Lecture: "Architecture Beyond Archtecture"

Marina Tabassum was born in 1969 in Dhaka, Bangladesh and studied architecture at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, where she graduated with distinction in 1995. She gained her first professional experience in the office of Uttam Kumar Saha, Nandan Architects. It was during this time that she developed her attitude of wanting to pursue a more sustainable concept of architecture. In 1995, Tabassum co-founded Urbana Architecture in Dhaka with Kashef Chowdhury where she was partner for 10 years. In 2005, she ended the partnership and founded her own practice, Marina Tabassum Architects.

As a visiting professor, Tabassum has taught at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, the University of Texas, BRAC University in Dhaka and TU Delft. Since 2015, she has headed the Academic Programme of the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements. In 2017, while teaching at Harvard, she worked with students and local artisans to develop houses for residents of the Ganges Delta, which is subject to frequent flooding, each costing just $2,000. In 2018, she was part of the exhibition "Freespace" at the Architketurbiennale in Venice." In 2020 Technical University of Munich conferred her with an Honorary Doctorate for her contribution in architecture practice, research and academics.

Tabassum was listed among the top ten thinkers of the world in 2020 by the Prospect Magazine UK. She won the Jameel Prize in 2018 and was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2016 for designing the Baitur Rauf Jame Mosque in Dhaka, which was realised on a minimal budget over a period of twelve years and completed in 2012.

Visit the website: mtarchitekts.com

Lecture: "Tropical Design - Crafting Buildings"

Born in Manizales, Colombia in 1949, Simón Vélez is the son and grandson of architects. Almost 35 years ago, Simon discovered a very simple construction technique that revolutionized the way we can build with bamboo. This technique, consisting of injecting cement mortar in the empty chambers of bamboo where there are structural unions, allows for the bamboo to be utilized for the first time as a true “vegetal steel”. While the architecture of Simón Vélez has a strong reference to vernacular traditions, he has pushed the limits of bamboo construction to achieve more modern and contemporary structural and architectural expressions - large spans, voluminous spaces with impressive heights, elliptical domes and cupula structures, etc…

Simón's basic theory is that architecture must be more vegetarian. He believes that there is an overdose of minerals (concrete, steel and glass) in the construction industry, especially in third world countries. He argues for a more balanced and mix-material/mixed-structure approach to building and design, and the incorporation of more natural material elements in construction. To date, Vélez has designed and constructed over 200 buildings (not only in bamboo) in Germany, France, USA, Brazil, Mexico, China, Jamaica, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and India. His most notable works are the bamboo pavilion in Expo Hannover (2000), Nomadic Museum in Zocalo Square in Mexico City for the photographer, Gregory Colbert (2008), Crosswaters Ecolodge in the forests of Nankun Shan Reserve (Guangzhou, China 2003). As of 2014, he has been working together with his design partner and wife, New York born designer Stefana Simic, in their studio based in Bogotá, Colombia.

The work of Simón Vélez has been honored with numerous prestigious international awards. He has been part of a lot of exhibitions, juries an international symposia. Simón Vélez and Stefana Simic have built a bamboo 'majlis' that will be on view during the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Visit the website: simonvelez.net