Where: Chamanga (Ecuador)

When: 2017-2018 

Role: Phase I: Project Co-Leader (as part of Portland State University); Phase II: Project and Team Collaborator (as part of Hochschule München)

Partners: Cultural Collective Opción Mas; Architects Atarraya (Lorena Burbano and Sebastián Oviedo); Hochschule München; Portland State University; Tokyo University.

Awards and Recognitions:

• First Prize SEED Award 2018

• First Prize Hábitat social y Desarrollo,  Bienal Panamericana de Quito 2018

Photos Credit: Santiago Oviedo

In April 2016, a severe earthquake hit the coastal village of San Jose de Chamanga, Ecuador. The local organization Opción Más, which had been running cultural and educational programs for youth before the disaster, was left without a home. Their vision for a dance-studio, library, audio-studio and an office came to fruition through two design-build phases during Fall 2017 and Spring 2018. The project also included the design and construction of composting toilets, a critical infrastructure for Chamanga, which lacks a sewage system.

This project is also related to: The Chamanga Story and the Composting Toilets Manual