Navigating urban narratives and green alternatives, Ruth Wondimu, MARCH, 2023
Navigating Urban narratives and Green alternatives, Ruth Wondimu, MARCH, 2023
Hello everyone! I would like to start this blog by stating that the journey so far has been an insightful and wonderful experience. Having been away from Ethiopia for almost four years, I knew that there has been so much change in the social and economical fabric of Addis Ababa, the city I grew up in. Therefore, I knew that going back to Addis Ababa to work on a sustainability project required learning about the various architectural, environmental, political, real-estate, and other groups who have been actively working here. Although one of my main objectives with this project was to create or develop the awareness behind the green industry and sustainability topics, making sure that I don’t go into this project with assumptions was very important to me.
My first two weeks in Addis Ababa had been a time of forming relationships and learning about what already exists. Addis Ababa being the capital city of Ethiopia as well as the headquarters of the African Union, is one of the oldest and biggest growing cities. I was startled by how fast the city had grown even since my last time here. With a change of government back in 2018, the new administration has shown a more significant interest in urban development specifically within the green industry. Therefore, the city has shown a greater number of architectural projects with green certifications such as LEED.
Sustainability being a very wide topic, I looked through various topics of development. At an urban scale, I noticed that there are common issues such as clean water shortage, frequent power outage, and inefficient waste control systems: all topics that are highly relevant to sustainability. Therefore, identifying a specific topic and scale was very important to me.
During a team meeting, I was able to sit down and explain my process within these early stages. Even before coming to Ethiopia, we had discussed the best ways of cultivating a shared sense of awareness through a discussion in the form of a panel. That only solidified as I continued to learn about the different groups of professionals and inhabitants within the city. Therefore, my first written task was to write up a panel proposal under the title “Navigating urban Narratives and Green Alternatives” with a specific focus on the building scale. Our ideal panelists are a list of architects, urban developers, real-estate owners, lecturers, construction workers, and a community member. The panel will be in person with a diverse set of attendees. We are planning on having it taped and hopefully streamed in some of the national tv stations.
In the next few weeks, my first goal is to finalize the content, scope, location, and marketing of the panel. Alongside the work on the panel, I will be working on developing content on green architecture that will be mainly used on the website and social media platforms. I invite you to follow me on this journey as I plan to share my development through a series of posts on this channel.
Wholesome Encounters – Abena Otema Danquah, BArch 2023
A GUIDE – FRED OKO
The past few weeks have been nothing short of nourishing – this is me trying not to repeat the word wholesome, but honestly nothing else can describe my experience so far. I started my journey slightly earlier than my comrades (Fellows) as I got to Ghana shortly after the school semester ended, deciding to do some exploring of my own before my internship officially started. My dad being extremely excited about my proposal, as someone also passionate about local artistry especially in the wood and metal industries, connected me with one of his classmates Fred Oko Mate.
Fred has been an artist for as long as he can remember. He is actually a sculptor, with his works ranging from large sculptures to miniature carvings on wooden canvases he’d create. I met with Fred on a Thursday morning at his home studio where he had some of his works up on display. We spoke about his journey as a sculptor in Ghana from his education to his establishing himself as a sculptor, his market base and the community of artists and artisans he engages with.
Prior to starting this experience, I had specific questions about the local artisan community in Accra ranging from the impact of their individual cultures (per tribes or ethnic groups) on their work if applicable, support of their respective crafts both from locals and the diaspora, the government or even expatriates and tourists, how they navigate the industry and if there’s a network or association that some of these artisans connect through. When speaking to Fred, a lot of my questions were naturally answered in our conversation. Interestingly his work is largely supported, not surprisingly by the Lebanese community in Ghana as we both acknowledged how investing in art or supporting artists and artisans financially is still a culture more and more Ghanaians from the older and now more, younger Ghanaian are warming up to. A large group of his market also are in the diaspora interestingly! More so the middle aged to older diaspora, among also certain ministries in the government, hotels, restaurants and banks. We conversed about the value of his work, the accessibility it sort of opened him up to market-wise and the legacy he is leaving. He actually trains younger sculptors and his son works alongside him also, establishing his own crowd of supporters and patrons! I could go on and on about my time with Fred, but my biggest take aways from this meeting was how he urged me to continue engaging more with local artists and artisans, even giving me contacts of fellow artists and crafts workers in his network to connect with. Engaging with him was truly a blessing! He was so passionate about his work, and learning how he was encouraged by his family to pursue his craft, while also passing it along to his son was even more heart warming. We spent almost 4 hours engaging and I’m dedicating so much of this first blog to my encounter with him because so far it has been super helpful and resourceful in shaping my experience!
