Sven Mouton

Sven's main specialization is bamboo and earth architecture. During his study of Master in Architecture at the University of Hasselt (formerly PHL- depart. architecture) his thesis-work involved a study of the vernacular architecture of South Africa. As a Belgian resident, he spend 6 months at the Port Elisabeth University (SA) to perform a field work-study on Venda, Xhosa, Ndebele, Zulu and other indigenous earth architecture (1995-1999). After this study a Master after Master in Urbanism was done at the University of Ghent (RUG). This thesis was written about 'Recreation vs ecology in green urban areas' (2000). After these two masters Sven started working at ARCADIS, an engineering firm where he was project leader of urban planning projects (planology). During the 4 years he worked there he worked on urban design and other research on the urban context. He made 3 structural city plans for entire cities (Rijkevorsel, Grobbendonk, Zoutleeuw) and further specialized in urban design of city blocks, parks, squares and roads, winning several contest such as the park Van Waeyenbergh in Leuven. In 2004, after 4 years at the engineering firm, Sven and his wife started a development project in collaboration with the University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC), under the supervision of Professor Khosrow Ghavami at the Department of Civil Engineering. This project mainly involved low-cost civil constructions (buildings and other) in bamboo and earth as non-conventional materials (NOCMAT). The 2,5 years of field work at this university were considered as a postgraduate study, in which a local community (Camburi) was assisted with tech transfers from the PUC University of Rio to the local builder-cooperative. Several community projects such as a 'Centro Comunitario' were built in cooperation with the locals. This non-profit organisation Bamboostic, where Sven presides since the beginning, is still active afer 10 years and each year thesis students are send to the project under the academic supervision of Prof. Ghavami and where Sven provides the practical supervision. Sven got involved in this period in the ABMTENC-network where he lectured several times at the NOCMAT inter-universitairian conferences.In 2006, Sven and his wife returned to Belgium where they started a private architecture firm CRU! Architects, that performed urban and architectural projects. In the Belgian media, his work on bamboo architecture is widely spread. A list of the works executed by CRU! Archietcts can be found on the CNPq curriculum. Sven also connected to the Blue Economy network of Prof. Gunter Pauli, where recently several projects were drawn in close cooperation with Prof. Pauli worldwide (Morocco,Taiwan etc.)Sven also lectures worldwide on bamboo architecture, for example in 2014 alone already in Belgium (4 lectures during the year) Vietnam (april), France (october) and Brazil (november).