Colombia

Architects Ivonne Valencia and Simon Hosie used the following guidelines to design the Colombia festival site:

• To map out the program’s thematic structure and provide a “natural” setting for participants to demonstrate how their cultures survive and thrive in dynamic relationship with nature
• To use the environmental characteristics of the National Mall to complement the design
• To select building materials that evoked both tradition and modernity
• To enhance and not compete with the participants and the meaning of the program

The architects worked closely with the curatorial and research teams as the ecosystem themes and the idea of a “journey” developed. They visited the National Mall to get a feel for the space and study how the elm trees could fit into the design.

Usually, the Festival builds a few significant structures; however, it uses commercial tents for most demonstrations and performances. To brand the site as distinctly Colombian, the architects chose to build all the demonstrations tents with guadua bamboo, a characteristic traditional building material currently used throughout the country. They used industrial steel fittings, thus combining the traditional with the contemporary. The canopies covering the guadua tents were intended to simulate big leaves, which created shadows that fused with the landscape on the Mall. They floated gracefully under the elms. Large sign panels at the entrance of each ecosystem introduced the specific themes and traditions within each area. Inside the guadua structures, other sign panels in conjunction with natural materials contextualized the participants’ demonstration spaces.

Guadua (Angustifolia Kunth) is a unique species of guadua bamboo native to Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Nicaragua yet is found across the Amazon. Its name, which means ‘narrow leaf,’ is thought to be a pre-Colombian term that was originally used in Venezuela. German botanist Carl Sigismund Kunth was the first scientist to observe and write about it in the 1830s. It is sometimes called the dinosaur of plants, and because of its strength, it is also commonly referred to as “vegetable steel.” Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

Guadua is considered a grass. It grows rapidly in groves known as guaduales and flourishes in moist environments. In Colombia, there are regulations controlling which bamboo stalks can be harvested.The most essential factor for considering the health of a guadal is the number of its mature stalks.

Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

In Colombia the most abundant sources of guadua are found in the central Andean mountain range that is also home to the coffee region. It is spans across the departments of Antioquia, Cauca, Caldas, Cundinamarca, Huila, Risaralda, Tolima, and Valle de Cauca. There are four main stages of guadua growth: sprouts, juvenile, mature, and dry.

Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

The harvest occurs only when the stalks are mature as indicated by their whitish color and visible moss stains. The optimal time to cut guadua is during a waning moon between 3 o’clock and 5 o’clock in the morning. This ensures a minimal amount of moisture within the stalks and the absence of parasitic/damaging insects, and fungus.

Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

Compared to other species of bamboo, guadua angustifolia is admired for its durability, environmental and sustainable qualities, and aesthetic appeal. It is among the most valued and preferred among architects.

Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

After the 1999 earthquake in Armenia, several buildings made of guadua remained standing. In the years following the earthquake, elements of guadua were incorporated into several houses because its flexibility and durability.

Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

All of these attributes have added to guadua’s economic success on a national level and its cultural value on a local level in Colombia. As a building material, guadua is often compared to wood as being, at times, easier to work with, cheaper, and more predictable to cultivate. It is a light weight raw material that is easily transported and cost effective. It grows rapidly, and in terms of its environmental impacts, it is a highly sustainable and renewable resource.

Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

Several Colombians have won awards for their uses of guadua in bridges, libraries, houses, and furniture. For example, Simon Hosie Samper won the National Biennial Architecture Award in 2004 for his construction of the Casa del Pueblo Biblioteca Publica Guanacas. Shown here is one of the guadua structures Hosie designed for the 2011Colombia Folklife Festival program.

Photo by Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution

This image represent the early stages of the conceptualization process in staging the Colombian Festival program on the National Mall. Images courtesy of Rodríguez Valencia Arquitectos

This image represent the early stages of the conceptualization process in staging the Colombian Festival program on the National Mall. Images courtesy of Rodríguez Valencia Arquitectos

This image represent the early stages of the conceptualization process in staging the Colombian Festival program on the National Mall. Images courtesy of Rodríguez Valencia Arquitectos

This image represent the early stages of the conceptualization process in staging the Colombian Festival program on the National Mall. Images courtesy of Rodríguez Valencia Arquitectos

This image represent the early stages of the conceptualization process in staging the Colombian Festival program on the National Mall. Images courtesy of Rodríguez Valencia Arquitectos

This image represent the early stages of the conceptualization process in staging the Colombian Festival program on the National Mall. Images courtesy of Rodríguez Valencia Arquitectos

This image represent the early stages of the conceptualization process in staging the Colombian Festival program on the National Mall. Images courtesy of Rodríguez Valencia Arquitectos