DIASPORA AFFAIRS
Shortly after meeting with Fred, I officially started my internship on the 12th of June. I met with my direct supervisor and the head of the Diaspora Affairs Office. We discussed how we would be working together officially and be of best service to each other during the journey. I shared some of my insights from my meeting with Fred, alongside running some ideas I had following my first engagement experience and we had a fruitful conversation as they also shared some ideas also concerning how we would be working together from adding to their database, getting familiar with the office and meeting other members of the team officially. Since then, I have been working closely with my supervisor, updating him on some of engagements while also figuring out our database and how we will be proceeding with that, one of the most important parts of the project.
JOURNEY SO FAR
I’ve crossed paths with a number of artisans, some who I met randomly by passing by their shops and others through word of mouth or recommendations. “Crossed Paths” because we’ve mostly just been in contact, setting and scheduling times where we can meet to engage properly. With the rainy season, a few arrangements have had to be rescheduled among personal scheduling differences on both ends. I’d say between the weather and personally getting Covid for a bit, there’ve been slight delays in my engagements. However I was able to connect with a few people still, especially two other amazing artisans – one I was connected with through Fred and another I actually met 2 years ago and have been able to reconnect with!
HAPPY CERAMICS
I was given Happy’s contact through Fred, and when we scheduled a meeting for me to visit his studio, it turns out I’d actually already visited his workspace with my cousin two years before when she was looking for some ceramics. Happy shared his ceramic journey with me, also encouraged by family to go into this trade. I was glad to hear how although his support started of largely from non – Ghanaian support, more recently a lot of local and diasporic Ghanaians have actually been engaging with his work. He was excited to connect with me, clearly passionate about his work and the opportunities and impact that would come out of being included in the office’s database. This was a very heart warming connection for me because he confirmed how necessary this process is, connecting with artists and artisans, sharing their work and pushing support is. We spent another afternoon with his son and they gave me a pottery class (a service he also provides aside making Ceramics with his wife). As we were working together, we spoke more about how he actually wanted to be an architect but fell in love with ceramics in university, the impact of first 9/11 and then Covid on his business, his personal influences in his work and how he went from partnering with a group of ceramists under the renowned Unique Ceramics group and branching out to managing it on his own. He’s super cool!
PATRICK
Patrick and I had to connect over the phone because he had a number of orders he was working on, and he lives outside the city so meeting in person hasn’t been possible so far. I’m mostly documenting my interaction with him because he was actually one of the people who inspired my interests in engaging and learning more about and from local artisans. I met him once in traffic, he was selling bags he’d woven and they literally caught my attention, I had to buy one on the spot because I had never seen anything so exquisite. We had been in touch since then but business was pretty slow for him. Although we haven’t been able to meet in person since, I’m glad his work has gathered such large orders for him in this period ( to the point where he hasn’t been in the city in weeks because he’s been over booked)! He shared how he’s been getting a lot of local support recently, and we talked over the potential of him being a direct contact for diaspora and local interested in his work which he thought would be amazing! He currently has a few people working with him, whereas when I first encountered him 2 years ago he was working alone. He is self taught, making these bags he shared with me from his personal influences and inspiration from his akan background. I personally have one of his works and I was so drawn to it because his bags are so authentic to his style, something I’d almost describe as an Afro-modern take to oversized multi purpose bags. I’m excited for the potential being connected to more people through this experience could have for him!
Material Methods, Mapping Home – Derek Russell, B.ARCH 2022
They searched for the ancient path, the old road that led to Quito when all others were lost. Dirt roads through Musua, mountaintop farms and sleeping cattle watch with starry eyes in a race against the clock. We heard news of an opening, a single gateway that could lead us back to security – one that was closing. Strung somewhere between, I heard silent prayers for restitution; wanting nothing more than to go home, wanting nothing more than to pass.
A trail beneath Bamboo temples
We didn’t make it. The single entrance back to the capital city sealed merely minutes before we arrived. “No paso” the woman at the toll gate said with an apologetic sigh. While we questioned her about the nature of the situation, trucks full of goods also trying to make the tenuous passage piled up; the lifeblood to the palpitating heart of Ecuador stalled. Circling back on a three hour journey, we sought a safe house in Santo Domingo, a farm of massive bamboo stalks used for CAEMBA construction. In this forest, weary travelers could find some respite from their fruitless voyage, some place to hide.
