5/8/2010

Just to the north of Block 3 of the University, in the area known as Cuidad Universitaria (University City) are some concrete foundations surrounded by trees. At first glance it looks deserted but delve a little further into the undergrowth and you soon come across tell-tale signs of colourful political art work, a half-constructed some, gardens and the tents. Here, in central Buenos Aires, like the eco-village Velatropa. This university land of approximately one acre has now been occupied for three year (with no resistance from the University or the state).

Wooden dome and wind turbine

It has a transient population dominated by young University students (or those recent graduated) but even in winter, when I visited, had 20 residents. Although most people sleep intents there are several permanent eco-buildings on-site. The best of these is the main communal structure which houses a meeting space, library, art studio and kitchen which extends outside to several external ovens and food storage areas. This building is an experimental combination of adobe bricks, wattle and daub (using bamboo), bottle walls, beautifully shaped curved glass and quirks like a shutter made from flattened tin cans.

The kitchen and communal building, and a wall of the communal structure

The library and view of the windows from inside the communal building

Experimenting and recycling are two key activities onsite. All the materials for the buildings have been reclaimed and sourced for free. There are carefully ordered stacks of wood and ingeniously made bolts on the domes made from old drinks cans. Bricks are being made by compressing plastic bags into used plastic bottles and adobe bricks are made onsite. A reclaimed wooden dome is being given wattle and daub walls using bamboo to create the structure on which to ‘hang’ the clay. Elsewhere onsite a sandbag building is half complete. Someone has built a wind turbine from a bicycle wheel and recycled plastics and a solar hot water heater from old drinks bottles. This experimentation does mean that not everything works perfectly and in the recent rains the inside of the art studio was damp, perhaps built without a protective raised foundation. But that everything here has been made for free is the bigger message they are trying to convey.

Construction of bricks for building from used plastic bags and plastic bottles

In fact, Velatropa are trying hard to illustrate just how wasteful society is by deliberately recycling all that they can. They collect waste from around campus and beyond and recycle it, they run workshops with school children on making art from waste, and work with architecture students on building using discarded materials. The site has several stacks of plastic bottles, tin cans, plastic bags and cardboard. When I visited they were drying out the filling of a futon mattress they found dumped nearby which they are using as cushion filling.

Wall of the communal building and wattle and daub dome in progress

Inside and outside the communal building

There is a dedication to self-sufficiency here, but urban style using the waste of those around them as much as growing what they need in their large and luscious gardens (lemon and grapefruit trees, beans and legumes, celery, herbs, lavender and aniseed and many more which I could not recognise). With every act that they do for themselves however, such as build onsite, they seek to impact far and wide. So they extend their gardening by making seed bombs – seeds wrapped in small clay balls – which they distribute onto other empty land. Every Saturday afternoon the local architecture students some and help them build, building workshops are held as are other events about sustainability.

The garden

Perhaps their main asset though is their site and the welcome they give to strangers. A arrived without warning or an introduction and with terrible Spanish. For the first hour my hosts spoke little English and yet they took the time to show me around, communicate what they were doing with warm smiles, sign language, and the gift of bots of plants to eat and smell. Rarely have I felt so welcome at a place.

If you would like to visit they have an excellent website which has bus information and satellite maps. You can also take a taxi from central Buenos Aires (costs around AR$50 pesos, about £10) and ask to be dropped at Block 3 of University City. Visiting late morning or in the afternoons is best.

Reference

• http://naturalbuild.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/aldea-velatropa-cuidad-universitaria-buenos-aires-argentina/

6/4/2010

It’s been a while since I blogged, in this time I transformed into a experienced urban hunter gatherer. I have been in the community for a while now. And it’s a very good and interesting experience. I’m grateful for the people who live here and opened up their heart to me and excepted this stranger that hardly speaks Spanish in their group.

Let me first tell you something about the place. On the terrain of the “cuidad universitaria” there are 2 foundations of huge ugly 70’s concrete monsters that were never build. One of these construction sites is now overgrown with vegetation and trees, giving it a kind of 70’s post nuclear war sci fi feeling with plants growing over the concrete floor and pillars. Together with the hippie graffiti on the pillars this picture is complete. It’s all very symbolic with nature reclaiming the space.

The people who live here build a shack out of adobe and thrown away material. It has a nice outdoor kitchen attached to it. They don’t sleep in the shack though, most people sleep in their tents which are dotted around the place and some in constructed domes. They practice organic farming, but most food is provided by recycling e.g. dumpster diving. Now when I say dumpster diving I guess some people will frown and I admit I also had to turn a mental switch with recollections of seeing homeless people eating out of trash bins. This is different however. The food is collected by going at specific hours past grocery shops just after they put out all the food that has lost their economic value but which is, if treated, still eatable.

