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Valèria Cid, architect, and Pedro Lorenzo, a retired ETSAV professor: "Capacity and efficiency are the keys to cooperation"
Valeria Cid, a recent graduate in Architecture from the UPC's Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV) and Pedro Lorenzo, an architect and board member of the Centre for Development Cooperation (CCD), are working on a project to rebuild the houses in Bhimphedi, near Kathmandu in Nepal, an area that was affected by the earthquakes of April 25.
31/07/2015
This project, carried out with the help of the CCD, aims to provide residents of the affected villages with tools for learning to rebuild their homes themselves. The project is being carried out with three NGOs: Amics del Nepal, the promoter of the programme; Base-A, which provides the volunteers for the field work in architecture; and Caldes Solidària, which also seeks funding. The project is part of a comprehensive programme for the reconstruction of this area over the next years.
Valeria Cid will travel to Bhimphedi as a volunteer in September and Pedro Lorenzo, the technical advisor of the project, has made his first exploratory visit. Lorenzo has nearly 30 years of experience in international projects and retired from the ETSAV after 25 years as a professor. According to Lorenzo, the village was not chosen at random: "Bhimphedi is interesting because it has all the requirements for rebuilding the communities affected by earthquakes in the rest of Nepal. Of its 1000 houses, 200 have been completely destroyed, 300 are severely damaged and 300 are slightly damaged.”
During the first phase of the project, conducted in early summer, the situation was examined and the aid workers made the first contacts with the community and with an agricultural cooperative, Agragami: "As the entire population cannot be covered, this cooperative will offer its members the possibility of rebuilding their houses through the programme. Anyone who wants to rebuild their house will have to join the cooperative. The cooperative was thus reinforced and the population were reached effectively."
From September to October this year training will be offered to residents; eight or ten prototype dwellings will be built to help them reinforce, repair or rebuild their houses. These prototypes will be visited by people from other communities, who will select the most suitable model for them. From January 2016 the reconstruction of 50 to 100 homes will commence. According to Lorenzo, the value (and also the difficulty) of this project "lies in the fact that it takes into account the use of the areas and the manpower of the community, empowering the people to repair their homes through a revolving credit fund of microcredits at very low interest rates."
Both Pedro Lorenzo, who is the voice of experience of the new project, and Valeria Cid, who is the voice of enthusiasm, "see capability and efficiency as key in such projects, especially when they involve natural disasters". Lorenzo insists "that things must be done well, they must be useful, and the people must learn to deal with similar natural phenomena in the future".
Valeria Cid will travel to Bhimphedi as a volunteer in September and Pedro Lorenzo, the technical advisor of the project, has made his first exploratory visit. Lorenzo has nearly 30 years of experience in international projects and retired from the ETSAV after 25 years as a professor. According to Lorenzo, the village was not chosen at random: "Bhimphedi is interesting because it has all the requirements for rebuilding the communities affected by earthquakes in the rest of Nepal. Of its 1000 houses, 200 have been completely destroyed, 300 are severely damaged and 300 are slightly damaged.”
During the first phase of the project, conducted in early summer, the situation was examined and the aid workers made the first contacts with the community and with an agricultural cooperative, Agragami: "As the entire population cannot be covered, this cooperative will offer its members the possibility of rebuilding their houses through the programme. Anyone who wants to rebuild their house will have to join the cooperative. The cooperative was thus reinforced and the population were reached effectively."
From September to October this year training will be offered to residents; eight or ten prototype dwellings will be built to help them reinforce, repair or rebuild their houses. These prototypes will be visited by people from other communities, who will select the most suitable model for them. From January 2016 the reconstruction of 50 to 100 homes will commence. According to Lorenzo, the value (and also the difficulty) of this project "lies in the fact that it takes into account the use of the areas and the manpower of the community, empowering the people to repair their homes through a revolving credit fund of microcredits at very low interest rates."