Safe House
Settling in between bouts of radio static tuning into the daily news, the fog of morning dew finally resting, I couldn’t help but contain a bit of strange excitement to learn about the sustainability initiatives that CAEMBA employs here at the farm. I had planned to visit at some point during my grant, circumstance however gave me that opportunity sooner. The bamboo farm was only bought by Fundacion Raiz five years prior, many of the bamboo plants growing there part of a much older agricultural endeavor. Manuel took me on a tour of the massive property, educating me about the material benefits of using bamboo for climate resilient construction. It truly is one of the most impressive plants in the world, able to grow up to three feet in a day. They say if you sit and watch, you can see it growing. Every morning I would wake up to new toddler sized shoots peaking out from the bundles, as thick as a bowl. Chris mentioned that the water contained inside the bamboo also contains many healing properties that are good for skin repair and making tea. 
Close up of healthy young bamboo shoots
There are other considerations however that go into the harvesting process. Bamboo is an important carbon sink that fixes atmospheric CO2 within its trunk, however, after about 5 years a shoot will begin to die and return that carbon back into the air. To optimize the amount of carbon storage before the plant withers is a precarious game. Another obstacle is that when the plant grows, it grows in concentric rings that emanate from the center. This means that more mature bamboo can be found at the center of a large grove. To harvest it can sometimes require the sacrifice of younger, healthier plants.
Boron salt bath
Here at the farm, is also what’s known as “the factory,” or the place where CAEMBA prefabricates all the bamboo panels that they eventually use in construction. Manuel also referred to this as the “Mad Max part of the operation,” as we watched local harvesters ride out on fortified tractors and climb high into the canopy. This process is incredibly important in ensuring both the safety of the bamboo buildings but also the equity for the many inhabitants of these structures. Built in panels, CAEMBA’s houses are designed to be easily constructed by real people. This ensures that in the wake of disaster, many repairs can be made without significant costs to the homeowner. It also allows for flexibility in the design, which allows folks to rearrange and personalize to their home as they see fit. To build one of these panels without the aid of the premade wall templates would be incredibly difficult, so consolidating resources into this one factory is pivotal. To ensure the longevity of the bamboo, all shoots are soaked in Boron salts for five days. The salts are nontoxic to mammals and sustainable. It effectively serves as pest control, most insects unable to tolerate the chemical treatment. Especially in a tropical climate, invasion by cockroaches, termites, and other pests cause incredible amounts of damage to homes each year. With nuanced design decisions, CAEMBA has streamlined the process from farm to construction in a way that is healthy for the environment, supports local labor, and gives agency to homeowners who have never owned property. 
Prefabricated panel template
The Beauty of Urban Nature — Lucia Li, BFA ID 2024
Hello, my name is Lucia, and I’m a rising junior in Industrial Design with a concentration in Nature, Culture, and Sustainability Studies. This summer, I will be working as an outreach and educational development intern with Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ), a youth-centered eco-education non-profit based out of southeast San Francisco.
These first few weeks have been filled with much excitement, adjustment, and learning. When I first stepped into Bayview-Hunters Point, the industrial southeast sector of San Francisco, I was immediately struck by how different these neighborhoods were from the rest of the city. Of course SF’s signature steep hills and streets are largely the same, but instead of bustling streets of tourists, shops, upscale restaurants, and dense urban infrastructure, the streets were lined with depots and warehouses — semis and pickup trucks parked haphazardly on cracked asphalt surrounded by concrete barriers and discarded wooden pallets. What little green space I saw was actually yellow — patches of grass and weeds on top of what I later learned to be converted parking lots and brownfields.
Once I oriented myself with LEJ’s facilities, located just down the road from the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (CPSRA), I stepped into the role of student alongside the organization’s regular eco-education interns, the Eco-Apprentices. Here, I was immersed in the story of San Francisco’s southside — a history of environmental injustice that had taken place right in my backyard.
Bayview-Hunters Point was once a bustling naval shipyard that brought in a massive wave of largely African American blue-collar workers. Post-WWII, residential zoning pushed more African American residents out of other neighborhoods and into Bayview-Hunters Point. Around this time, the neighborhood saw the operation of the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (NRDL), a nuclear research facility that decontaminated ships damaged by nuclear weaponry while also researching the effect of radiation on living organisms. The NRDL was decommissioned in 1967 and the shipyard closed in 1994, but they left rippling waves in the community that can still be felt today. Because of the extensive radiological and heavy metal contamination, the area was declared a Superfund site in 1989. Today, Bayview-Hunters Point is largely isolated from the rest of San Francisco, and with some light industry still running around the neighborhoods, the infrastructure is noticeably older and more run-down than other areas in the city. Currently, environmental activists in the area are working to acquire remediation funds for the areas affected by contamination while also spreading awareness about how communities can protect themselves. Additionally, organizations like LEJ hope to provide community healing by giving local families and marginalized youth the opportunity to engage with green spaces, enjoy outdoor recreation, and just experience the natural world through a lens of care and stewardship.
