MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Freed
561-297-3022, lfreed@fau.edu
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (March 9, 2007) - Florida Atlantic University’s School of Architecture in the College of Architecture, Urban and Public Affairs will host a bamboo construction workshop with internationally renowned Colombian architect Simon Vélez, beginning Monday, March 12 until March 18. Contemporary bamboo construction is growing in popularity as it is known for its resiliency, and exceeds the strength of wood construction by several times.
FAU architecture students will work with Vélez to create a modern bamboo pavilion at FAU’s downtown Fort Lauderdale campus throughout the entire week. The construction will take place on the west side of the FAU/BCC Higher Education Complex, 111 E. Las Olas Blvd., from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
On Monday, March 12, a reception at 5:30 p.m. and a lecture by Vélez at 7 p.m. will take place at the Broward Main Library Auditorium, 100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale. The lecture, “Bamboo Style,” also will feature Velez’s associate Marcelo Villegas and landscape architect Hitesh Mehta, as they speak about building with bamboo, a renewable resource known for its structural properties. Both the reception and lecture are open to the public.
The week-long workshop is sponsored by FAU’s School of Architecture, the Broward Community Design Collaborative, the American Institute of Architecture Students, and the Florida Caribbean Chapter of the Bamboo Society, with bamboo and fittings supplied by Kool Bamboo of Homestead.
For more information on these events, contact Aron Temkin, director and associate professor within the FAU School of Architecture, at 954-762-5337 or atemkin@fau.edu.
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