Designing for Humanity

MAKING AN IMPACT - Architecture for humanity Indianapolis Chapter

2009-06-02T23:43:00.015-04:00

This is the most recent picture taken during the AFH Indianapolis Chapter monthly meeting
( May venue sponsor - Ratio Architects )

- More stories about 'Designing for Humanity' to follow -
-Chunsheh Teo -

Holy Sprouts, Batman! 'OR' Greening it up at the IBPF

2009-05-26T11:55:00.010-04:00

On the outskirts of Urbana, Illinois sprouts are growing happily each day in a lovely ‘factory’ built into the side of hill. It’s hard to call it a factory…maybe more like an indoor farm…for baby plants…indoor baby plant farm (IBPF), yes that will do. Driving out west with a group of people from my church to Tiny Greens Organic Farm, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was going for a couple of reasons – the bigger one perhaps being that there is a yoga ashram located on the same property as the sprout factory – but little did I know that the factory would actually make the trip for me!

We were greeted as we arrived by the CEO/General Manager Bill Bagby, who was very excited to show us around his IBPF. The building uses a combination of passive solar design elements, radiant heating and cooling, super-insulation, and thermal storage. Bill worked closely with his mechanical engineers, and I feel like by the end of the process, he could design another one of these buildings without their help! The sprouts must be kept at temperatures between 68-71 degrees, and amazingly Bill pointed out that he requires no additional heating or cooling in the Spring and Fall due to the fantastic design work done on the building. The IBPF also recycles all of its water, a fairly amazing feat considering the amount of water that is needed to process the seeds into sprouts. At the farm’s previous home, Bill said that they were paying around $2000 a month in water bills! Now compare that to your next bill and think about how much water they go through. In trying to reduce their carbon footprint on the earth even more, the IBPF converted their main delivery vehicle to run on French Fry Fuel!

What a wonderful learning opportunity for so many…simple ‘green’ design elements that can be incorporated into so many projects not just here in our well-developed country, but in those where it could impact the lives of so many others. The water system alone could do wonders for so many communities.

Bill loves talking about his IBPF, and I know would love to have you come out! To learn a little more about the farm and set up a time to visit it, check out the website at www.tinygreens.org . If you want to try some of his sprouts, look for the Tiny Greens label at your grocery store!

IUPUI Making an Impact

2009-05-15T10:27:00.003-04:00

Little did I know that the University with that crazy acronym (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) has a growing organization that is doing some great work internationally and right here in the USofA. Global Design Studio presented some of their work last night at the AFH-Indy Chapter meeting to my (and I hope everyone else's) delight. GDS is a student run/faculty advised organization that has been setting up distance learning trips for students and others for design projects in the built environment. Recently, many of these projects have been humanitarian-based and the result of natural disasters. They showed us projects in Thailand, New Orleans, Hawaii (that must be a rough trip, and I will keep you posted on this one), and most exciting - Ecuador! These Ecuador projects just keep coming! Its exciting to see a young organizationg doing so much.

In other news, the press section of the US Embassy in Quito contacted me via email today to see if they could set up an interview with the WT (Winner Team) the next time we come to town! Teo started to fret and worried that he was in trouble for taking so much chocolate out of the country... but the interview would be about collaboration between Ecuador and USA...fun!

DESIGN UPDATES

2009-05-04T11:36:00.024-04:00

More Design Updates

IMAGES OF THE GEOTOURISM LODGE aka 'THE POD LODGE' FOR KALLARI -
( To read more about the design process, please view postings below )

- Chunsheh Teo - www.chunshehteo.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Developing Nations License License.

The Geo-tourism Lodge for Kallari a.k.a 'The Pod-Lodge'

2009-04-29T18:52:00.073-04:00

Learning from the trip
The trip to Ecuador is very educational and humbling for a designer like myself travelling for the first time in the South American region. Learning about the Culture, Life and the whole cacao production process starting from land selection, controlling the plant genetic attributes, the distribution of plants to the community, planting, nurturing, harvesting to the production of the actual chocolate bars intrigued me throughout the trip. These experiences definitely seeped into my mind when looking into the redesign effort at that time for the chocolate factory on the newly purchased site. Although the site submitted for the competition has now changed to a different location, interestingly, the original design for the factory / visitor center fits nicely onto the new site without needing any major reconfigurations.
As I’m moving into the design mode of the Geo-tourism lodge for Kallari, designing the 'story' for the lodges is the most interesting phase to me as a designer as it allows me to enhance the concept of the “Canopy’ created for the Factory / visitor center, while incorporating the essence of the cacao plant to narrate the story of the Kallari community.

The Addition - Beyond the Challenge
The addition of the lodges came about when we were in Ecuador as the community leaders informed us that the site were selected because of its strategic location as Kallari is currently working with the local government on a masterplan to create a ‘Cacao route’. Similar to the famous Andean route for Cañari-Inca culture in Ecuador, the ‘Cacao route’ will provide facilities along the route for visitors / tourist to immerse into the ‘ultimate Cacao experience’ of Ecuador. With this, came the ideas of the addition in providing Eco-lodges on the site. It might be a little confusing as I have mentioned Geotourism lodges previously but I think it is more appropriate to call it the Geotourism lodges than Eco-lodges due to several reasons mentioned below.