I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting Candlestick Point — CA’s first urban state park. When thinking of nature, people often picture National Parks like Yosemite, Grand Canyon — grand vistas of wilderness whose appeal lies in their promised escape from everyday city life. We often overlook the importance of urban nature. Urban parks provide an easily accessible place for city-dwellers to enjoy the outdoors, and human-nature interaction is something we will have to increasingly consider if we want to forge a sustainable future for cities. Candlestick is one of the areas that LEJ primarily operates out of, and where they will often hold community events alongside park stewardship and habitat restoration volunteer events.
As someone who is not from San Francisco, much less Bayview-Hunters Point, I took the backseat for much of this early learning period. With each passing day, I’m continually struck with such awe and appreciation that I was lucky enough to step into this experience — it’s been so different from anything I’ve done before, and yet uniquely rewarding. Additionally, it was nice to turn off my “designer brain” for a time and just approach the beauty of urban nature with the same wide-eyed wonder that a child would. There’s also something so incredibly fulfilling about working with your hands — seeing the effect that just genuine physical labor can have on a weed-riddled hillside over the course of a single afternoon. In such moments, I can truly appreciate the work and impact of environmental educators and advocates.
Shifting a community in a new light – Abenda Sohn, BFA Illustration 2022
Today was filled with a lot of information, from dates of events to explaining the duties of each member and checking the list of who was present at the last meetings. I met everyone on a gloomy and humid Monday on the back porch of one of the members of the Liberian Organization. The sun was shy as the hours winded down. There was a prayer at the start of the meeting, and then they would discuss and go over their plans for Liberia’s independent day event. This event happens every year; this event will showcase all the organization has done, highlighting the past and enlightening others on what is new and emerging. Also, they have been planning this event since January, so it was vital for me to ask questions about where our project fit into all of this.
Given that the Liberian immigration experience is so diverse, beautiful, and critical, we wanted to display it in a manner that would be more personal and compelling yet natural. We all agreed on doing short personal videos rather than artworks, One that could showcase cultural pride, community engagement, and the beautiful Liberian life in the normal and incidental. I was inspirited that they all understood what would be easy for them and what would make them feel more comfortable. I was not into having a giant camera in my hand for weeks, so it worked perfectly.
Confronting Pain of the Past- Pei-Yu Hung, 2024, ID
Upon stepping out of the 15 hours plane ride from NYC to Taoyuan Taiwan, I was hit with the unfamiliar density of hot humid air. Last time I was home was a year ago. The air was the same, I’ve just simply forgotten about it. As much as I have try to involved myself with the topic of 228 Massacre and transitioanl justice when I was in the states, it was not the same being back on the island. On the ride back to my quarentine hotel, I pass Zhongzheng Rd (中正路) which was named after the dictator/president responsible of this historical trauma.
History, it is in the air.
Quick Recap
For those who don’t know I’m working with the organization called the Taiwan Youth Association for transitional justice and Kiong Seng, located in Taipei, Taiwan. They advocate the importance of remembering the forgotten history. Their research focuses on the 228 Massacre, which was not taught in history textbooks until the past twenty years. The 228 Massacre, a uprising after the regime change after WW2, marked the beginning of the seventy-year-long White Terror authoritarianism era. Kiong Seng holds history workshops, lectures, summer camps, publications, and music festivals in relation to this massacre. By educating younger generations, they hope to preserve these stories and accomplish transitional justice through the process.
Making the Website
The first project I started with was the official website for the NGO. Before my arrival this summer, I worked with my then supervisor on the preliminary website, helping him figure outthewebsite’ss platform, domain, and service. While I was in the government-mandated quarantine for seven days during the first weeks, a lot happened.
I was told that the original supervisor had resigned and that I had to find another supervisor who just returned from her vacation. A rocky start. I did not know what to expect and what to do at first, so I started brainstorming and creating prototypes of the websites on Figma before I could get a hold of my new supervisor.
