Participatory Ecological Design: Educational Ecological Center

2015

Project Lead:

Ignacio Cardona

Team:

Rodrigo Guerra, Ninoska Ruiz, Adriana Ruiz

Consultants:

Alejandra Guerrero, Structure; Bernardo Dobersan, Sanitary; Gonzalo Belo, Electricity; Alberto Blanco, Sustainability

Client:

Municipality of El Hatillo

Location:

La Boyera, Caracas, Venezuela

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Located between El Volcán, home to one of Caracas’s remaining primary forests, and the suburban neighborhoods of La Boyera, the project explored how participatory design could negotiate relationships between urban development and ecological preservation. Workshops bringing together environmental experts and the local community generated strategies at regional, urban, and local scales.

The process led to an Educational Ecological Center conceived as a replicable modular system integrated with the landscape. Its configuration responds to existing ecological conditions through green roofs and walls, bird-feeding devices, and a modular construction system designed to reduce energy use, transportation, and construction waste.