Geo-tourism
Geotourism is a new concept in redefining Sustainable tourism and Eco-tourism. National Geographic’s defines Geotourism as ‘tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents’.

The last point mentioning the well-being of its residents, to me, played a crucial role in the design for the lodges as it not only benefits the visitors, but also the local culture and its residents, in this case the Kallari organization and the Kichwa community.

Geotourism is synergetic, stresses on community involvement, providing the platform to inform both the visitors and enhancing the unique heritage of the local residents, benefitting the local residents economically, supports the integrity and uniqueness of the place and last but not least, providing an unique and authentic experience to the visitors while preserving its geological attributes.

Inspiration in designing the Geotourism lodges aka the
‘ Pod-lodge’ for Kallari
It has been an interesting journey to recap a few months back since the trip and looking back at sketches and thoughts made during November 2008.
The most interesting sketch was done while resting at a cafe after an exhausting but fruitful site visit with the community leaders.
Iinspired by cumulative experiences, I began to sketched a bunch of cross-sections of the cacao plant from the tree itself to the branch, leaf, flower, outer pod shell, inner pod shell, the pulp and seeds. But what intrigued me most at that time was how the seeds are connected by the central
strand and vice-versa how the strand holds the seeds together. This became the primary inspiration to the organizational diagram providing the connection of the new chocolate factory / visitor center to the pod-lodges on the cascading and sloped terrain of the site. After a few more ‘shell’ studies of the cacao pod, both the outer and inner shell, the section was then transformed into the design concept of the pod-lodges. It became the metaphor on the basis of design on how the structure and the unit modules came together. It is also crucial on how the pod-lodges integrate and placed benignly onto the existing landscape and environment, avoiding major disruption to the eco-system already existed. This translated into the lifting of the lodges on stilts that conforms to the challenging slopped terrain and minimizing the built footprint. The design of the Pod-lodge itself plays a vital role in the overall masterplan, continuing the design concept of the ‘Canopy’ for the factory created during the competition stage.

Each Pod-lodge facilities categorized by module types A,B and C ( A = 6 single units / B = 2 family units / C = Suites ) are strategically places on the site to provide unit privacy through orientation and planned landscaping. Solar panels are also incorporated into the design to generate power for each units. The primary perimeter wall of each Pod-lodge is operable using an accordian wall panel system. This provides a full extension of interior space to nature and within each panels, operable louvers are designed into each panels to provide the user controlled privacy and promote cross ventilation.
Similar to the concept developed for the factory, the roof overhangs to provide shade for the units. The roof also slopes inwards to channel the collection of rainwater down to a cistern below grade while enhancing the concept of outward reaching gesture connecting to the landscape.

In short, the design of the Pod-lodges will incorporate the essence of the cacao plant to tell the story of the Kallari organization and the Kichwa community.

- I will be posting more renderings + design sketches -

- Chunsheh Teo - Email me

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Developing Nations License License.

2009-04-28T18:28:00.011-04:00

'Beyond the Challenge'

It is a great priviledge to introduce a new team member, Rene Martinez as the new Building Technology Consultant for the second phase. To update the new team structure for Phase 2 -‘ Beyond the Challenge’, here is the latest update of team members and responsibilities moving forward.

'Team Updates'

Heather Worrell - Lead Organizer

Chunsheh Teo - Lead Designer

Igor Taskov - Lead Renderer

Fernando Pagan - Lead Communication expert (Spanish) , Building Technology Consultant

Rene Martinez - Building Technology Consultant.

For additional information please visit http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/kallari

- Chunsheh Teo - www.chunshehteo.com

2009-04-28T17:55:00.029-04:00

The end of the Competition Challenge + The new beginning of ‘Beyond the Challenge’

It has been a few months since the wonderful and educational trip back from Ecuador and it has been a few very busy months at work but to summarize the first phase of the Kallari project, here is a great report by Elaine Huang of AFH that wraps up the design competition stage for the Chocolate factory.

- Chunsheh Teo -

More work, Time crunch!

2009-04-22T17:53:00.007-04:00

The good and bad news is that RATIO Architect's has been keeping Teo and I really busy on projects. The semi-good news is that we recently decided that the "old" design fits quite nicely onto the new site. We have been developing designs for the eco-tourism lodges that are now a part of the program with our newest teammate - Rene Martinez.

The great fantastic news is that Kallari and Judy Logback have been busy promoting the fanstic work of the cooperative, and were recently featured on NBC National News - see it here!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

As soon as we get the design built, we hope to be on the National News showing off the entirely owned and operated Kallari factory.

My time seems to be opening up in the next few weeks, so look for more updates on the design!

-Heather

Site Update

2008-12-16T17:06:00.003-05:00

Oswaldo and the ET (ecuadorian team) have been busy! The surveyors were out gathering all the necessary information from the site in order to give us a better informed site. They were at the site, which apparently has changed a lot since the WT (winner team) was there, from Dec. 10-15. Much more vegetation made it hard work for them. They will be compiling the information and should have it to us in a few weeks! Just in time for the holidays to be over and work to begin in this half of the world.