But everything turned out fine. They were all very communicative, and I was able to set a meeting with my new supervisor. In our meeting, we set up new goals and deliverables and shifted the website’s purpose from blog based to archival. However, during this meeting on a Friday 2 in the afternoon, I was given very short notice that the website would launch at 7 the same day. I had four hours to fix and create just enough content before the website announcement.
We managed it! The prototypes helped a ton.
To speed up the process for the launch, we had to use a ready made template. Going forward, I will be adding and design the whole website to better suit the need of the organization.
The following week, I went to the office and started my archival work, working on collecting past event documentations and dicussion on my map making. Transfering ten years worth of documentation of events, puplications, and documentation onto my drive took a few hours. After which, I did more archival work, transfering posts and photos on Facebook, their primary use of social media and documentation, onto google drive and creating a itininary of all the events that will be shown on the website.
file names matter!
note to self
Without planning it, my process of creating the offical website of the organization helped me a lot in my personal project. While riffling through all the past event documentation and files, I became a historian. I was giving the oppertunity to tell the history of this organization. And what was the first thing I did designing the website? Mapping out the flow chart of the website.
Planning and drafting the mapping project
Through mutiple discussion with my supervisors, we came to a conclusion of what this map might look like. It wil be a layered map that tells the stories of 228 massacre in different cities and a dicussion of walking tours hosted by the organization. We went through many different iteration and ideas of what the map might be. At first, we thought about telling the story in a linear fashion, while the reader scroll through the page, storys pop up chronologically, telling the overall history of the massacre. However, that had been done before by governement departments or vmemorial museum. I’ve also thought about doumenting and interviewing all the past walking tours, catologing and presenting the tour digitally. We decieded the value of these tours are that people walk within the streets and see the buidlings in-person as a immervise experience. Changing the medium into the digital lanscape will take away the impact of these walking tours. Through our dicussions, we decided to include stories from different region but also include interviews with the tour guides on how they plan the routes and their view on learning history in an unconventional way.
The second part of the map will be a project called, “Transitional Justice Cab.” I will be inviting people, such as, lecturers, students, people interested in history, and people with little knowledge of the history on a ride to the each memorial park in their city. During the ride, I would like to interview and spark conversation on how they view this historic past and what they think about transitional justice.
Overall there are three parts of the mapping project:
- 228 Massacre regional map: telling the story of what happened in each city and the people, victims involved in the event
- Kiong Sheng walking tour documentation: interviews with past tour guides and lecturers on how they plan walking tours and their thoughts on historical sites and rememberence
- Transitional Justice Cab: a conversation of understanding the past and thoughts on memorial parks and museums
Collective Memory and Maps
Through the past two weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time reading more in depth on transitional justice as well as the massacre itself. I was fond of the idea of “Personal history is collective memory.” It is easy to get caught up in numbers, statistics, and overall picture of historic events if we understand it through the lense on how history is taught in public education and media protray. However, at the end of the day, the root of which is still about people and their stories.
I’ve always been fascinated about maps. Perhaps it might be that Taiwan was not drawn in many world maps in the world or that the representive maps we had are mostly colonial maps by colonial and imperial regime. To me mapping and map reading was always a way to reconnect and understand the locality and history of my culture and identity. In some of the reading recommended by the organization, mapping was a way of storytelling.
there are some phenomena that can only achieve visibility through representation rather than through direct experience.
James Corner, The Agency of Mapping: Speculation,
Critique and Invention,
I’ve begun to start thinking about my project. How do I map memory? History? Relics? Evidence? Trauma? I’ve been cautious not to fall into the pit of contributing to Trauma Porn (excuse my language), but all the articles, exhibitions, and documentaries on the subject pivot on pain.
How do I tell a painful history respectfully?
This is a question I will continue to ask myself in my journey of mapping.
Shifting to Online Engagement, Helina Yuheng He, BFA ID, 2023
First week: defining and grouping
Hello, dear friends.
Welcome to the first week of my journey. If you are reading this post, then I am fortunate to have you witnessing my project to protect the Sino-Tibetan environment with public education and design thinking.
My name is Yuheng (Helina), and I am a senior in Industrial Design with a minor in Art History and Theory. I was born and raised in an ethnically multicultural area in China (Guizhou province), and therefore, I naturally sought to help and protect a minority culture (the Tibetan culture in Sichuan) when I decided to apply for the Maharam fellowship.
Many of you might ask: who are the Tibetans? And why are they significant to the environment as well as the cultural landscape in China? Well, let me throw in some explanations so that it will be easier for you to follow my upcoming updates.
