SITE The Project is located in Convento (Chone) a rural area in the Ecuadorian coast, in an overwhelming natural environment where the presence of large forest of bamboo, a small creek running in front of the field and two rainforest mountains that surround the plot, became the perfect scenario to be potentiated through the project and generate the required relation between the owners and the landscape and take advantage of the views.
CONDITIONINGS As many architectural projects, the budget was an importantconstraint. The project could not cost more than $15,000, it was fundamental the use of local resources: bamboo forest and treatment of the material in situ. The local labor ignored about the construction process with bamboo so the family members were trained in order to collaborateand also applied their empirical knowledge in construction.
Another limitation was the distance and time (seven hours) between the project and the architect, which demanded practicality and clear language in the construction process, weekend meetings were planned sometimes each 15 days with the client and workers in the site to program the work for the next week. It was really hard to work in a place where the self-construction is the rule and the role of the architect doesn’t exist.
An important issue was to introduce the idea of the bamboo as a structural material, because how inhabitants use the material in construction is only for walls and they don’t cure the material so the live expectancy of the bamboo is very low, creating the wrong and general idea in the country that bamboo is a material for poor people. The fact of building with local resources in a bamboo producing area, is a huge opportunity for the community because it awakens interest in harnessing local resources with local labor causing a low impact on the environment and improving the quality of life of the inhabitants of the sector.
CONSTRUCTION The house used about 900 bamboo tree trunks and 8 “laurel” trees for secondary structure and coating walls, taken from the farm where the project is located. In the process of extracting the material, participated the family and some local workers, which experienced different cutting techniques and also they cured the bamboo to avoid insects. The construction process and structural system is simple in order than can be applied in the future for the people of the town.
PROGRAM The Convento house incorporates traditional elements taken from the constructions of the Ecuadorian coast, to establish a dialogue between vernacular and contemporary architecture. The property is separated from the ground to allow air circulation and in case of flooding not be affected. It is a simple program that consists of 3 bedrooms, social and service area (room + kitchen + room + bathroom) both areas connected through a social space that completely opens to the environment, allowing vegetation to enter and cross the house. In this space are incorporated hammocks, a hanging garden reminiscent of "hera" field and a garden at ground level, to highlight the main entrance.
On the back of the house is located the outdoor kitchen, in addition to isolate the smoke produced by cooking activity, maintaining the manabitan housing tradition. In Grandma's room appears a small terrace allowing visual connection with a bamboo area, adjacent to housing. Finally, a system of windows and folding doors is used which allow various configurations depending on the opening level of privacy, use, time and level of inner – outside relationship that users required, creating a changing and dynamic space.