-Heather

The Night shift at the Salinas Chocolate factory…

2008-11-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

We were on our way to Salinas at 9am this morning to meet up with Carlos (one of the Kallari leaders) to visit the chocolate factory…The journey is about 6 hours from Quito and we were driving in an extremely foggy condition on the Andes mountains….it was pretty dangerous as the edge of the road is literally by the edge of the mountains…dropping down at least a few hundred feet..but we managed to arrive in one piece…Pheww!!
The air is pretty thin here in Salinas and the weather is very cool…and misty...but this small self-sustained town is great...We took a tour with a local guide to a few micro-factories here in Salinas…the cheese factory, candy and chocolate factory, handicraft and soccer ball factory..Etc…we then were showed the machinery for chocolate making process...just heather and myself is allowed into the room…or I would call the ‘The secret chamber’…haha..but we did take some pictures as the manager of the facility explained to us on how it works…we then head back for dinner at the hostel.

...It’s 12:30 am now, Mee Leng and I just got back from the chocolate factory with Carlos (one of the Kallari leaders) ..as both of us volunteered to help out by making chocolate bars..Yes! 85% cacao content..pretty good stuff. There were 7 of us working on this shift…Carlos, Melaina, Thomas, Mee leng, myself and two other locals….as Kallari is renting the facility at night to produce the chocolate bars for an order to export to Japan. It was awesome….both mee leng and I enjoyed a lot working through the process of actually making the chocolate bars..and of course having some fun as well and getting to know more about the other volunteers ..we will be posting some videos and images soon once we have the chance to edit it to make it shorter….

By actually making the bars…it made me appreciate a lot more on how the locals here strive to make a living..it is certainly not a huge factory that it is fully automated but rather using an extensive hand made process…starting from scratch to the final product. The process of chocolate making will also inform and help me in the process for designing the upcoming 2nd stage of the Kallari chocolate factory in Baeza …and being there tonight will help me in the upcoming weeks of planning and designing for this great cause!

- Teo and Mee Leng -

Pachamama, Shopping, Radio...

2008-11-10T08:00:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we headed out to Otavalo after our breakfast meeting with Veronica, a local architect that is starting an AFH chapter here in Ecuador.

As we passed through the countryside, heading towards the city, the scenery was beautiful, the landscape changed as we went over each hill. Fernando had the day off from translating, so I did my best translating from Italian or Spanish...I'm amazed how my languages have come back to me. A requirement, when not much English is spoken anywhere.

Otavalo is a shopper's paradise, especially when that shopper is me. So many beautiful crafts and textiles, and paintings, and sculptures, and bags, and jewelry, and beads, and silver, and chess sets, and wow…I might have to go back… Teo mentioned Pachamama in his blog…and let me tell you, she is present in this country. She is all around in everything you look at and in all the faces you meet. As I walked with everyone down one aisle, we came to a booth with beautiful masks (I have a collection from around the world), one caught my eye in particular and as the artist described the work, is ending statement was “this is the face of Pachamam”, I knew right there and then, that she had to be mine. So now she is wrapped up tightly waiting to come back to America with me for awhile.

On the trip back we each took our turns dozing off, while watching the scenery pass by…seeing how Pachamama can do amazing things in this world. We ended the day with an interview with Marco from a local and very popular radio station…his voice made me melt…and it was fun talking with him about everything chocolate (he loves some chocolate). I wish I could have spent more time with him, he has done some amazing things in his life. (he had a nice German Sheppard too, that I couldn’t help giving some lovin’ to, I miss my dog!)

Today we spend 6 hours in the car, heading to Salinas de Bolivar. The Kallari leaders will meet us there and we will tour a chocolate factory. Should be great, once we arrive. My body is screaming at me about all this time sitting in the car, but I don’t mind. Ecuador has so much to show me…

Volcano eruption in Quito…

2008-11-09T23:56:00.005-05:00

It is so strange that I just received a call from Oswaldo telling us that the Tungurahua volcano in Quito erupted this morning…and authorities closed the airport because of the ashes from the eruption. We were at Otovalo this morning but fortunately the airport is back in service and will not affect our flight back to Indianapolis on Wednesday…crossing my fingers!

We started the morning with a meeting with Veronica and talked briefly about her endeavor of starting an AFH chapter in Ecuador...so I shared with her briefly on how I got the Indianapolis chapter started and with our meeting we think that it will be a great idea to be able to link our chapter here in Indy with Ecuador’s chapter…so for more information about further development …please visit the Indy AFH chapter website as I will be updating the progress on the website soon …our first international collaboration will be for Annie’s project here in Ecuador (if you are wondering who is Annie..I will be posting her story on how she got started and why she is helping the community for the project soon in the AFH website)

We then headed out to Otovalo and maaannn!…..is a very beautiful place…with incredible scenic route and unique market scene….we also met with Annie and talked some specifics on what she and the community needs ….its a very touching story and I commend her for her humanitarian efforts.

While driving back to Quito and looking out of the window…the scenery inspired and reminded me of the word of wisdom from the Kallari leaders ….‘Pachamama’ or ‘Mother Earth’ in Kichwa language….thanks to Diego, the Kallari main leader. The new implemented design of the Chocolate factory will not only reflect the identity and mission of the Kallari group representing the indigenous people here but also finding its roots to reflect the wisdom of its culture….Viva Pachamama!

