Markus Roselieb’s design philosophy emphasizes the integration of natural materials, particularly bamboo and earth, with modern engineering and organic design. His approach aims to create structures that are not only functional and sustainable but also resonate emotionally with their inhabitants, often evoking a sense of joy and connection to nature.
Markus Roselieb’s notable projects include Panyaden International School, the Bull Cooking School, and the Bamboo Sports Hall at Panyaden International School, in particular, received the Global Human Settlements Model Building Award. The structure exemplifies his commitment to sustainable architecture, combining traditional materials with contemporary design to create spaces that are both environmentally friendly and inspiring.
Recognition for Markus Roselieb’s contributions to sustainable building practices includes the title of World Bamboo Ambassador, awarded by the World Bamboo Organization.
Architectural work by Markus Roselieb challenges conventional norms, advocating for designs that harmonize with the environment and enrich the human experience.
What inspires you?
I think nature inspires me—flowing lines, anything that is not regular, square, or triangular. Good spaces inspire me. Creating good spaces is something that I feel deeply connected to.
What inspired you to become an architect?
I think the way the question is framed is not applicable to my life—it just happened along the way. I always liked cool spaces. I went into big buildings at night to feel what kind of feeling they would evoke, and I went into beautiful places to see what happens when you go there. I quickly found out which buildings made something happen and which ones didn’t. The buildings where something happened were always a magnet for me, and I was trying to understand—what did the architect do to make that happen?
How would you describe your design philosophy?
Our design philosophy at Chiangmai Life Architects is really based on three issues. One is functionality—functionality tops everything. The second is sustainability. But the third one, which is closest to our hearts, is smiles. We find that if our buildings make people smile, it means the building is connected to their hearts—it actually enriches their lives. If a building makes you smile, it means you like it, you like going there, you like living there, and you will take care of it. So, sustainability and functionality are also enhanced if the smile comes into effect. We find that smiles are very easily evoked by using natural materials and natural flowing forms—something that speaks to people’s hearts.
What is your favorite project?
I guess at this point, Panyaden School is my favorite project. It’s a very big project, and I can see how it inspires many people. Children like to go to school, which is something we wanted to achieve from the start. Teachers like to come there—it’s quite easy to find teachers for the school thanks to the facility—and parents are fascinated. So, I can see that what we’ve done there, bringing bamboo and earth into the 21st century by combining them with modern thinking, modern design, and technology, is something that people can relate to. The impact of the school is quite big, and that probably makes it my favorite project.
What is your favorite architectural detail?
I guess I have to pick something, but we have a lot of cool details. The trusses at the Panyaden Sports Hall were the first bamboo trusses ever designed, which is why the sports hall became internationally famous. But if I had to pick a single detail, the reciprocal roof, the reciprocal move in the library is quite cool—a simple self-sustaining movement created in bamboo that, when amplified, creates something unique.
Do you have a favorite material?
Bamboo and earth. I see bamboo in architecture everywhere, and I see it working in our designs and buildings.
What is stopping architects from embracing this potential carbon-free material?
Laws, regulations, supply chains, and ignorance. Ignorance is very much on top of the list—people don’t understand that this material can actually last a long time. Its tensile strength is comparable to steel, and it can be load-bearing almost like cement, but many think it’s just a pretty material for decoration and are not likely to use it structurally.
What is your process for starting a new project?
I think, like everybody, we talk to the client and go to the site. The first thing is understanding the site—I have to understand how to use it best. How is the arrival? How is the flow? Where are the quiet corners? Where are the busy corners? Then, we design our buildings according to the flow as we understand it. Natural materials give me the ability to design any kind of flow and form—it doesn’t have to be square. Actually, it will never be square, because I cannot really stand that.
How do you balance function and creativity in your designs?
Well, it starts with function. First, we create a layout of everything. We ask the client for details like—who is going to use the building, how many people, and what are the exact functions we need—and we try to arrange the functions according to the entire site. Then, we let creativity take over and design something from that.
How does the environment influence your work?
Bamboo is by far the most sustainable material of all, and so is earth. I can see that we can build structures that have at least the same function as any modern building without creating environmental pollution. So, I prefer that.
What inspired the Panyaden Sports Hall and Bull Cooking School?
The sports hall was inspired by function. The school said, “That’s what we need—an international basketball-size court that we can also use for volleyball, football, badminton, and other sports.” That set the dimensions—they were a given—and we were thinking about how to achieve that. At that point, everybody used big bamboo, bamboo over 9 meters. But after a certain point, the wall of the bamboo plant becomes too thin to be structurally competent, so you have to create a connection with a new one, and then you start having those triangular formations.
I was actually sitting in an interesting place one evening, a blues bar located in a market hall in Chiang Mai, a huge hall built of cheap metal construction with pillars and metal trusses. I was listening to the music, but the acoustics were bad. The music was good, but the acoustics were bad, and I was thinking, ahh, if I could make this kind of roof in bamboo, the acoustics would be much better. So I looked up at how they had made the roof, and there I saw the trusses. That was the moment I needed a solution for the school. At that time, I had a young Dutch engineer as an intern. I went to see him and asked whether we could create these trusses in bamboo. He said yes, and that was how it started for the sports hall.
Once we got the idea for trusses, we looked at the design concept and saw the lotus flower from the side. We placed different layers of leaves as design inspiration.
The same approach applied to the cooking school because the location given to us was at the end of a long property, on one side of a pond with a tree in the middle. We were looking at how to include this dead-end into a flow of energy throughout the whole site, as we had designed other buildings there too. We had to create a way to come in and back out while increasing the actual inside space because the area between the pond and the trees was not sufficient to accommodate all the necessary spaces.
There are three spaces in every building—the preparation space, the cooking space, and the eating space. Once we had the curve, we started looking at designs, and then we had this curve coming in and out. Once we had the curve, it started looking like the Bull.
What advice would you give to young architects?
My advice would be: to erase Bauhaus from your memory, and anything your professors and teachers told you about it—it’s the biggest disease in architecture.
