ARC3015Y F
Instructors: Elisa Silva
Meeting Section: L0102
Tuesday, 9:00am - 1:00pm, 2:00pm - 6:00pm; Friday, 2:00pm - 6:00pm

Over the past decade the Central Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico has become known for the production of mezcal, which is an intensely laborious and hand-crafted process that ferments and distills the pines of agave plants into high-proof alcohol. Even though mezcal has been around for centuries, it has acquired a newly awakened appreciation that has taken it to global markets. If properly managed, this could represent a valuable opportunity to reinvest economic gains in the community, improve agriculture production, encourage social inclusion and recuperate environmental conditions.

One such opportunity comes through the use of mezcal´s waste products which can be used to make adobe bricks. Bagazo is a fibrous substance derived from the agave pines and vinaza is an acidic liquid that is left behind during the distillation process. 95% of the mezcal makers in Oaxaca, currently dispose of vinaza by throwing it into the ground. Given its high acidic content (pH3.3), it contaminates the water table. For every liter of mezcal, 13 liters of vinaza are produced; 10,000 liters to a mezcal produce 130,000 liters of acid that need to find a clean way of being eliminated. Bagazo is benign to the environment and can be used as an effective fertilizer. When combined with earth bagazo and vinaza create adobe bricks that are stronger and more seismically-resistant than their traditional counterparts. COAA and architect Alejandro Montes are currently making adobe bricks with mezcal´s waste in Matatlán, and his methodology could be replicated in other townships to create new local economies.

Students will spend several days in Agua del Espino, in the State of Oaxaca in September 2019, at the mezcal making factory or palenque of Maestro Herminio Coronado, where they will collectively produce approximately 800 adobe bricks. The second phase of the semester will focus on creating feasible designs to either grow the existing palenque, build an inn for visitors, and or a complex of artist work studios and multi-use spaces with the very same bricks they produced during their visit. Students will develop a keen understanding of adobe construction including all building systems for water, sewage water, waste, energy production and storage. They will be tasked with conveying their project through clear, precise and innovative representation techniques and anticipate how to integrate opportunities for the community to participate in the construction process. Performance will be evaluated through studio work, pin-ups, a mid-term and final review.

Instructor Bio:

Elisa Silva is director and founder of Enlace Arquitectura 2007 and Enlace Foundation 2017, established in Caracas, Venezuela. Projects focus on raising awareness of spatial inequality and the urban environment through public space, the integration of informal settlements and community engagement in rural landscapes. Enlace is a recent finalist in the XI Ibero-American Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism for the Media Legua Church in Venezuela. Their public space interventions in informal settlements were awarded in the XX Architecture and Urbanism Biennial in Valparaiso, Chile 2017. Other recognitions include winners of the VIII Ibero-American Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism for the Sabana Grande Pavement Project in Caracas, Venezuela 2012, the XI National Architecture Bienal Award for Ecoparque Maracay 2014, the Walk 21 Award for Puerto Encantado Higuerote Venezuela 2015, the X Salon Malausena Publication and Urban Design Awards 2016, and winners of several design competitions.

In 2017, Elisa received a Graham Foundation Grant for the publication Pure Space: Expanding the Public Sphere through Public Space Transformations in Latin American Informal Settlements (Actar, 2019). She has co-authored Pro-Inclusion: Practical tools for the integral development of Latin American cities (CAF Development Bank of Latin America, 2016) presented at Habitat III in Quito; and CABA Cartography of the Caracas Barrios 1966-2014 (Fundación Espacio 2015), widely recognized as a seminal contribution to the city´s urban history records. Elisa was awarded the Lucas Artists Fellowship in Visual Arts Fellowship from the Montalvo Art Center 2019, the Wheelwright Fellowship from Harvard University in 2011 and the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome in 2005. She was Visiting Professor at the Princeton University School of Architecture Spring 2019 and Design Critic in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Fall 2018. She taught at the Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, Venezuela between 2011 and 2018, and has also taught workshops at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain 2018 and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú in Lima, Peru. 2015 and 2017. Elisa grew up between St. Louis and Venezuela.