Before heading back to the Hostel we were invited for an interview for a radio station here in Ecuador...the team were all very excited and will soon post some images...thanks to Mee leng for documenting the process….

so that’s it for tonight and we will be heading to Salina...a 6-7 hour drive from Quito to visit a chocolate production factory….so I would need to go to bed now….as it is almost 12 am …..have to wake up around 6am …..

-Teo and Mee leng -

The octopus and its master...

2008-11-09T00:31:00.008-05:00

It’s 12:30 am now and the band on the street is still playing, probably for a few more hours. The night life here in Quito where the hostel is located is very much alive …restaurants, night clubs, coffee bars etc….a cool hang out place for youngster predominantly. We left Tena around 7:ooam to visit the site and head back to Quito. Well, aside from the scenic drive back to Quito...we stopped by at Edwin’s house (Oswaldo’s friend) for his pirate themed birthday…and we had a great time just hanging out and tasting local food prepared by his wife and mother-in-law and a few other helpers….we then had a pirate treasure hunt where we were given clues to locate the prize….everyone received a cd at the end from our host Edwin. I had also won the prized toy octopus from the pirate fencing competition where players are randomly selected for a duel and winners of each round will be fighting again with other winners until the final duel...with wooden sword….and YES! I was crowned as the Pirate warrior of the evening.

The game was simple…just fight until you get the other person and if you get the other person’s leg you will be limping with only one leg, of you get the arm then you will have to fight with the other arm…hmmmm…probably if both arms were disqualified. ..maybe using the mouth will be the last resort...or just limp away as fast as possible...well it’s complicated so I will be posting a video for everyone’s viewing pleasure soon…..Mee leng and I had so much fun.

We were so tired today as we also tracked down the site and believe me...it is pretty wild down there…..crazy insects that bites, thorny scrubs and uneven terrain with mud pits…thinking that going down is hard but compared to climbing up….it is even tougher…..but the site visit confirmed the design of the Kallari chocolate factory’s identity and I’m very confident that the design on the new site will be more meaningful and contextual…and also conveying the vision of the Kallari organization to be the leader and model for the other communities, within Ecuador and around the world…from their words over and over again..’ we want to have a top notch facility where our vision can prosper the region’….they obviously have a great group of leaders and also the help from volunteers around the world to assist them in the path of success…we are proud to be a part of it!

In a few more hours…I will be meeting with heather and Veronica...(a local architect that is interested to start an AFH chapter here in Quito)...around 7:30am then rush back to meet with the group at 9:00am to head to Otovalo…a celebrated market town of Ecuador…to experience the local culture …for myself personally…its crucial to absorb as much as possible with the visit that will help in the enhancement of the project….but at the same time probably getting some indigenous handicrafts as souvenirs…so I will be reporting tomorrow night about the trip …..so till then I will try to get some sleep….

- Mee leng and Teo -

Buh-bye Rooster! (I'll miss you)

2008-11-08T22:28:00.004-05:00

I fell asleep last night, fully clothed, with glasses still on...and I was out until this morning! Roosters, you have not had the last cock-a-doodle-do with me!

Yesterday we visited a Kichwa community only accessible by walking across a crazy wood plank bridge. Here we found a museum that was started by a local woman with the support of Kallari. We learned many interesting things about jungle survival (I don’t know that I could), making traps, and the daily life of the Kichwa. Diego told us more about what changes happened in the communities when the Catholics came…probably enough said for this forum. His passion for his community is so infectious! We had a nice swim in the river to cool off on an especially hot day. We had dinner with the Kallari leaders when we got back into town. Each step of the way we were trying to extract good information from the leaders, trying to inform them on the process of architecture and what we need in order to see this project through to the end. So instead of one long meeting, we had many! Seems like an ok way to do business, right? Swim in the river, talk about planning, have some dinner together, talk about programming, have a beer together in the evening, talk about expectations…nice!

This morning we got up early and headed to the site, the entire team, Kallari leaders included. We hiked into the site itself, steep, steep, steep…no Stairmaster can prepare one for what we did. Diego was a helpful partner for me and offered his hand many times to help me down the rough parts, it must have looked like some weird dance that we were doing as we stepped from one grass clump to the next, being careful to avoid the holes of muddy water.

The site has many opportunities for the project, challenging for us as designers, of course…but it’s fantastic nonetheless. There is a great view from every point on the site. A few natural terraces will have to be supplemented by our own. It was very easy for each of us to picture the new chocolate there!

After we headed back up to the street from the site (ouch, by the way), we had a talk over refreshments and Diego (head of Kallari) couldn’t have been happier over the fact that we had all had the chance to bring our own energy to the site.

