Sustainable Design
Architecture
Entrepreneur
ARCHITECTURE : Public
The National Park of Fairs inaugurated with 8 hectares of land, received 10 thousand visitors every weekend, and had more than 500 stands of different sectors such as farmers, plant nurseries, crafts, textiles and leather, furniture, dairy, agribusiness, food, among others. Photos: Google, ANFEF
The Swiss Development Agency (COSUDE) financed the design and construction of this national exhibition hall. It accommodates 30 small business spaces, training facilities to promote design and innovation with wood products.
La Casona del Café, 700 sqm. cafe shop specialized in Nicaraguan derived coffee products.
The National Park of Fairs inaugurated with 8 hectares of land, received 10 thousand visitors every weekend, and had more than 500 stands of different sectors such as farmers, plant nurseries, crafts, textiles and leather, furniture, dairy, agribusiness, food, among others. Photos: Google, ANFEF
Tupac Espinoza, as the first ANFEF's Director & Lead Architect addressed visitors and participants' requirements through a master plan of the new public spaces which improved the infrastructure and its functional aspects.
National Administration of Family Economy Fairs
​Through Regionalism and Sustainable Design, Tupac dedicated 3 years to develop and make sustainable 8 locations of various infrastructures dedicated to exhibit, promote and train Nicaraguan entrepreneurs in 200+ fairs, congress, and others promotional events. Managing more than 90+ staff members and increasing the annual budget from U$0.7 to U$2 million annually.
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The “Ministry of Family Economy, Communities, Cooperatives and Associations – MEFCCA” (Spanish initials) was created (2010) to strengthen Nicaraguan Family Economy by meeting the specific needs of the manufacture and agriculture sectors, such as the improvement for production performance, revenue and living standards of communities. Key goals of this practice were food security and climate change.
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In 2014, the National Administration of Family Economy Fairs - ANFEF (Spanish initials) was established by MEFCCA, to develop the National Park of Fairs – PNF (Spanish initials). The core mandate of the Park is to promote commerce and business opportunities, traditional knowledge transfer to upcoming generations, supply chains for small and medium urban-rural producers.
Currently, participatory design workshops are held creating project profiles including schematic design, building costs analysis, potential partnerships, among other components. Next phases will be focusing in getting funds and self-construction steps of each project.
Photography by Taller Plural.
SIMBIOSIS 3D: ​Barrio Enrique Smith
SIMBIOSIS Barrio Enrique Smith began in 2012 following the experience in Barrio Grenada. This second edition aimed the development of the public space of this Barrio improving the creative designing and self-management capacities within the community. SIMBIOSIS project was a joint initiative of Taller Plural and the community of Barrio Enrique Smith with the support of NGO HABITAR (through thier project Yo quiero a mi Barrio) and the Cultural Centre of Spain CCEN.
The first eight months stage succeed creating tridimensional and modelling architectural capacities improving the public space conditions. Residents from 8 to 65 years old were engaged in learning Sketch UP, designing a Master Plan and performing a +300 household survey allowing the community as a whole to identify their spatial and social priorities. The consultation set up the construction needs of the following areas:
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The sport area
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Cultural and Learning Centre
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Playground
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Repairs in the Community House
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Landscape (including furniture, tree planting and security strategies)
The dragon used 50 recycled tires and bolts, rubber screws in all the joints. The head is supported by a buried metal pipe. Budget: U$ 30 Construction: 4 people working 240 hours
A Bulldozer is an iconic machinery in the life of Bonanza's residents: it can be seen anywhere. To incorporate this machinery as a play structure into the project, we recycled a steering wheel and front seat of an old truck, the cabin and front blade of a bulldozer, among other things. By re-purposing garbage we gave to the children the dream of playing in a stationary bulldozer.
The dragon used 50 recycled tires and bolts, rubber screws in all the joints. The head is supported by a buried metal pipe. Budget: U$ 30 Construction: 4 people working 240 hours
JUEGA: Bonanza
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JUEGA began as a pilot project to build the first Municipal Park of Bonanza (Nicaragua) which was supported by the Municipality and the social responsibility of the Canadian mining company operating in the town. Seeking innovation and practicality of ideas mindful to the community cultural values, it was requested to the Nicaraguan collective Taller Plural (TP) to design and build the playground. TP as part of a Central American network of trans-disciplinary work, invited the collectives INSERT and D2N2 from El Salvador to be part of the project.
All designs produced in this project are open source material.
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JUEGA has been finalist at Eco Challenge 2013 (Ciudad Antigua, Guatemala) promoted by the OAS, Young American Business Trust and Pepsico. It was also selected
to participate in the First Week2Grow of the Eco-Entrepreneur 2013 (Washington DC, USA).
The social enterprise JUEGA promote recreation and integration spaces for the children, youth, physical disable people and their families that are also challenged economically and live in priority neighborhoods. We involve and create synergies among five key socio-economic sectors for any country development: local governments, private sectors mindful to social responsibilities, NGO’s, international organizations, Central American collectives of professionals and communities. We work on inclusive projects that respond to the local necessities of each community using local resources.
Photography by HEMCO Nicaragua and Taller Plural.
SIMBIOSIS Barrio Grenada was listed as a Good Practice in the UN-Habitat Best Practices Database after competing in the 2012 Dubai International Award for Best Practices (DIABP).
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SIMBIOSIS was an experience of full community engagement at multiple levels, and it enriched the humanism and solidarity of all who participated.
Photography and video by participants.
SIMBIOSIS: Barrio Grenada
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SIMBIOSIS was an interactive workshop between the collective Taller Plural, COMPAÑEROS INC. (Canadian Company), the “Centro de Estudios y Promoción para el HABITAR”, the University of Guelph, the community organization of Barrio Grenada “PODER CIUDADANO BARRIO GRENADA”, the academic and logistic support of three Nicaraguan universities, NGO´s, private sector, National Police and City Hall of Managua, all gathered together to achieve tangible results and mutual benefits.
From January to April 2010, consultations with community leaders guided the preparation of a comprehensive description of the Barrio and its 400 m2 public space. A month prior to the workshop, this material was sent to the participating 22 university students and 12 academic advisors. While necessary support from all collaborators was being gathered, the project was simultaneously being organized with the Barrio Grenada community, including coordination of accommodations for participants and volunteers during the construction phase.
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From May 10-15, a participatory workshop was held in an existing Community House in the Barrio. The workshop focused on the landscape design of a public park within the Barrio’s 400 m2 of underutilized public space. Site visits, interviews, meetings, and forums with leaders and representatives of other sectors took place during this time, and academic advisors provided input along the way. Through this dynamic and competitive process, seven distinctive design proposals were developed. The final proposal drew from the most pragmatic of those, while incorporating useful elements from the others.
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From May 17th to 28th, the proposed design was constructed in Barrio Grenada, and the new public, cultural and recreational community space was inaugurated with a public festival.