Community Center
As an undergraduate I was the recipient of a college-funded grant enabling me to intern abroad for Root Studio, a design/build firm dedicated to the dismantlement of a stigma towards vernacular materials in Oaxaca, Mexico. Root Studio uses adobe, clay, bamboo, and the like to yield formally evocative projects that are tailored to, and repair the infrastructures of, agrarian living. Local craftsmen and community members are actively involved throughout the design and construction process. In lieu of predefined styles, these buildings are an amalgam of the native skills, materials, and needs of their context. The result of this work is the redevelopment of a localized knowledge base and network that empowers people with the skills, and will, to shape their built environments with cultural pride and self-sufficiency in future projects.
I participated in the design, and hands on construction of a Community Center for an organization called Organizaciones Indias por los Derechos Humanos en Oaxaca (OIDHO). Since the majority of Root Studio’s projects are for clients with limited and often unpredictable budgets, construction begins with a loose plan allowing the design to change based on fluctuating resources, circumstances, and ideas. It was during this experience that I first realized the potential of design to invest in the economic, environmental, and cultural longevity of disenfranchised communities.