Tonight I will fall asleep in Quito listening to the music from down the road (about an hour ago there was a band, of the marching type, playing outside…hmmm). Rooster (he deserves name by now…maybe he can tell me what it is next time I go to Tena) will be crowing too far away from me to hear him in the morning, but I won’t forget him…

-Heather

Dippidy Dip…

2008-11-07T22:44:00.002-05:00

Today we had a very unique experience as Diego (The Kallari leader) brought us to the indigenous Kichwa museum called ‘Museo Rio Iloqulin’ but in order to get there we had to walk across a long suspension foot bridge with magnificent views of the Napo River and track along a narrow path for about 15 minutes to the museum. There we were educated with the way of life of the indigenous tribes from their day to day utensils, weaponry, animal traps to mystical plants for rituals…all in all a great introduction to the history and culture of the tribes in the Amazon. We then took a dip in the river with crystal clear water...definitely the best dip ever in a hot and humid day…Then we headed back to the town of Tena and had a casual dinner then a drink at a local bar where we talked regarding the strategies to go forward with the design of the Kallari Chocolate factory…The leaders are very appreciative of the effort and professionalism that we have shown and in our mind that we are doing this for the good of the Kallari communities and No regrets!!…for what we have done and what we will be doing in the upcoming weeks…volunteering in the weekends after work for this effort….
We will be heading back to Quito tomorrow at 7am and visiting the site for the last time …..but that’s not the highlight….but attending Oswaldo’s friend private party…the Theme ….’The Pirate”….which we have no costumes…so what Mee Leng and I were thinking to get a few teabags for our eye patch…just joking…but we will definitely have a good time tomorrow….by the way his friend also happens to own an Inca observation post along a trading route …..an archeological site where they have found a giant pot with human remains in it ….an Inca burial ….so we will see ……

-Teo and Mee Leng -

Monkeys, Ocelots, and Grubs, O my!

2008-11-07T06:33:00.005-05:00

I woke up this morning welcoming the rooster. I think I might actually miss him when we leave Tena tomorrow.

Wednesday was a fabulous day filled with canoe rides on the Napo River, watching cacao famers climbing easily into the top of trees to get us wonderfully sweet seed pods, tasting the meat of fresh cacao fruit, watching the cacao farmer and a leader of Kallari make a small thatch roof, getting my face painted with a plant that his daughters found (red seeds make the paint), learning about the process of growing cacao, learning about a plant that seems to do everything for them (the plant makes thatch roofs, panama hats, toys, provides shade, and is edible), watching someone eat the grub of the palm tree, and most importantly learning how Kallari really changed his life. We had a lunch of fruit from the farm and it was more than plenty. The farmer’s wife offered us “chicha” (I don’t know how Teo got out of it), I was obligated to drink at least some…I was glad I allowed Carlos to help me drink the rest because Fernando and Veronica both got a little sickly. Yesterday we found out that this farmer (Cesar) was featured in the New York Times in a story about Kallari, read it here. After leaving the farm we got to see monkeys (woohoo, I love monkeys!), the biggest rodent in the world, ocelots, turtles, parrots, more monkeys (woohoo, I love monkeys!), and some other interesting creatures of the Amazon. It was quite a long day filled with learning, absorbing the culture, and thinking about how all this information can be incorporated into our project.

Yesterday was a fabulous day filled with informing Kallari on how they can improve their existing facilities, giving the information on how we can turn this dream into reality, informing them of the architectural process, brainstorming on ideas on how to put the existing project into the new site, eating cooked grubs, talking philosophy at the end of the day with Carlos, talking about how we can make even more of an impact with this dynamic organization. Their quiet ways that they have changed so much here is infectious. We can’t help but want to do more for them.

Today we have decided against the rafting trip they had planned for us, and have opted to have another working session with them, reinforcing the same things we went over yesterday. Teo is keen on getting more design time in (way to go master designer). The rest of us are keen on making sure that we have enough to complete the process when we leave.

The sun has been shining for three days now, the city is coming to life, and its going to be hard to leave this wonderful place.

-Heather

First comes the slimy then the chewy

2008-11-06T22:27:00.002-05:00

We had a productive day today …as we visited the Kallari production center where they are building 2 new structure for drying cacao seed. We then went to have lunch at an authentic Kichwa couple food stall …where we both had whole tilapia fish wrapped and grilled in leaves and also tasted the famous
‘Chuntakuro’ or more widely known as the slimy fat grub looking worm…yes…it’s a little slimy at first but when it comes to the skin…its very chewy and soft….pretty disgusting but the seasoning was not that bad…We then head back to the Kallari office and had a great meeting…where we talked about the design a lot and came to the conclusion that we had to forgo a rafting trip tomorrow in order to get another meeting with the Kallari leaders before we head off back to Quito., I think its all worth the while as we are here to help the community to finalize the design with the new site….so it will be another working day tomorrow…..

- Teo and Mee Leng -

The Napo River Trip and the Return of Android…

2008-11-06T07:21:00.003-05:00

We set off from the hostel around 9:30 am and headed out for breakfast before joining Carlos and Arias for the trip to visit the farm of a local Cacao farmer. We took a boat ride to the farm (yes, a very cool ride there) and were showed around the farm. We were educated on how the tree was planted, the cacao fruit (and yes…we tasted it and it was great) and how cacao flower pollinate etc...We were also shown how to find BIG juicy worms from the tree barks…a delicacy and protein source for the locals…( and No…we did not have the courage to bite the head off and suck the slimy juice of the worm) …but one of the Kallari leaders did. Then we headed up stream to a sanctuary called Isla Parque Amazonico, a sanctuary in an effort to conserve the natural splendor of the Amazon's animals and plants... we saw a bunch of monkeys and most of them were roaming around freely, birds , boars, Capybara (World's Largest Rodent), turtles and more….But the most important part of the trip was being able to meet and talk to the beautiful family at the farm and to see how dignified, friendly and generous of them to show us around when they could have work that day to sustain their day to day life….that was something that will remain in my memory for a long time…
We then took a long scenic boat ride back to the dock and drove back to Tena…and had the best meal since we arrived here in Ecuador. but it comes with a price ….which was to be served by the strangest waiter ….we called him the ‘Android’….He is really funny and we were all very impressed with our meal and experience ..it only cost us around $7 for a full dinner…pretty impressive….and the food is ‘ Muy delicioso ‘ …so. its time for Mee leng and myself to get ready for another day (its 7am now)…which we will start with breakfast and heading for a Team meeting at the Kallari office….and will be visiting the site again …then going River rafting…no idea what we are doing but it will be great I’m sure….

