Environmental Science Lab
Students and faculties from five academic institutions in Chile, Germany and Ecuador collaborating with an Ecuadorian community on the design and construction under sustainable and inclusive aspects of an educational space for rural secondary school students on the PUCESI Campus in Ibarra. Key objective was to test and establish a practical generic model that is suitable for informal self-build and can be reproduced by the local community.
The precise and almost choreographic design of the different stages and actors of the project aims not just to provide essential infrastructure to the community but also to learn from their traditional building techniques. The cooperative co-design process considered an open matrix to reconcile the international mixed and re-mixed teams of students, faculties and collaborators, their interests and learning. The construction process had to be executed in a short period so that all students could learning the largest possible number of different works from the entire construction process during their stay on site.
In an exploratory survey applied to participants most respondents reported an increase in their academic and practical knowledge in construction, as well as in architectural skills, self-confidence and personal skills.
Images and Plans
Technical Description
While the (1) foundation work phase was the most physically demanding of all (as it involved excavating the ground, moving and laying stone and gravel, bending rebar and pouring concrete), with the largest number of students on site at the same time, the modular design of the building allowed for simultaneous work in different trades: (2) The earthen walls included two construction methods: adobe brick and rammed earth, (3) composite pillars and roof beams of the wooden structure were pre-cut in the workshop so that they only had to be positioned and assembled on site, (4) the roofing system from residual items include an organic insulation layer made of rice straw and (5) the window enclosures were prefabricated in the iron workshop using self-made steel frames. Finally (6) the finishings all surfaces were treated, painted or polished, water and sewage piping and a solar energy system was built.
