proyectos
Manizales, Colombia
A pavilion of around 2,000 m² designed by Simón Vélez in guadua (Colombian bamboo) for the ZERI foundation at Expo Hannover 2000. The prototype was first built in Manizales, where it is preserved at the Recinto del Pensamiento, and passed the load tests of German engineers: it was the first bamboo structure to receive a building licence in Germany and the most visited pavilion at the Expo. Its guadua structure with mortar-injected joints demonstrated that «vegetable steel» can reach monumental scale with minimal carbon.