You have to be quick though because he garbage truck (our natural enemy) is there roaming the street to collect it. The food is of course cleaned and all the bad parts are cut away. You won’t believe how much is collected every time. We easily collect 3 crates every time. It seems stupid to pay for food here with the relative high prices of it. Why work in order to pay for something that you can also get by just picking it up from the street? That is the general thought here. And it fits in the recycling spirit.

It’s good to meet people who think about this here because in general the people are to ignorant or apathetic about the state of the environment. In supermarkets you always have to say you don’t want a plastic bag and you can notice that the cassiere is not used to this. Sometimes they, being on automatic pilot, get confused when their work rhythm is broken by somebody who doesn’t want 5 plastic bags for his shopping. The state of the buses makes it more polluting to take a bus then driving a car I think. The number of bicycles is growing but still very small, it’s more used for recreation then for going to work. And of course most people eat meat, lot’s of it.

So I learn a lot about sustainable living, recycling and different permaculture techniques, one which involves making “balls of life”, a technique developed by mr. Fukuoka. Here you put seeds in a ball of earth which you throw everywhere and then you let nature do it’s job. Since permaculture is all about making as little change as possible to he environment it also fits in my philosophy of being a lazy ass. It’s nice to plant seeds and see the plant starting to grow after a few days. It’s nice to chop wood, making a fire, make bread, being freed from the work – consume cycle.

The people who live here are all very nice, interesting people. The only thing in which I differ from them is that I’m a typical down to earth Dutch guy and most of them are into the Maya calender, mysticism and more of that. Ah well, live and let live.

So I’m really excited to live here and be part of this unique place, to only thing which I don’t agree with is the mosquitos, there are so many of them. But it’s gonna get winter here soon so they will be gone to come back in spring.

Referencias:

• http://kurtvanaert.blogspot.com/2010/04/garbage-never-tasted-this-good.html
• http://kurtvanaert.blogspot.com/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtvanaert/

EXPERIMENTAL ECO-PROJECT A PLACE OUT OF TIME CALLED VELATROPA

There is a virgin spot in the city which has remained almost pristine until now. Luckily its present inhabitants have set preservation as the key objective for their project. Velatropa stands then as an open invitation for anyone who is eager to be surrounded by nature, right in the middle of a city that has been weeded out for the sake of progress. Hidden among trees, vegetation and concrete, the Velatropa eco-village occupies a space that was meant to house the fifth pavilion of the University City –a project abandoned long ago. A trail behind the fortunately constructed pavilions leads to the entrance of the village. A welcome sign and a trail marked with stones helps us not to get lost but also leave us a little bit disconcerted. Is this a jungle path? Where are we going? Why such a warm greeting to complete strangers? Some years ago, a group of friends started to clean the area up. The idea grew, and now the project is defined as ‘an ecological, sustainable, interdisciplinary, experimental, self-managed node’ that promotes ‘global consciousness and rebirth through the connection to nature’. And it doesn’t matter if all this sounds a little bit strange or idealistic to you first time. Because making a statement about a project that claims to work for the rise of ‘a new culture based on solidarity and peace’ is not something for which we were as heavily trained to understand as a blockbuster movies or TV ads. Heavily criticized by those who don’t share their opinions and values, and mostly by those who don’t even know what Velatropa is all about, the collective organization of the village is deeply concerned about how the project should evolve and growth. So decisions are made on consensus, and internships are even open to enrich this collective experience. Led by the principles of permaculture, the design of the whole settlement tries to replicate the relationships found in natural ecosystems. One of the pillars of this approach is to assemble the different elements in relation to one another, so that the products of one element feed the needs of adjacent elements. In short, this means producing less wastes and using less energy. Continuing with the eco-theme, all materials used for building the village infrastructure are totally natural or recycled.  This means not only promoting an ecological consciousness, but also spreading the word about techniques that are by far more accessible, convenient and eco-friendly than modern concrete construction. Among the various activities that take place in Velatropa, music, dance, theatre and other artistic expressions, blend with meditation, reiki and talks about the Maya cultural and its philosophical legacy. In its essence, the project is about ‘leaving a dream, for making possible the impossible. Playing and listening to each other, to remain true to our dreams and our deepest desires’, say the ‘velatropenses’ in their blog. If you want to visit Velatropa, the best time to do so is during weekends, as most of the people involved in the project don’t live there on a regular basis. Mostly, you’ll find workshops, courses and food being shared with all those present. But please bear in mind that a lot of energy has been invested to give this project reputable shape. So drinking alcohol is not allowed inside the village, while smokers are confined to a specific area if they want to light up. COORDINATES: Pabellón 5 – Ciudad Universitaria Bus Nr. 28, 33, 37, 42, 107 or 160 www.aldeavelatropa.blogspot.com Referencia: the Nose – BA’s city paper www.thenose.com.ar