- Mee Leng and Teo -

New site..New challenges..Same vision

2008-11-06T07:16:00.003-05:00

On our way from Quito to Tena, capital of Napo Province...we stop by the new site that Kallari has purchased and the settings is just magnificent, with views of layered mountains. Two creeks defined the edge of the site to a pizza shaped lot down to the river with a combination of the meandering road and the steep slope...it is a very different experience to design the submission through images and descriptions in comparison to actually experiencing the whole procession to get to and to stand on the edge defining it .The intention of this visit is to rework some of the design program/intent to fit the new programs and needs of the Kallari group and to react to the new constraints of the newly purchased site...The presentation last night was great as we have at least 20-24 people showed up wit the team blazing off and Mee Leng filming and recording the process …A Successful Presentation and from what we were told by the local architects that the Kallari leaders was very happy and impressed by the presentation and it seems that the synergy of the teams improved as we have spent some time together to know each other. Yesterday we were schedule to visit a lagoon in the Amazon jungle for leisure and the hour ride there was pretty rough….11 people attended the gathering and it was pouring while we were there…we had some snacks at a pavilion by the waterfall overlooking the gorgeous view of the Napo River ….and of course with a Tarantula nesting above us on the ceiling of the pavilion….A few could not resist the cool refreshing water and jumped in for a swim while Mee leng and I was busy exploring the scenery. We also met a furry friend; a stray skinny dog…and we were busy seeing what we could give to this new friend with what we brought….he was pretty satisfied after 2 small packs of crackers and some tuna in a can... that made its day…
We were introduced a term from the Kallari elders called ‘Pachamama’ with a literal translation to be "Mother Earth", a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes. with the notion of embodying more nature into the design of the Chocolate Factory. Everyday is a new chance to be inspired by the Amazonian culture as there is so much to learn from the people, culture and nature here in the Andes….

- Teo and Mee Leng -

There is no escaping the Ecuadorian Rooster

2008-11-05T07:42:00.003-05:00

Alright, the roosters need to be told something. At least they have one thing going for them...they are precise...530 am...(insert rooster noise here)...15 seconds....(insert rooster noise here)...15 seconds....(insert rooster noise here)....you get the picture! Why am I the only one that can't sleep through it in our group??? At least its not the end of the day, and I feel way more coherent....

At least I got the chance to see the blue skies peaking through the clouds this morning...welcoming in our new president. This American is glad this day has arrived. I might have had to stay here, had the election gone the other way.

So, yesterday....during the day we visited the greenhouse where they raise the cacao trees from seeds and trimmings. Then off to the place where they take the fruit, ferment it, and dry it. This was Kallari's first development and it was interesting to see how they adapted their design over time to fit the process. We had about a 3 hour lesson in fermentation, drying, plant growing, organic certification, and whatever else we asked. Then off to a lagoon overlooking the rapids of a river, where we had lunch and the gringos sat on the rocks and watched the Latinos take a swim.

In the evening around 630pm we all made our way back to the Kallari office, so we could present our project to the leaders of Kallari...or so we thought...Carlos said that we should wait a few minutes because there were a couple (2) delegates from a German company that would be there...ok...so we waited a bit. About 10 minutes later 10 people arrived, and the wives of all the leaders...so we ended up presenting the project to about 25 people, totally unexpected! But we were up for the challenge. We presented the project and it seemed to go really well. I am so glad that I reconnected with Fernando, because as Oswaldo said to me during the meeting, he thought Fernando could sell his dead grandmother a new car. Fernando is amazing, he brings across the emotion that we are feeling, but maybe can't express...bravo Fernando! We had some tough questions by these people from the German company (they were from Colombia, I came to find out)...but seemed to be able to answer all they needed to know...they spoke English, so it was a little easier. Probably the best part of the meeting was when we opened the 3D model and everyone sat there with their mouths open and a few ooos and ahhs came from the room...We ended the meeting when the German company people had to leave...and after they all said goodbye, one of the volunteers (who works freelance for BBC) pulled me aside and asked me if I understood who the Germans were...I didn't...they are the money, they have been in communication with Kallari about financing the project. Holy crap! I guess the German government has some kind of program that funds project in developing countries and this is part of that....So....they made their way out of the building and the leaders of Kallari gathered us around and expressed how well they thought the meeting went, Oswaldo and Veronica were both super happy about our presentation and everyone was smiling from ear to ear. Carlos, who is normally very stoic and doesn't show much emotion, was excited. Oswaldo said that this was something that he has never seen. Carlos then invited us to his house for some "vino de cacao" (yummy by the way). Oswaldo said that this was something that he has never seen.

