The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) announced the winner of the fifth MCHAP.emerge award: the Las Tejedoras Community Production Center in Guayas, Ecuador, designed by Natura Futura architect José Fernando Gómez and architect Juan Carlos Bamba. The project provides a hub for local women artisans, providing them with spaces to learn, create and display their textile creations. The winner was announced at the Critical Practice Conference held at Mies van der Rohe’s SR Crown Hall, an inaugural event that brought together the four MCHAP.emerge finalists to open conversations about the future of the architectural profession across America.
The biennial MCHAP Prize for Emerging Practice (MCHAP.emerge) aims to recognize the best works of architecture in America completed between 2022 and 2023. The winning project was selected from four announced finalists earlier this year. During this first edition of the Critical Practice Conference, each finalist had the opportunity to discuss their approach and engage in conversations on themes including ecology, technology, agency and generational change.
We are delighted to honor the Las Tejedoras Community Production Center, a true demonstration of how the next generation of architects can address the issues of our time with economy and elegance. Along with the other works that emerged from MCHAP.emerge, the rich conversations of the past few days have generated a wealth of ideas to empower future practitioners. – MCHAP Director Dirk Denison
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The winning project is recognized for its civic presence and contextual understanding of the unique needs and skills of the local community of Chongón, in Guayas, Ecuador. The center was designed for a collective of women weavers who did not have a dedicated space to practice their craft. The architectural project takes cues from the artisan’s identity, bringing together local materials such as teak wood and clay bricks laid in a herringbone pattern. The local climate also influences the design, prioritizing natural ventilation and light. In the middle, a green patio full of native plants connects the spaces dedicated to training areas, hands-on workshops, community meetings, and storage for creations.
Located near Guayaquil, the project presents a counter-narrative to the rapid urban expansion that characterizes the area, prioritizing instead a space adjusted to the needs of the community that also encourages biodiversity. By reintroducing native vegetation and endemic plants such as guarumos and heliconias, it also provides adequate conditions for birds and insects displaced by nearby developments.
The center opened in 2023, and the center soon became a reliable platform for economic and social progress in the community. It runs workshops on weaving and sustainable agriculture, empowers women to participate in the local economy, and promotes a closer connection with the environment.
Read on for the MCHAP Jury Statement.
Speaking on behalf of the jury, Chairman of the Jury, Maurice Cox, said, “The winning project, the Las Tejedoras Community Production Center, is infused with a civic presence that can dignify the entire community. Recognizing the importance of local building practices the communities, the project gives formal expression to local crafts and elevates their qualities.The two-story courtyard, which frames the sky, acts as a gateway between the community and the workshops inside, while providing a central gathering space available that integrates the structure’s architecture and landscape.designed for natural ventilation, shading, and cost-effectiveness, uses native materials in a clean and beautiful combination specifically, the paired columns and beams of raw teak wood used on throughout the building the level of detail rises to one of sophisticated construction.
The building serves as a teaching tool. The participation of local women artisans in the construction of the project gives real meaning to the South African expression ‘nothing about us, without us, for us’. – Chairman of the Jury Maurice Cox
“The project not only provides employment in the community but also facilitates skills development through active participation in the construction process,” Cox continued. In particular, the structure stands as a physical symbol of the community, reflecting the participation of local women in its construction. This agency represents the scope of the project from the client partner, the Young Living Foundation, to the hands that built it, reflecting its mission of education, small business enterprise, and everyone’s right to access beauty.”
In addition to Cox, the jury includes Giovanna Borasi, director, Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal; Gregg Pasquarelli, founding principal, SHoP Architects, New York; Mauricio Rocha, founder, Taller | Mauricio Rocha, Mexico City, and author of the project that won the 2023 Prize of the Americas, the restoration of the Museo Anahuacalli; and Sofia von Ellrichshausen, founding partner, Pezo von Ellrichshausen, Concepción, Chile, and author of Poli House, 2014 winner of the Emerging Practice Award. The other competitors in the MCHAP.emerge 5 Championship are the Housing Building on Virrey Aviles Street designed by Juan Campanini-Josefina Sposito, the PILARES Cuicuilco created by TO, +UdeB Arquitectos, AGendA agencia de arquitectura, and the Elementary School in Santa Cruz de Villacuri Communities, by Estudio Copla and Atelier Ander Bados.
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