Meet the Colombian practices weaving into a new vanguard through sustainable social architecture
“As architects, we need to unlearn everything we have been taught,” says Ana María Gutiérrez, standing outside this momentous structure in muddy overalls, boots and a broad-brimmed black hat. “Our idea of progress is completely based on colonialist, extractivist practices. People talk about sustainability, but what exactly are we sustaining?”Two of the practices mentioned—Organizmo and Oasis Urbano—both have seen their endeavors funded recently by grants from the Danish re:arc institute. Featuring community-based and research-driven methods, both are heavily invested in developing communities through sustainable building practices. On-the-ground efforts in hard-luck Moravia—for a long time one of the victims of the country's economic policies—have produced one success story after another for the former toxic waste site outside Medellín. "I saw so many people killing each other on the street when I was a child,” Oasis Urbano's co-founder Holguín Ramírez tells Oiliver Wainwright. “Nobody wanted to come to Moravia. But over the last 35 years, it has become a safe, diverse and productive neighbourhood, through the commitment of the residents to improve their own area." This will soon include the new, permanent community center, which is expected to begin construction later this year....
“As architects, we need to unlearn everything we have been taught,” says Ana María Gutiérrez, standing outside this momentous structure in muddy overalls, boots and a broad-brimmed black hat. “Our idea of progress is completely based on colonialist, extractivist practices. People talk about sustainability, but what exactly are we sustaining?”
Two of the practices mentioned—Organizmo and Oasis Urbano—both have seen their endeavors funded recently by grants from the Danish re:arc institute. Featuring community-based and research-driven methods, both are heavily invested in developing communities through sustainable building practices. On-the-ground efforts in hard-luck Moravia—for a long time one of the victims of the country's economic policies—have produced one success story after another for the former toxic waste site outside Medellín.
"I saw so many people killing each other on the street when I was a child,” Oasis Urbano's co-founder Holguín Ramírez tells Oiliver Wainwright. “Nobody wanted to come to Moravia. But over the last 35 years, it has become a safe, diverse and productive neighbourhood, through the commitment of the residents to improve their own area."
This will soon include the new, permanent community center, which is expected to begin construction later this year.
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