Amairis sewing factory is an idea leaded by mothers of San Isidro Village, along with the local community center that promotes educational and cultural strategies in Puerto Caldas, Pereira, Colombia.
We joined this team of interdisciplinary agents gathered by an empowered group of people who opened up creative possibilities for accessing local symbolic networks that intertwine in their daily life. This trusting relationship and the findings observed in the landscape were fundamental premises for designing and building a workspace for them.
The idea emerged from the particular geographical conditions in which the river runs large through the valley adorned by corn crops and a deep blue sky vanishing in the horizon. Abundant quantities of bamboo (Angustifolia Kunth) and a neighbouring village with traditional craftsmanship of ceramic tiles and bricks, cast as relevant symbolic and constructive elements. Colombian popular building techniques hoist in the scenery, where matter and space are shaped by the “self-builders” to set up a habitat for their own.
The sewing factory’s location traces the solar transit which affects the principal facade, conceived like a dynamic device that provides several degrees of openness; while the rear facade is made up by a wall, for storage, and twentyfour windows creating a rhythm that frames the road. Intimacy is altered by the southern side facade glass made entirely to generate various lines that transform the platform’s extension.
