Parque Educativo La Carcova
The project for the La Carcova Educational Park is defined as an experience of collaborative work in process and extended over time, based on the formation of a university network associated with a common objective in a specific territory with many unsatisfied basic needs.
A national and international network of educational institutions has been built that are carrying out an experience of exchange and joint production around the development of constructions of true magnitude through collective and community construction workshops with active intervention of students and social actors.
The La Carcova Popular Library team is the interlocutor in the territory for the development of the project. It is an educational and cultural institution, a benchmark in the neighborhood, with projects in full swing and with specific growth needs. It is located in a larger public property that the CIMET company has given on loan to the Municipality of General San Martín, in the Province of Buenos Aires.
The general work strategy is framed in the concept of Educational Territory that the University of San Martín (UNSAM) has established as an objective to define the transfer of its knowledge in the areas most in need of attention in the territory of the municipality. From this concept, it has been agreed to work jointly with the public space policies of the General Directorate of Urban Planning of the Municipality of General San Martín.
A project to expand the La Carcova Popular Library and a broader strategy for the development of the Educational Park has then been developed, which allows its implementation over time. The proximity to the leaders of the recipient organization allows for a participatory work process, building consensus and trust between institutional actors and neighbors.
In 2019, construction of the first device in the territory began. It is a wooden structure, which with its roof resolved not only the demand for shade on the property but also established a meeting point that defines an element of reference, identity and affection for the community of La Carcova.
Since then, the project has not stopped growing despite the pandemic and difficulties. Some time later, the Gauchito Gil Sanctuary was built, a fundamental figure of the neighborhood's religiosity. The upper floor of the La Carcova Popular Library is currently being built, thanks to the management of Markus Vogl and the support of Aktion Palca, and the Early Childhood Space, which is already in operation, and whose name best describes than this process of collective construction: “Everything in its time.”
Images and Plans
Technical Description
The umbrella cover is the first device in the territory, the first phase built with our collaboration.
It is a hardwood frame structure with a 3¨x 8¨ section, bolted with sheet metal reinforcements. The porticos are linked by reticulated beams made of iron profiles. The columns rest on reinforced concrete bases that were calculated by a civil engineer. The cover is made with a sinusoidal sheet made with remains of plastics, cardboard and aluminum (tetra brick), it is known as eco-sheet. The rainwater system was resolved with galvanized sheet metal gutters and exposed plastic pipes.
The current construction phase is the expansion of the Library on its upper floor. The structure is made of 3¨x 8¨ wood and forms a skeleton that will be covered with metal and plastic sheeting on the outside and with wood and its insulation on the inside. The equipment will be built in the same way, in a collective construction workshop with students.