Architectural Design V-IX: A New Indigenous University in the Colombian Rainforest

Abstract

The project encompasses the conception of an Indigenous University as well as the architectural planning and building of the campus in southern Colombia.This subject will be treated over two semesters, HS19 and FS20, even it is only possible to apply for one semester.

Objective

The site is a 400 ha plot of forested indigenous-owned land adjacent to a large National Park of extraordinary biodiversity. The project is initiated by the Inga indigenous people who currently lack an institution for higher education in the region, particularly one that is tailored to the requirements of a life in the territory. Located at the confluence of Western contemporary environmental science and an indigenous cosmological understanding of interaction with Earth and all species, the project sets out to investigate the possibilities of merging these strands of knowledge production in fertile ways. The focus will be on herbology, biodiversity, agro-ecology, forest conservation, bioethics and medicinal knowledge. The program is open to all ethnic groups in the region and to international students. The indigenous university project offers the opportunity to confront a context completely different from the conditions we know in Europe. This requires exploring new ways of working, analyzing, researching, collaborating with people coming from another culture in order to be able to respond intelligently to the given program. The goal is not to transpose tools and methods applicable in our Western context, but rather to put ourselves in a position of maximum openness to understand as best as possible the objectives of such a project, in order to bring the most intelligent answers. This means spreading the research over two semesters, even if the group of students will be different between the first

Content

1/ Research in teams; collaboration with the students of local university and the territories. Topics: geography, climate, biology, history, architecture (construction, infrastructure, etc.), agriculture, ecology, culture, education, etc. 2/ Definition of spatial program for the campus 3/ First concepts All this work will be transmetted to the students of the second semester, in order to continue the work, which will consist in the elaboration of projects for the campus.

Resources