The Tibetan people are spread across different countries. In China, the Tibetan area is located in the west, extending over four provinces of the country—Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunan. They have their own language (Tibetan) and religious tradition (Tibetan Buddhism) that are different from Han Chinese (the majority Chinese ethnic group). The Tibetan environmental group that I am helping sits in Sichuan province, the one of the four that has most frequent communications with Han Chinese.
Located in the Himalayas, Tibet holds the highest mountain peaks and the most extreme cold weathers. It is dubbed the “pure land”, attracting numerous tourists, hikers, and naturalists every year to witness the breathtaking beauty of the area. Besides, any pollutions to the land will be directly reflected on the mountains and rivers in Tibet.
The environment in Tibet is facing danger due to industrialization. The snow line of the mountains has been rising. Poachers also appear around the forests in Tibet to steal animal skins and fish. In response to this crisis, many individuals and grassroot organizations have stood up. One of them is the organization I’m working with, LDONGTSOG (Chinese: 玛嵘峒格). It is located at Kehe Village, Aba County, in Sichuan province. Organized by a previous Tibetan monk, LDONGTSOG employs Buddhism concepts1 to educate local people as well as poachers. LDONGTSOG is a very small-scale organization based on local villagers. They accepted my help this time because they wanted to extend their influence beyond the village level, reaching out to youths in the city. With my Maharam fellowship, I want to bridge the conceptually “marginalized” Tibetan group with Han Chinese people and convey their organization’s value through visual means.
Unexpected Challenges
Although the idea seems charming, my plan was messed up by the sudden COVID outbreaks in China. The government tightened the border and required people from abroad to be quarantined for around a month (update: 2022/6/20) before they could move freely.
I was hesitant to go back to China due to these restrictions. Is it worth traveling for? What will I face when I return home and live in their village? Finally, I decided to seize the chance and embrace the uncertainty that this journey would bring.
The COVID outbreaks also means that I have to change my initial plan, which was to spend my first two weeks with the villagers and learn the culture before doing any design work. Obviously, it will not work out, and I will have to be remote for the first couple of weeks. Tibet is so unique that I do not want to make any assumptions about it before actually doing fieldwork there in person. My teacher once told me, “You will design differently once you breathe the air in Tibet.” I do not want to rush.
So, I stepped back and asked myself, “What is my goal in this journey?”
“To define a strategy of environmental protection derived from Kehe villagers’ unique perception of nature.” I answered.
“To connect people from outside and inside, sharing Tibetan’s holistic approach to nature with city inhabitants.”
“To unwrap my design process as an art historian student and designer, and honestly record Tibetan folk cultures in relationship with their environmental protection.”
Paths
With the answer in mind, I decided to shift my focus to online engagement with Chinese youths for my weeks in quarantine. My first and foremost task is to back up my knowledge of Tibetan culture by connecting to other professionals, since I have limited insights at this point.
The first organization I connected with is called Machik, which built the first K-12 school using Tibetan as the major instruction language in Litang County, China. Their founder, Dr. Lobsang Rabgey, was so kind that she offered me a free language lesson.
Then, I traveled to Philadelphia to meet another Chinese scholar in Linguistic Anthropology who researched environmentalism in Sichuan-Tibet. She provided me with information about other environmental activists in Tibet and inspired me to not measure the Tibetans and their culture against the western standard of environmental protection. She also emphasized the importance of fieldwork, which she believes is the best way to pay respect and attention to ethnic culture.
I also visited the Robin Museum of Art in New York. And I was delighted to discover how Tibetan knowledge and tradition were continued and transformed into contemporary visual languages.
After the initial research, I found that so many Tibetan young adults and residents doing social innovation works related to cultural and environmental preservation. The current issue is that these social innovation organizations are usually localized and fragmented.
One Approach
Then it raises the question of how to create civic engagement effectively? I know that many Chinese university students have endless curiosity to the unique environment and culture in Sino Tibet, so I decided to make them as my major audience group in my online campaign.
My following days in quarantine will be dedicated in the planning of online forums targeted at Chinese international students and scholars aged 20–30. I reached out to one of the biggest community-based youth organizations in China named 706 (https://706ny.com/706). I will use their platform to produce 2-3 live broadcasts in communication with outstanding youths and groups that have engaged with the Tibetan environment or culture.
This diagram serves as my road map for the forum. Currently, I am in the phase of outreaching to speakers. I believe this forum is a great opportunity for me to learn more about the Tibetan community that I will enter, and for other Han Chinese students as the first door step to connect Tibetan Chinese.
This is my report for today. Please keep an eye out for the upcoming posts if you are curious how the online forums will develop.
Thanks!
Helina
New Beginnings – Derek Russell, B.ARCH 2022
I arrived into a state of upheaval. Flaming tires littered the road between Mariscal Sucre International airport and my new home in Tumbaco. As a result of a contentious election, rising inflation costs, and a waning quality of life, many indigenous activists from the Highlands took to the streets to voice their discontent. At a time of global economic uncertainty and recovery from an unprecedented pandemic, there couldn’t be more evidence that social progress and environmental equity are paramount in arriving at a just future.
Bamboo being offloaded onto the site
Atacames,
a city on the pacific coast of Ecuador, was my first stop on my journey with Fundacion Raiz. Six years prior, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the nation devastating many coastal cities poorly constructed by municipal governments and urban planners. Many buildings of concrete and steel failed under the sudden pressure, resulting in high casualty rates. Chris, a jewelry maker and one of my two project coordinators, told me stories of the shockwaves she felt in her home high up in the Andes, far from the epicenter. She couldn’t image what it must have felt like to the locals at the center of disaster. With her husband Manuel, they traveled to the devastated coast with the intention to provide aid. What they saw in the rubble was evidence of hope and resilience in the form of vernacular architecture, houses built from bamboo and local plants that survived the earthquake. They knew in an instance that their lives would never be the same, and with the support of Fundacion Raiz they gave birth to an initiative called the Casitas Emergentes de Bambu, or CAEMBA. Learning from the local craftsman, they were able to develop a design and streamlined manufacturing process for resilient housing that outlasts natural disaster.
A view of the existing housing being relocated
Minga,
a Quechua term referring to collective work undertaken for the betterment of a community, is a driving philosophy for CAEMBA. As with most humanitarian aid giving, many ethical concerns are brought into question when those with privilege gift what they perceive as a necessity to a struggling group of people. It sets an inherent power dynamic, can lend towards imperialistic ideological impositions, and ultimately disengages with dialogue. By implementing the concept of Minga, Chris and Manuel combat these many colonial constructions with empathy and sharing. “How many architects can say they know every family they build a house for anymore?” inquired Manuel at the start of our build, citing an inherent lack of conversation in the construction process. “Here we know every family we build for, have cherished relationships with them, and are here to make a difference. Yes we build houses, but that’s only a small part of what we do, what we build are communities.” Here in Atacames, many of the families are destitute, squatting in shanty homes illegally beside a mangrove embankment. They dump their waste into the same water they fish from. Some women have turned to prostitution for stability, some men have turned to the illegal cocaine cartel. Each family that is receiving a home from CAEMBA has never owned property before or had access to proper sanitation. By working together with members of this community, Chris and Manuel hope to change that, inspiring others with knowledge of construction and material but also with dignity.
Pan de Mama 
Women from the trade school cooking a meal
Casa de la Mujere,
is an earlier project from CAEMBA in this same neighborhood of Atacames that has revitalized the local people. It serves as a community center for women, complete with a kitchen, craft room, event space, play area, and quiet room for nursing as well as resting place for both parents and children. Across the street is a maternity center for newborns and mothers. However, they chose not to stop there. In this space, they partnered with community organizers to create a fully funded trade school for the local women, imparting two-year degrees in areas such as: cooking, sewing, entrepreneurship, and craft. Upon my arrival, I was able to witness the first ever graduation from this community. When discussing her activism for women’s empowerment, Chris said, “It’s truly amazing to see the transformation that these women have undergone over the past few years. When we first started, these women were so shy. They grew up feeling like they were property, passed from their father to their husband with little say in their own life paths. Some only even have a second-grade education. Now they have certificates that prove that they are skilled, knowledgeable, and have agency over their own careers.” Once the new houses are complete, Chris and Manuel also make sure to write the deed to the home in the names of the women. For many, this is the first time in their lives they have actually owned something of significant value. Their smiling faces and revitalized energy speak volumes of the strides that CAEMBA has made to change the fabric of this community.
The lot
Me, helping build a foundation on site
Building in progress 
A collaborative process
Placing the final touches
Christina (Resident) securing a roof with a CAEMBA contractor
Building,
on two plots of land donated by city, this new CAEMBA neighborhood of 31 houses offers a vision of environmental justice. In collaboration with contractors knowledgeable in the building process, volunteers, and members of the family who will inhabit these future homes, everyone worked together in the building process. All of it can be done on the scale of the individual, without the need for heavy machinery. The building process is also a learning process, where locals are able to absorb new construction methods that they can apply to other areas of their careers. The houses are light but strong, being made of bamboo. They are also sustainable. Each house can be customized and changed depending on the tenants desires with a wrench and a hammer, all wall panels can be removed and reoriented, spaces for future doorways are also built into the design. An entire house can be built in a day, also deconstructed and moved. To ensure community stability, all tenants agree to a binding five year contract where they must remain as the owners of their home, after which they can opt to move or sell. However, families are highly encouraged to invest into their new homes, a safe space for generations of families to live. There is so much evidence that owning a stable home is one of the first steps in lifting families out of poverty. It allows folks to search for jobs, better healthcare, and gives additional time to other luxuries we often take for granted such as making their opinion heard in public office and other social programs that directly impact their lives. In only a week, an entirely new way of living was designed and implemented; a generation of possibility.
Day One: An empty lot
Day Two: A foundation
Day Three: A home
Family overlooking the construction of their new home 
Chris and Pasqual playing patty cake
A peaceful afternoon in the neighborhood 
Last Moments at Sankofa, Shreya Kaipa, BArch ’23
September 23, 2021
Last week, my signs delivered and I installed them at the Diamond Street and Sprague Street Sankofa Gardens!
The Diamond Street garden dealt with misunderstandings around how to properly turn on and off the hose. Growers need to go inside the shed to turn the tap first, before turning the outside hose handle. If the order is switched, it leads to expensive flooding.
The Sprague Street garden sign is intended to encourage sharing knowledge, since there have been many accounts of miscommunication and stealing. In addition, Southside Community Land Trust asked for a couple copies of this sign for 3 of their gardens! One of their translators generously helped me with making both signs.
After installing the signs, Julius (the market manager) arranged a small lunch gathering for staff at West Elmwood Housing Corporation and growers I know from the garden. I spoke about my experience this summer and explained my intention with the signs. It was lovely being able to see everyone’s reactions and support towards my work.
Last month, I connect one of my favorite podcasts with Sankofa. Mosaic highlights stories about immigration and identity in Rhode Island; they are currently speaking with Raffini, one of the growers for a future piece. The producers also invited me to submit a community essay to share my thoughts from Sankofa! I am so grateful to be able to share my story on such a platform. 🙂
Sharing Knowledge, Shreya Kaipa, BArch ’23
September 4, 2021
I have officially finished up my fellowship!
Over the course of the internship, the biggest moment of weakness I noticed was stealing and miscommunication. Ideally, I wanted to be able to propose and execute a spatial layout for a new garden that would encourage growers to collaborate and share expertise with each other. However, this wasn’t feasible due to resource and timeline constraints, so I decided to focus on my fine art skills to create a signage project.
I have been working on the visuals of 2 signs to be posted in 2 Sankofa Gardens. The first sign, pictured below, aims to encourage sharing of knowledge, expertise, and produce between grower, in order to reduce misunderstandings in the garden. One grower shared with me that growing up in their home country, sharing food with strangers from their farm was very common. If an outsider wanted to eat, it was welcomed, not shamed. As a result, I felt it was most important for this sign to read as a story, rather than a command. In order to ultimately give the growers the agency to determine what behaviors they believe are best.
The 2 stories illustrated, the right side: stealing, and the left side: sharing, are based on the experience of the growers I have met in the gardens. Many growers feel disappointed and angry when they find their vegetables have been stolen.
Melanie, my supervisor, shared with me the joy and connection she feels with growers when they share expertise on how to grow with her. She has strong relationships because of how she supports them in the garden, and how they give back to her.
It’s important to note, that ultimately, the stealing and lack of strong relationships in the garden is tied to the individual ownership system of the garden. I initially assumed it was due to language differences, but I noticed that at the market, when vendors are forced to exist together, they are frequently finding opportunities to support one another (whether it means helping set up a tent, or making the other laugh on a slow rainy day). And this occurs across farmers of different cultures!
This second sign, above, is a response to flooding issues with the water pipe in one of the gardens. Melanie explained how growers often turn off the external hose first, when they should be turning off the handle inside the shed first.
The signs are planned to ship and be installed in the coming week!
I also had the honor to write and record a short essay about my experience with Sankofa for the podcast, Mosaic, which will be published through the Publics Radio soon as well. A final post is soon to come. 🙂
You must be logged in to post a comment.