A new invitation to celebrate the streets of Bello Monte occurred Saturday July 6, as part of the More Night Caracas initiative organized by Ciudad Laboratorio. Enlace Foundation was invited to disseminate the program "Integration Process Caracas” that is taking place in the informal settlement La Palomera, and invites people to reflect on the real and symbolic integration of the city, overcoming distinctions between the "formal" and "informal" city "
The Nature of Cities Summit took place for the very first time at Sorbonne University, Jussieu Marie Curie campus in Paris France on June 6, 2019. Organized by David Maddox and a very capable multidisciplinary team of artists, ecologists, activists, landscape architects and planners, the summit presented several discussion panels focusing on different aspects of a green city. Elisa participated in a panel together with David Simon -London and Cape Town, Fish Yu-Shenzhen and Samarth Das-Mumbai where they spoke about making livable places.
On Saturday, May 25, the "Mobile Museum" event and the traditional celebration of the Cruz de Mayo in the community of La Palomera, were held as part of the program Integration in Process Caracas, (IPC) whose intention is to generate recognition processes of the barrio as part of the city.
The event began with a procession of the La Palomera model from Bolívar Square in Baruta to the La Cruz de La Palomera sector, followed by a conversation with the barrio´s founding families and Baruta's chronicler; the celebration of Cruz de Mayo; presentations and exhibitions of art workshops held with various community groups as a result of the call for proposals among artists "Art and community, proposals for integration." Another component of the celebration that was rescued from previous edition was the organization of games and competitions among the children of the community. As part of the exhibition, videos were presented with testimonies from the community, a record of the IPC program and fragments of novels and movies filmed at La Palomera. The Manifesto to the Complete City was read in front of the whole community, followed by a sancocho that was shared among all.
The event unites the efforts of many: Enlace Foundation, Ciudad Laboratorio, Fundación Bigott, Puntos Solidarios soup kitchen, Alcaldía Baruta, Laboratorio Ciudadano de No Violencia Activa, Ensayo Colectivo, Taller Cuadernillos, Taller Verde, Colegio Miguel José Sanz, Colegio Concentración 094, Liceo Alejo Fortique y Preescolar Manuel Felipe Rugeles.
Elisa is part of a conversation initiated by Agustín Schang and Laura González that explores contemporary architecture models operating Across the Americas. The group was comprised by Julian Palacio, Jorge Ambrosi & Gabriela Etchegaray, Rafael Gamo, Elisa Silva and Maite Borjabad Lopez-Pastor. Agustin and Laura later summarized the content of the discussions:
“They addressed topics about materiality & tectonics as tools for identity, the afterlife of projects, the act of representation affected by geographic and cultural contexts, visual narratives & composing of an image, circulation of references in the construction of power, landscapes of opportunity, heritage, counterflow: from north to south on how to build a practice and what happens to nonreciprocal timing and the times of inequality we are living - this not to search for a "common ground", but to reveal some of the interactions and movements of the different architectures and environments of the Americas. Seeking to elevate the quality and understanding of our built environment, spark lively conversations, trigger an ongoing exchange, and to think about the future by extending our interests beyond the object with four walls.”
You are invited on Sunday, March 24, 2019, to the Third meeting of the "Art, pedagogy and city" lecture series.
“Complete city, overflowing city” is the title of the event. We invite everyone to come observe, understand and record spaces, while touring the La Palomera neighborhood in Baruta. There will be six different routes to discover places and situations with urban values we can begin to recognize.
The topics may be of interest to anyone who wants to join the construction of a complete city: architects, artists, urban designers, planners, urban planners, city activists, students and city lovers.
We are offering transportation from Plaza Altamira at 1:30 pm to the Plaza El Cristo in Baruta; and back at the end of the activity. Those who wish to go directly to Plaza El Cristo, may park on the service street of the Baruta Municipality building.
On Saturday February 9, 2019 we continue with the second meeting of the series "Art, pedagogy and city", titled "Art as a mediation tool."
Artists, creators, journalists and neighbors of Caracas walked from the Plaza Bolívar de Baruta to the La Cruz sector in La Palomera. At the end a celebration of public space was done through a dance performance guided by Dora Peña.
The event is part of the initiative "Integration in process Caracas" sponsored by the Embassy of the United States in Venezuela, and organized by Ciudad Laboratorio, Enlace Fundación, Fundación Bigott, Baruta Municipality, Pre school Manuel Felipe Rugeles, Municipal School Miguel José Sanz and Soup Kitchen Punto Solidario La Palomera.
Laboratory City, Bigott Foundation, Municipality of Baruta, Puntos Solidarios, Manuel Felipe Rugeles Preschool, Miguel José Sanz Municipal School and Children's Dining Room Solidarity Point La Palomera.
An earnest strive to make social housing in Mexico more inclusive and sustainable was presented on Monday November 5th at the offices of Conavi in Mexico City. The study was commissioned by Conavi to UN Habitat in Mexico; the research and documentation was executed by Elisa Silva. The study emphasises the importance of considering housing at three scales: the urban, the neighbourhood and the housing unit itself. It allows design to pool resources together to lower overall costs, prioritise strategies for urban integration and increase people´s quality of living.
The 2018 Guangzhou Award Technical Committee presented the 15 shortlisted cities at the 7th UCLG ASPAC congress in Surabaya Indonesia. Elisa Silva was part of the Technical Committee and also participated in a panel discussion on Urban Innovation together with Wandia Seaforth from Nairobi Kenya, Greg Budworth from Sydney Australia, Enrique Silva from the Lincoln Land Institute, Belinda Yuen from Singapore, Kristen Miller from Ecocity, Ali El-Faramawi from Cairo Egypt, Luigi Cipolla from Italy, and Carlos Zaballa from Buenos Aires Argentina. The discussions were moderated by Nicholas You of Citistates and coordinator of the Guangzhou Award.
The publication “Downward Spiral: El Helicoide´s descent from Mall to Prison” edited by Celeste Olalquiaga and Lisa Blackmore will be presented at the bookstore Lugar Comun in Altamira Caracas, on Friday the 13th of July 2018. The event will be presided by Vicente Lecuna with the participation of several of the book´s collaborators including Elisa Silva
Event program:
Vicente Lecuna – Opening remarks
Jorge Villota - El Helicoide´s construction
Diego Larrique - San Agustín del Sur
Elisa Silva – informal settlements and their appearance/disappearance from maps
Iris Rosas – The relationship of informal settlements with El Helicoide
Sandra Pinardi – El Helicoide and the ruin
Vicente Lecuna - El Helicoide and Parque Central
Conversation among the panelists and the audience
Elisa Silva was invited by the journalist Graciela Beltran for an interview on her radio program on Onda Station 109.7 RM on June 22nd 2018, to speak about the value of public space in the city. They also touched on the experience of the Sabana Grande Boulevard transformation, the potential integration of the city including its informal settlements through a network of public spaces, and the upcoming publication by Enlace Arquitectura on public spaces in informal settlements of Latin American cities titled “Pure Space”.