Peru: Exploring three current realities

Peru: exploring three current realities — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:56:47 +0000

The Peruvian Embassy presents an exhibition of selected architectural and design proposals based on the theme of ‘Welcoming Cities’. Architectural and design schools, established architectural practices and NGOs based in Peru join efforts to present concepts that explore three current realities that are in need of urgent attention and that respond to the brief of helping create welcoming communities, cities and cultural centres for Peruvians and visitors from around the globe. The concept proposals showcase how architecture and design help raise the quality of life for Peruvians currently living in some of the most deprived and forgotten communities in the country -but at the same time in some of the most untouched and beautiful regions of the world. The three themes are:

1. Amazonian Sustainable Communities

Recent protests by ancestral Amazonian communities against government policies seeking the exploitation of resources in the Amazonian rainforests –such as mining, logging and gas exploration- have ended in violent clashes. Architects and designers explore what alternative sustainable opportunities are available in the Amazonian basin that could help protect the natural environment and prevent further destruction and contamination of ancestral lands, enabling local communities to actively participate and benefit from a prosper livelihood. Creative teams explore the concept of sustainable communities in the Amazon jungle developing a network of eco friendly living premises and river transport alternatives.

2. Creating the new City of Pisco

On 15 August 2007 a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Peru 250kms south of Lima destroying many cities and villages. In Pisco, hundreds died while thousands were left without homes, many still living in temporary emergency shelters to this day. How do you rebuild a city that has been completely obliterated by an earthquake and tsunami? 90% of the city of Pisco was destroyed and most historic buildings and churches no longer stand. Proposals explore what the masterplan for the new city of Pisco could look like and what creative and artistic alternatives might be considered to help rebuild the infrastructure and moral of a city that has played a key role in the political and economic development of Peru for the past two hundred years.

3. A Memorial Museum

During the 1980’s and 1990’s Peru suffered a sombre period of violence due to clashes between terrorists groups and the military concluding in almost 70,000 deaths, many of these were innocent civilians caught up in the conflict. The Andean city of Ayacucho was at the centre of the conflict and this proposal explores innovative ideas and concepts of how a memorial museum might integrate with the city and stimulate better understanding of the events of that period amongst its population. The German government recently donated two million US dollars to help create and construct the ‘Museum of Memory’ to document this violent period so that Peruvians alike may never forget what happened in the hope that they will re-conciliate and develop a more prosper nation.