Rogelio Salmona: Google Doodle celebrates Colombian architect’s 92nd birthday

Google Doodle celebrates the 92nd birthday of a French Colombian architect Rogelio Salmona, who is broadly viewed as one of the most important figures in Latin American architecture, on April 28, 2021.

Who was Rogelio Salmona?

Rogelio Salmona was born on April 28, 1929, in Paris, France. He was noted for his broad utilization of red brick in his buildings and for using natural shapes like spirals, radial geometry, and curves in his designs.

Rogelio Salmona was born in Paris, yet moved at an early age to Bogotá, Colombia, where he learned at the French Lyceum Louis Pasteur. After graduating, he took on the architecture program at the National University of Colombia, at that point led by German and Italian architects Leopoldo Rother and Bruno Violi.

During Le Corbusier’s trip to Colombia in 1947, youthful Salmona was welcomed by the incredible architect to work with him at his atelier in Paris. In 1948, Salmona intruded on his studies in Colombia because of the Bogotazo political revolt and got back to Paris.

In France, Rogelio Salmona worked as a draftsman for Le Corbusier for about 10 years, aiding the design of projects like the Marseilles block, the Pilot Plan for Bogotá, Notre Dame du Haut, and Chandigarh. Afterward, he proceeded to study the sociology of art with Pierre Francastel, building up a basic vision of modern architecture.

Toward the finish of his long apprenticeship, Rogelio Salmona went to Spain, where he found Islamic architecture. The brickwork in Granada, specifically, impacted his work. After getting back to Colombia, Salmona graduated as an architect at the Universidad de los Andes in 1962.

Even though Salmona traveled generally, advancing his theory of architecture, he spent the rest of his life in Colombia, where he was commissioned to design numerous significant projects.

Rogelio Salmona eventually settled in Bogotá for most of his career, changing the city with a novel mix of traditional global influences and modern aesthetics.

Rogelio Salmona’s first significant project was Torres del Parque (Park Towers, 1964-1970), involving three residential towers and a park at the center of Bogotá. With its curves and stepped balconies, it is a complex design that many think about his masterpiece. He lived there for the rest of his life.

Rogelio Salmona first came to global consideration with his Torres del Parque, a curved apartment complex of uncovered red brick in the center of the city, which is generally viewed as the architect’s masterpiece.

Salmona kept on highlighting his signature brick fingerprint all through his career, including in the sprawling Biblioteca Pública Virgilio Barco (Virgilio Barco Public Library, 2001) which stays one of his most popular structures.

Other outstanding buildings incorporate the National University Human Sciences Postgraduate Centre (1995–2000) and the Virgilio Barco Public Library (1999–2001), a milestone in the north of Bogotá.

During the 1980s, Rogelio Salmona promoted conferences on Latin American architecture in Cali (1980) and Manizales (1987). These workshops added to the improvement of the trading of data among Latin American nations, enhancing the architectural dialogue all through the region.

During the latter part of his life, Salmona acquired prestige on account of awards like the first prize at the 1986, 1988, and 1990 Colombian Architecture Biennials, and the Alvar Aalto Medal in 2003. His works are exceptionally illustrative of Colombian architecture toward the finish of the 20th century.

Rogelio Salmona died from cancer in Bogotá on October 3, 2007, at aged 78 in Bogotá, Colombia.

On April 28, 2021, Google observes Rogelio Salmona’s 92nd Birthday with a Google Doodle.