So it was a great coincidence that these representatives were here, because they were only here for some meetings and training of their own. It really helped to show them the direction that Kallari is headed, and the possibilities for them to invest in and organization that can do so much. Imagine...an organization in Tena, Ecuador bringing a team from America, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, and Serbia to design a chocolate factory...cool, right?

Time to get ready for the day...the roosters have stopped there crowing...jerks...

-Heather

Simply....Amazing

2008-11-03T23:41:00.001-05:00

What and amazing day. We began with an early breakfast at the hotel and then went off to the airport to get the “big car”, suitable for driving to Tena. We are fantastic architects and found way to pack 6 people and their luggage into the car. I have to admit that we were amazing. However, more amazing was the driving of Oswaldo! Most of the way is paved now, but we spent about 45 minutes on unpaved roads, with big potholes, washed out places, and scary drivers. Oswaldo only had to apologize a couple of times to me (I am the owner of the car, he says) We saw the new site and spent time talking about how we would modify the project to fit…we saw the old site and agreed that the new site was much better. In the car, as I sat talking in Italian to Oswaldo, Teo and Mee Leng were speaking Chinese, and Veronica and Fernando were speaking Spanish…how amazing is that? We made our way to Tena and had lunch/dinner overlooking the river. Then off to our afternoon meeting with Kallari. We met with 3 of the leaders; the 4th was finding a way to the city. Introductions were made all around and Fernando was an amazing translator. (that’s a lot of amazing people on this trip). We then went out for some more drinks and Diego, the 4th leader, finally came. He told us his story of growing up and going to school without shoes, and now he is the head of an organization that dreams of international endeavors. So, yes, he is amazing too. I don’t feel so amazing in my writing skills…but its 11:30, and we have to ready to go by 745…It will be amazing if we ever get a good night’s sleep!

-Heather

Wow, almost forgot to mention that we were threatened with hot peppers in eye if we don’t make this project happen…I have this picture in my head of sleeping peacefully in Indiana and at 500 in the morning, Ecuadorians creeping in through the window and opening my eye for the pepper! Yikes…we also talked about headshrinkers today, but not threats of that…

Quito Tour

2008-11-02T22:15:00.005-05:00

It was a great day to start from Hostel Arupo with a tour on foot around Quito but not so much in the car as Quito is jam-packed with people and traffic was horrific..mostly due to the fact that today is the celebration Day of the Dead (All Souls' Day). The street scenes is the most interesting and Mee leng and I think that the colonial old Town, with beautiful cobbled inner courtyards, narrow streets and a lot of plazas where you will be able to see Quichua-speaking women in their traditional clothes carrying their children on their backs in tightly wrapped blankets, Mucho military looking police partroling around and of course tourists....just like us... We also managed to shoot some videos and a lot of images of this awesome cultural exploration. Our great host Oswaldo and Veronica also took us to see important monuments such as The Virgin Statue in Quito located at the top of a small hill El Panecillo: in the middle of the Colonial part of Quito, the Independence Place, Plaza Santo Domingo, The La Basilica church, The Monument on the Equator and much more...
So here are a few taste of Quito and its street life...I will be posting an Equadorian dance exhibition that we found while navigating through its meandering passages......

- Teo and Mee Leng -

Arrival! Finally!

2008-11-02T08:38:00.006-05:00

We have arrived! Teo, Meeleng, and I arrived at the airport last night to a sea of humanity...I really can't imagine what we would have done if I didn't seen Fernando's smiling face looking for me. I think I know how the Beatles felt everytime they got off a plane or out of a car, that's how many people were there. Fernando says that whenever someone comes home in latin america, the entire family has to come to greet them at the airport. We all piled into Oswaldo's car (shhhh, there were 7 of us in a 6 passenger car) and he took us the hotel. We then felt the need to go out for some Pilsener (Ecuadorian beer), and we got to know each other...one thing was clear, Oswaldo and Veronica are fantastic people. Fernando and I were woken up in the morning by some crazies singing at the top of their lungs at 600am in the breakfast room...yes, in the morning, as in 5 hours after we got to bed. I just started to laugh, because, really, how absurd...We decided to get up and walk the city for a bit, came back and had breakfast with the whole crew...and then we were off to be tourist for the entire day....Quito is fantastic...we straddled the Equator...had a typical meal....and then at 600pm started our work! We met for about 3 hours regarding the project, our roles, Kallari, and whatever else seemed to come up. We will be heading to Tena tomorrow, with a quick visit to the site and then meetings with the heads of Kallari in the afternoon. I'm going to try to get some good sleep tonight...we have to be at breakfast at 730am, maybe we'll do the singing for the hotel in the morning.

-Heather
you can comment by clicking on the number up there...next to the title and stuff

Gadgets...

2008-10-31T21:23:00.003-04:00

We just received this cool gadget from SteriPen, a handheld water purifier using UV lights! Suppose to kill 99.9999% of bacteria, viruses and destroys Giardia and Cryptosporidium in seconds. Not bad, huh? It will definitely come in handy if we ever run out bottled water and have to scavenge in the sewage…hahaha …But this should be a pretty nice tool for travelling….but we are not too crazy about the color, it will be cool to have one in orange…GO ILLINI!

-Teo and Mee Leng-

Almost There....

