27 January 2022 | Inauguration Event | City of Barranquilla, Colombia.
In presence of representatives of the Swiss Embassy, SECO / EDA, and of ETH Zurich, Chair of Architecture & Urban Design.
Developed by a group of researchers of the LUS Chair of Architecture and Urban Design, Prof. Hubert Klumpner, and supported by the groups of ITA, Prof. Dr. Arno Schlueter and Prof. Dr. Philippe Block, in collaboration with an international network of partners such as Universidad del Norte , the Fábrica de Cultura: BAQ will provide a «maker space» for teaching young people the creative arts and popular traditions centred around Barranquilla’s Carnival. Operated by the Municipality of Barranquilla, the facility will offer cultural education in music, dance, sculpture, dressmaking, painting poetry, theater, food production, digital film, and audio techniques to all residents, especially to the popular Barrio Abajo.
The design utilizes local materials and processes of fabrication and adopts open building principles to establish a creative framework that can be modified and reprogrammed by users over time. Working closely with engineers from the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, as well as experts in sustainable building technology from the Chair of Architecture and Building Systems (A/S) and Block Research Group (BRG) at ETH Zurich, the aim was to develop a flexible building prototype, a public square and historic building renovation that ready for replication throughout the region.
The Fábrica de Cultura: BAQ project was implemented in the strategic of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank as part of the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative.
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