in the hot valleys on theway to the Pacific coast.

Rain and moon

The house designed by Simon is built on a ranch set inone of these valleys and is the centre of a place wherehigh-quality polo horses are bred. The house is sodesigned that the horses live in almost as much comfortas the occupants of the house.

The design plan is very simple. There is a long verandahfacing an equally long pool, and along the verandah are

the living room, kitchen and bedrooms. The twobedrooms at the end are bigger and have very largebathrooms attached, which are partly open to the sky. (Iwoke up at night to find the rain pouring in and saw themoon dancing behind clouds.)


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Views of the dome from the inside.

At the rear are a set of stables, which run along thelength of the house. Below the house is all the equipmentthat is required to look after the horses. While the houselooks simple from the outside, it is equipped withfiltration plants, silent generators and pressure pumps forwater supply, making for comfortable living. The massive

bamboo roof is the main feature of the house and iscovered with a thin layer of concrete on which traditionalterracotta tiles are placed.

The interiors are elegantly decorated largely with colorfulfabrics from India and furniture from Bali. Thesurrounding countryside is rather stark but is able toprovide a dramatic backdrop to the ranch house. The polo

field in front adds to the spacious nature of the house.There are a couple of small but equally elegant staffhouses for the attendant staff, who made the stayextremely pleasurable.

It would be useful to add a few notes on the guadua'bamboo. Colombia has an abundance of this variety,


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which has been used extensively for construction ofbuildings there. It looks elegant and is very strong andcan achieve a rapid growth. The plant grows at the rate of12 cm a day and grows to its full strength in five years.

This prompted Simon to write the book Grow Your OwnHouse. The guadua bamboo has many uses, includingmaking furniture. In theory, a new house can be builtusing entirely this material, including walls, floors andwindows.

AT NIGHT, THE reflection of the church on the lake.

Bamboo can last a long time if it is protected from waterfalling on it. Simon Velez' buildings have large overhangsthat do not allow rainwater to fall on the building.

Simon Velez is a legendary figure in the world of bamboo a world that recognizes a material that is sustainableand as strong as steel. Among his recent works, the mostimpressive is the headquarters of the foundation for aneco-friendly environment. This building is made almost


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entirely of bamboo and when lit up at night looks like ahuge cathedral. The sheer size of this structure willconvince many architects that bamboo can be usedextensively.

The popularity of bamboo is growing in Colombia. TheMayor of the town of Manizales, which is Simon's hometown, has commissioned him to design a new airportbuilding, which is a fitting tribute to a lifetime of work forthis extraordinary architect.

an enduring love affair with bamboo

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