Simon Velez, Colombian Architect on Culture of Bamboo

Description

People Are Culture’s curriculum brings to life the subjects of Geography, History, Social Studies, and World Cultures with engaging, thought-provoking, and inspiring stories of real people around the world. Our interviews and feature profiles reveal the meaning and relevance of traditions and customs, and demonstrate the real-life impact of historical events and social change. Students can see life through the eyes of real people around the world with lessons that are authoritative, first-person accounts of people describing their own cultures.

People Are Culture’s content aligns with all ten of the National Social Studies standards.

NO AI is used in creating our material. Each interview and article was made in collaboration with the individuals featured, who reviewed and approved the piece prior to publication.

Included in this People Are Culture Reading & Reflection Assignment Module are three elements:

• General Overview of Indigenous Peoples
• 17-page PDF interview with award-winning architect Simon Velez
• Reflection Assignment | Takeaways from Simon Velez, Colombian Architect on Culture of Bamboo

Each lesson is likely to take a student three hours to do the readings and complete the comprehension/reflection exercises.

In this interview with Colombian architect Simon Velez, you will hear his personal insights into bamboo and architecture, including:

• An overview of Simon’s accidental discovery of an innovative bamboo joinery system using cement mortar, bolts, and straps to fill hollow chambers, and how this technique earned him the 2009 Prince Claus Award
• A description of the Colombian view that bamboo is the “poor people’s wood,” and how Simon challenges this view with his architecture
• A description of Simon’s philosophy that natural materials like bamboo, wood, and stone have limitations that create “human scale” and proper architectural proportions, compared to modern materials like concrete and steel
• The history of Manizales in Colombia’s coffee-growing region, where Simon’s ancestors founded the city 163 years ago, and how the area evolved from Spanish adobe construction to bamboo
• Examples of cultural contradictions Simon navigates, including his mixed heritage, and the ironic Colombian law declaring bamboo an endangered species and prohibiting its harvest despite Simon’s award-winning architectural style with the material

Expected Learning Outcome:

This lesson includes clear expected learning outcomes that support students in understanding cultural identity through first-person perspectives, while building intercultural awareness and connections between individual experience and global traditions.

• Students will identify and describe key cultural practices and beliefs from the lesson’s focus community (i.e., Colombian culture).
• Students will articulate insights into their own cultural identities and how those identities relate to what they learned.
• Students will analyze how cultural expressions (like architecture) reflect values, history, and social traditions.
• Students will compare perspectives across cultures while finding similarities and differences through human themes.
• Students will make connections between cultural traditions and broader global contexts (legislation, environmental preservation, cultural preservation), showing critical thinking about identity and intercultural understanding.