Germán Samper Gnecco was born in Bogotá , April 18, 1924, he was a Colombian architect. He is recognized for the construction of various buildings in several cities in Colombia as a partner of architectural firms or independently.
biographical synthesis
Germán Samper Gnecco was born in Bogotá, April 18, 1924, he was a Colombian architect. He is the son of Eduardo Samper Ortega and Ana Gnecco Fallon. His uncle Daniel Samper Ortega was one of the restorers of the National Library of Colombia . He studied architecture at the National University of Colombia , where he obtained his degree in 1948 . During his studies he met the Swiss architect Le Corbusier , with whom he worked in Europe and India until 1954 .He associated with the architects Rafael Esguerra García, Álvaro Sáenz Camacho and Rafael Urdaneta Holguín to form the firm Esguerra, Sáenz, Urdaneta and Samper, in which he was in charge of various projects such as the Luis Ángel Arango Library in 1957 , the Gold Museum in 1963 , the Avianca Building in 1968 , the Coltejer Center in Medellín in 1972 , the Cartagena Convention Center in 1982 , among others. He was elected three times as a representative to the Council of Bogotá.
In 1995 he retired from the firm Esguerra, Sáenz y Samper, and associated with his daughter, the architect Ximena Samper, to form the firm XG Samper Arquitectos, where he has designed urban, commercial, institutional and housing projects, including the Colsubsidio Citadel stands out. He has been a professor at different universities in Colombia , Mexico , Ecuador and Panama . He was dean of architecture at the Universidad de Los Andes between 1956 and 1959 and has written several books on architecture. He won the national prize for architecture in 1970 and in 1973 , the biennial prize for architecture in1984 and the great order of merit of the Ministry of Culture in 2010. He obtained an honorary doctorate in 2011, awarded by the Universidad de Los Andes.
Stages of his work
The works carried out by Germán Samper Gnecco had a double meaning, since it was not only an avant-garde architectural work, but also built emblematic buildings of culture in Colombia , so that, with his hand and skill, important scenarios were consolidated that protect the art history of our country.
The Colombian architect, a graduate of the National University of Colombia, had turned 95 on April 18, 2019. His legacy in the history of national architecture is spread in cities such as Bogotá , Cartagena and Medellín , scenarios in which Samper bet him to progress and the imposition of structures that were at the forefront in Latin America .
Samper Gnecco was a professor at different universities in Colombia , Mexico , Ecuador and Panama . He was dean of architecture at the Universidad de Los Andes between 1956 and 1959 and has written several books on architecture.
Avianca Building, located in Parque Santander, Bogotá Colombia
Through the Firm Esguerra, Sáenz, Urdaneta and Samper, the Bogota native managed to build the Luis Ángel Arango Library in 1957, the Gold Museum in 1963, the Avianca Building (which was the tallest in the country until the construction of the Colpatria in 1978) in 1968 in Bogotá, the Coltejer Center in Medellín in 1972 and the Cartagena Convention Center in 1982, among others. In 1995 he retired from the firm Esguerra, Sáenz y Samper, and associated with his daughter, the architect Ximena Samper, to form the firm XG Samper Arquitectos, where he has designed urban, commercial, institutional and housing projects, including the Colsubsidio Citadel stands out.
In addition to the influences of Rafael Esguerra García, Rafael Urdaneta Holguín and Álvaro Sáenz Camacho, architects with whom he consolidated the aforementioned firm, Germán Samper was marked by his work with the famous Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier, a thinker who visited Bogotá in the middle of the 20th century thanks to the bond that he had built with the people of Bogota. “Buy a pad and pencils and when you find a building that catches your attention, draw it”. That was the advice that Samper never forgot and that he kept in his memory as the best of Le Corbusier’s legacies and the best of the actions in the architect trade.
