In the world of architecture and interior design, travel offers invaluable insights, influencing how we approach materials, space, color, how we translate culture into the built environment, it even informs our own place in the world. In addition to the adventures by our numerous GOH Travel Scholarship winners, other HBG Design team members regularly embark on distinct journeys of their own. Traveling through regions such as Eastern Europe, Western Europe and South America, they encounter rich tapestries of contrasts and vibrant influences that provide fresh perspectives on life, inspiration, and creativity. HBG’s global design explorations directly inform and help shape our project designs.
This holiday season, as HBG Design waits patiently for the announcement of our 2025 GOH Travel Scholarship recipient, we invite you to follow along as we share personal and professional insights from HBG Principal Architectural Designer, Rob Jurbergs, AIA; HBG Lead Architectural Designer, Nathan Blair, AIA; and Lead Interior Designer, Christine Wass, IIDA, NCIDQ, through their own international explorations!
HBG’s Global Design Explorations:
Lead Architectural Designer, Nathan Blair’s Insights from a Journey Through Colombia
This year, I was fortunate to explore a few places, but Colombia stood out as the most unique by far. One of my close friends got married there over Memorial Day weekend, so we thought, why not turn it into an adventure? We decided to spend the week before the wedding touring around the country, diving into its vibrant culture and history, and discovering firsthand what makes Colombia special.
Bogota: A City of Layers and Influence
The trip began in Bogota, Colombia’s bustling capital, a sprawling metropolis with the energy and challenges of a fast-growing urban center. It was a bit of a culture shock at first, so to ease into the local culture we hired a guide to help navigate Bogota’s streets and nuances, giving us great insight into the country. As a gateway between North and South America, Colombia has influences from both continents, though the Spanish impact is more visible. Bogota’s architecture and culture vividly reflect its Spanish colonial roots intertwined with influences from ancient indigenous cultures, including Incan elements. We saw this blend in everything from architecture to food. Speaking of food, it was incredibly fresh, with a variety of fruits we rarely see in the U.S.
Bogotá is a city on the rise, but like many growing cities, it faces challenges. Traffic is intense, with inadequate public transport options, which makes commuting difficult for those who can’t afford to live in the city center. There’s also a water shortage despite the frequent rain, as the aquifer struggles to keep up with demand. Bogota’s challenges with infrastructure and water scarcity spark considerations on sustainable urban design—how can we plan spaces that serve and sustain growing populations without straining natural resources?
Cartagena: Urban Design Adapted to the Climate
After Bogotá, we headed to Cartagena, a vibrant city along the Caribbean coast founded by the Spanish in the 1600s. This experience brought lessons in adapting architecture for modern uses and to the climate. We stayed in a former Spanish convent from the 1650s, beautifully repurposed in the 1950s as a hotel, and expanded in the 2000s, which itself demonstrates a commitment to adaptive reuse.
The heat was intense, but the architecture in Cartagena is designed to handle it. Many buildings have deep courtyards filled with trees for shade, and most daytime activity happens on the ground floor, with high ceilings to allow the heat to rise. At night, the upper-level rooms take advantage of the evening breeze—a simple yet effective way to beat the tropical heat. Cartagena is relatively quiet during the day, but as the sun sets, it transforms into a lively, vibrant city.
Pereira and Filandia: Nature and Culture Collide
The final leg took us to Pereira, the largest city in Colombia’s coffee region, where the lush, high-elevation jungle teems with color and life. Flying into the area, we saw coffee plantations stretching for miles among the vivid green mountains. Outside the city, it’s practically a jungle. We discovered a vibrant, sensory world of exotic creatures and plants. The wedding took place at a boutique hotel in the jungle, where we encountered all sorts of wildlife—giant iguanas, snakes, birds, and insects.
Colombia’s flora and fauna influenced the local design aesthetics, which are lively and multihued, embodying its own unique sense of place through architecture and design. This was evident during a visit to Filandia, a tourist village perched high on a mountain with stunning views. Filandia caters mostly to Colombian tourists, unlike Cartagena, which is more international. The day after the wedding, we traveled there on a chiva bus, a colorful party bus where the celebration continued all the way to the village.
Colombia’s rich palette and eclectic design language starkly contrasts with the streamlined aesthetics common in the U.S. They embrace bold, vibrant choices without fear—a design approach that feels liberating. This experience served as a reminder to stay playful and open to layering elements in our projects.
Lessons Learned in Design and Culture: HBG’s Global Design Perspectives
Colombia was an incredible experience, filled with culture, color, and warmth. I left feeling like I’d glimpsed something truly inimitable. This journey through Colombia was a personal trip, but I found examples everywhere in how design, climate, and culture interweave, each reflecting and responding to the other.
- Nature as a Palette: Colombia’s landscape, with its tropical climate and diverse ecosystems, showcases vibrant colors and textures. This inspired a fresh approach to using color in design, especially as a tool to connect indoor spaces with their surroundings.
- Adaptive Solutions for Climate: Cartagena’s architectural techniques to cope with heat—high ceilings, shaded courtyards, and spatial arrangement—are reminders of the power of low-tech solutions tailored to the environment.
- Embracing Design Experimentation: The lack of stringent design codes and lower costs allow Colombians to experiment freely. This approach creates dynamic, layered spaces. In the U.S., we often start with similar ideas, but costs and codes tend to streamline our designs. But Colombia’s spirit of design experimentation can inspire new thinking, within the codes, of course.
- Communicating Design Language: In Colombia, we found that basic Spanish and hand gestures went a long way in bridging the language gap, with Google Translate helping in a pinch. Staying in hotels made communication a bit easier, but the experience underscored an important reminder: in design, we often need to find new ways to clearly convey our ideas to clients or laypeople who may not speak the same “design language.” Embracing different perspectives and adapting our communication approach is essential for creating understanding and connection.
As I reflect on my trip, here are a few more general takeaways for those planning a trip to Colombia:
- Colombia lacks extensive interstate or rail connections, so air travel is the quickest way to get around.
- Much of Colombia is at high elevations, which, combined with rain and the equator, makes for unique growing conditions.
- The food is fresh, diverse, and features many fruits that are rare in the U.S.
- The country is filled with vibrant birds and flowers, including more hummingbird species than anywhere else.
- Prices in Colombia are a stark contrast to what we’re used to in San Diego. Where coffee costs $5+ at home, we enjoyed excellent coffee and a pastry for less than $2.
- Colombian coffee is delicious, and, thankfully, everywhere!
At HBG Design, we see travel as a powerful source of inspiration, broadening our perspectives and enriching our work. This month, we honor the impact of global exploration on our designs—a legacy rooted by our co-founder, Gregory O. Hnedak, FAIA, whose passion for experiential learning lives on in HBG’s GOH Travel Scholarship. Greg believed that immersing oneself in diverse cultures opens doors to deeper, more meaningful design. His challenge to us remains:
