'LA ESCUELA' Competition / Architecture Design

The current situation of indigenous peoples in Argentina is complex. Over the past 20 years, with the expansion of agribusiness, agricultural companies have encroached upon native forests, limiting indigenous peoples’ occupation to 300 thousand hectares, out of the 7,206,000 they previously inhabited.

In ‘El Palmarcito’, in the northwest of Formosa, the situation is even more complex, where not only the loss of the forest is affecting, but also extreme weather and water scarcity.

“Yvy Marane” is our proposal to build. A Rural School for the Wichí community of ‘El Palmarcito’. The name not only alludes to the school as a space for building knowledge but also because the proposal seeks to value the ancestral knowledge of the community through architecture, as well as all the wisdom that the land has to offer us.

Additionally, the project is developed from understanding what a school means in this community. That is, understanding that it is not only a curricular and academic learning space but also a space for interaction, encounter, expression, and growth. It is not only where classes take place but also acts as a medical clinic for health check-ups, a daily dining hall, and communal meeting space. It provides shelter for all activities.