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Models for Sustainable Integrated Rural Settlements in the Colombian Eastern Flatlands

Part 2 Project 2014
Daniel Vanegas
Tatiana Cantor
Pilot University of Colombia Bogota | Colombia
This project was developed seizing mayor historic moments in Colombia history as the armed conflict is coming to an end, and land restitution for the victims of the civil war is being realized. We chose Orinoquia, Colombia as a territory of high potential because the national government is allocating high levels of resources and legal tools for the development of agricultural projects that will make this region one of the main zones of food production in Colombia.

Based on the logic of the allocations of the UAF in Colombia, strategies and projects are pursued to improve the areas that have been targeted as at risk for the alimentary and economic sustenance of local peasant families. Thus, a comprehensive improvement of the existing infrastructure is proposed. More than the provision of adequate infrastructure, the protection and enhancement of the productive qualities of the soil are sought through the implementation of an agricultural production model based on the intensive farming of organic and associated products.

With the above agro-based proposal, a stable and balanced nutritional foundation is achieved. More than that, through the gross sale of the products there is a value added for the peasant families which provides an alternative economic source to remunerate their work.

As a solution for housing, an architectural proposal is made to create dignified rural housing units . This reinterprets the cultural qualities of the typical peasant house found in the eastern Colombian plains to create a model of healthy, sustainable and economic housing. Rationality, simplicity and symmetry are key concepts to facilitate the development and construction of these units under a DIY "do it yourself" mentality. These units take advantage of the common elements that are natural to this farming sector such as coal ash, slag, sawdust and rice husks, with lime and gray cement to make structural building elements such as sponge walls of cellular concrete, which have thermal qualities appropriate to the climate of the region, large load bearing capacity, low relative weight and very low production costs compared to traditional commercial products.

Daniel Vanegas
Tatiana Cantor

Tutor(s)

2014
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