Samper, Germán (1924--)

Abstract

Germán Samper Gnecco was born in Bogotá, Colombia, on April 18, 1924. He studied architecture at the National University of Colombia. Shortly after finishing his education in 1947, he joined the workshop of Le Corbusier in Paris, where he worked until 1954 on projects such as Bogotá’s Master Plan, the Court of Justice, the Palace of Ministries, and the urban plan for Chandigarh, India, among others. On his return to Colombia, and deeply influenced by Le Corbusier, he worked as an independent architect until he joined the firm Esguerra Sáenz Urdaneta Suárez in 1958, where he became partner and design director. For forty years he designed and directed the construction of several projects in Bogotá, such as the Luis Ángel Arango Library (1957), the Gold Museum (winner of the National Architecture Prize in 1970), the Avianca building (1968), the Banco de Occidente Building (1984), the Colsubsidio Citadel (1990), and the Cartagena Convention Center (1979).