Al Borde Architects to Present 'The Shape of Others' Lecture on Nov. 4 in Vol Walker Hall

JAG Studio

The House of the Flying Beds in La Esperanza, Ecuador, designed by Al Borde.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – David Barragán and Marialuisa Borja will present a lecture at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus, as part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design lecture series.

Barragán and Borja founded the architecture firm, Al Borde, in Quito, Ecuador, in 2007, along with Pascual Gangotena and Esteban Benavides.

In their lecture, "The Shape of Others," they will discuss local input, one of the guidelines to understanding Al Borde's work. Each project is conceived of and materialized with the resources and knowledge that are found in place.

The questions and answers of each site, together with the client's requirements, make each project adopt the shape of others. Thinking local leads the firm to immediately face the practice involving all possible stakeholders and to value the collective thinking. So, participation becomes natural and necessary for the development of projects.

In the projects, the input of others adds something that members of the firm cannot see clearly from their distant position as architects. Even thinking of a long-term immersion process, they can never come to achieve the whole understanding of the place and its conditions as well as the ones who live on site. This acceptance of the value of others' knowledge makes them comprehend participatory design not in a romantic way of charity, but as a tool or strategy for the project to perform as its best. When others assume responsibilities in decision-making, the project has fewer possibilities that things turn out badly, or more chances of being corrected over time by all involved and not just by architects.

"Do things with less" is the credo of Al Borde. The firm has been featured in landmark exhibitions, such as the 2014 exhibition "Think Global, Build Social! Architectures for a Better World" in Vienna, and the "Reporting from the Front" exhibition at the 2016 Venice Biennale.

The firm is known for aiming to turn scarcity into an aesthetic and socially empowering asset. Convinced that the strength of an architectural project lies in the later autonomy of its users, Al Borde's design and decision-making processes rely on the involvement of the community in all phases of planning and construction, and the systematic exploration of the local context.

Each of the firm's projects is shaped by vernacular practices and natural or upcycled materials available on-site. Projects include Escuela Nueva Esperanza, a rural school built in 2009 in the coastal village of El Cabuyal, Ecuador; the Culunco house, a semi-buried family home built in 2014 in Tumbaco, Ecuador; and the House of the Flying Beds, a historic property renovated in the city of La Esperanza, Ecuador in 2017.

Habitually working with small construction budgets, the Al Borde team recently started to work on projects in emergency contexts. For instance, the firm's Post-Earthquake Prototype was developed in 2017 following the earthquake that shook the coast of Ecuador in April 2016.

Al Borde was shortlisted for the Swiss Architectural Award in 2018. The firm was named to Domus' guide to the world's best architecture firms in 2019.

The school is pursuing continuing education credits for this lecture through the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects.

The public is invited to attend. Admission is free, with limited seating.

For more information, contact 479-575-4704 or fayjones.uark.edu.