2008-10-31T17:00:00.008-04:00

Well.. we are almost done packing for the trip and will be waking up at around 3:45 am tomorrow morning to get ready and head to the airport to meet Heather at 5:30am. It will be a long day but I guess it will be all worthwhile. Here are a few books highly recommended for anyone in the future going to Ecuador.... and my favorite pick is the Culture Shock- Ecuador...very interesting reading and great tips for all travelers.... Ecuador here we come! Ooops...remember to bring 'deet mosquito repellent....'

- Mee Leng and Teo -

Really, 4 connections?

2008-10-30T19:16:00.003-04:00

A while back I got a notice that my flight itinerary had changed...I really thought it was just the times. Then I got another one, and figured the same thing. Then today I was reviewing a little notice from Orbitz, and saw that we now have to go through some other city in Ecuador to get on a plane to go to Miami, to get on a plane to go to Atlanta, to get on plane to go to Indianapolis. Just typing that makes me tired, I can't imagine what the day will be like...starting at 700am, ending at 1100pm...

In other and better news, RATIO bought us a way cool camcorder/camera combo. I was upset that we weren't getting the Flip, but when the lovely and talented Dave Girot showed us this camera, the Flip didn't seem as important. We'll get some video up soon!

In other and stranger news, Jake (a former Kallari volunteer) warned us all of the trouble we could get into for biting our nails while in S. America. He ended up in the hospital for not breaking his habit! I filed my nails down promptly.

Ok...time to go get those last minute things! (crazy that its not actually the last minute, what has gotten in to me?)

-Heather

Schedule...

2008-10-24T09:36:00.005-04:00

Only one week left. We are making our final trip plans and figuring how to get 6 people and some luggage into one vehicle for traveling from city to city. We will have like each other a lot! Our schedule looks like this so far...

Nov. 1, 2 - Quito - Visiting the studio of Oswaldo Enriquez-Veronica Cobo. Día de los Muertos festivities will also be going on...cultural experience!

Nov. 3 - Travel to Tena and visit the central offices of Kallari

Nov. 4 - Visit growing and collection centers

Nov. 5 - Visit local communities/villages

Nov. 6 - Visit the Kallari Infastructure (not quite sure what this is...)

Nov. 7 - Visit sustainable design projects in the Amazon

Nov. 8 - Visit the project site in Baeza and then travel back to Quito

Nov. 9 - Visit the town of Otavalo and Indian Market (stay in Quito)

Nov. 10 - Travel to Salinas and visit factories there (stay in Salinas)

Nov. 11 - Travel to Quito, visit the Kallari Cafe, say farewell to our lovely hosts

Nov. 12 - Head back home....

-Heather

OUCHHH!

2008-10-10T12:52:00.006-04:00

That’s right!..Ouchhh! ..We were just glad that the visit to Dr.Aziz’s Pharmacy for our Yellow fever injection was over. Mee Leng and Teo is definitely not a fan for that as we have been meditating and fasting for weeks just to prepare for that..Just
joking!. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute our time and effort for a greater purpose and to embark on this great South America journey. It has been an inspiring experience working with the AFH group in San Francisco, the Kallari, Oswaldo/Veronica up to this point and getting support from Ratio for our time off as part of Professional development and also hooking us up with equipments to document our trip… Yup! 20 more days to go before this great journey and of course will soon start scrambling to pack all the stuff for the trip…..and usually over packing too….

We will definitely post our itinerary once we got that pinned down …

Teo and Mee Leng

3 weeks for jungle fever...

2008-10-09T11:11:00.003-04:00

In just 21 days I will jump on a plane with Quito as the final destination and after a brief touch down in Panama City... Ecuador, here we come! Our Ecuadorian friends and colleagues have drafted a wonderful travel schedule that will surpass our expectations. My travel companions Heather, Teo and wife, and this Puerto Rican trotter are most excited about the upcoming work plan for the benefit of the Kallari people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This is truly a humanitarian endeavor that is worth experiencing. It will be a very rewarding experience as architects and designers who believe in good architecture and the power it has to transform communities.
Somebody once said: "One of the primary purposes of architecture is to highten the drama of living."

Ecuador, we are ready!!!

Fernando L. Pagan
Ray Architects Engineers, PSC
San Juan, Puerto Rico

One month to go...

2008-10-03T13:58:00.008-04:00

In less than a month we will be packing our bags (as light as possible), and boarding the plane to head to Quito and Tena. We will get the last of our travel vaccinations next Tuesday (weee-yellow fever). I received my brand spankin new passport in the mail yesterday (thanks US government!)...so there is nothing else keeping us from having a productive trip!

I chatted with Leonora of Treehugger.com this week, and she gave me the inside scoop on traveling in Ecuador, working with Kallari, and how she got Kallari and AFH together. She was a joy to chat with and the major point she got across to me was...be patient. No problem for me, I lived in Italy for a year! She was also excited to know that we had enlisted a Spanish speaker on our team (Fernando, you rock). She stressed that communication is of the utmost importance in this project...She said it was hard enough for the people of Kallari to get a grip on what an international design competition was, and even harder for them to understand that people from all around the world would be willing to help them...some organic chocolate growers in the rainforest... So here we come...a Puerto Rican...a Malaysian...an American (me!)...and with us in heart...a Serbian.

-Heather