Both Pedro Lorenzo, who is the voice of experience of the new project, and Valeria Cid, who is the voice of enthusiasm, "see capability and efficiency as key in such projects, especially when they involve natural disasters". Lorenzo insists "that things must be done well, they must be useful, and the people must learn to deal with similar natural phenomena in the future".
Necessary and responsible architecture
The uses of what is built can change the life of a village from top to bottom. Valeria, who helped build a library in a coastal village in Senegal, remembers this: “On the opening day it filled with people and it became a focal point and meeting place for the village”. Lorenzo says that "a habitat is a physical medium plus the social activity taking place inside. Therefore, it is even more important to act on the activity before you start building. This is what we call the social components, which allow communities to live better than before the disaster”.
Lorenzo offers a clear example of his trip to Nepal. “We found communities where children take four hours to get to school and back, so our report also states that facilities must be set up to improve people's quality of life and ensure that children can get to school in half an hour”.
Valeria and Pedro are thus providing a support structure in a cooperation programme that must be taken over by the community. Such projects form a key part of the training of students or recent graduates like Valeria. Though she has not yet travelled to Nepal, she has already acquired knowledge that she did not attain at the University. On her future career as an architect, Valeria says that she wants to continue working in what is rightly called responsible architecture. This is the motto of the Base-A blog, which contains all the details of the project, photos of the first trip and sketches for the prototypes. “In fact," she says. “I would like to continue in the project in the next ten years and give it my best efforts”. Though she considers herself to have obtained a good education, she is sure that working on the ground is an essential complement.
Until he retired, Pedro Lorenzo taught architectural design and international cooperation. He believes that there is a certain contradiction in the fact that UPC is a pioneering university in science and technology programmes for development in Latin America (including a project involving 15 countries that Lorenzo coordinated through the ETSAV) yet the training in community production of habitats is still seen as rather "strange" in the field of architecture. He also believes that the UPC should foster the enthusiasm shown by the students in optional courses related to cooperation and social responsibility.
What do you recommend for these students?
“They should take on projects of this type because they are very rewarding and involve sociological, psychological and economic aspects. They learn architecture and they learn to solve problems, to adapt to different regulations, costs, consequences... to interact with the community." These projects are like a master's degree on the ground that teaches them to be responsible and aware of how things are done, why they are done, their social implications. Lorenzo says that you learn to meet the real client, “not the person who pays but the person who uses the house or whatever you build”.
Lorenzo offers a clear example of his trip to Nepal. “We found communities where children take four hours to get to school and back, so our report also states that facilities must be set up to improve people's quality of life and ensure that children can get to school in half an hour”.
Valeria and Pedro are thus providing a support structure in a cooperation programme that must be taken over by the community. Such projects form a key part of the training of students or recent graduates like Valeria. Though she has not yet travelled to Nepal, she has already acquired knowledge that she did not attain at the University. On her future career as an architect, Valeria says that she wants to continue working in what is rightly called responsible architecture. This is the motto of the Base-A blog, which contains all the details of the project, photos of the first trip and sketches for the prototypes. “In fact," she says. “I would like to continue in the project in the next ten years and give it my best efforts”. Though she considers herself to have obtained a good education, she is sure that working on the ground is an essential complement.
Until he retired, Pedro Lorenzo taught architectural design and international cooperation. He believes that there is a certain contradiction in the fact that UPC is a pioneering university in science and technology programmes for development in Latin America (including a project involving 15 countries that Lorenzo coordinated through the ETSAV) yet the training in community production of habitats is still seen as rather "strange" in the field of architecture. He also believes that the UPC should foster the enthusiasm shown by the students in optional courses related to cooperation and social responsibility.
What do you recommend for these students?
“They should take on projects of this type because they are very rewarding and involve sociological, psychological and economic aspects. They learn architecture and they learn to solve problems, to adapt to different regulations, costs, consequences... to interact with the community." These projects are like a master's degree on the ground that teaches them to be responsible and aware of how things are done, why they are done, their social implications. Lorenzo says that you learn to meet the real client, “not the person who pays but the person who uses the house or whatever you build”.
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