Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, WaterfrontProductive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Windows, WaterfrontProductive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Interior Photography, Handrail, DeckProductive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Interior Photography, Windows, BeamProductive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - More Images+ 22

Babahoyo, Ecuador
  • Collaborators: Jhonatan Andrade, Fundación In terris, Novacero, Andres Cruz, Alfredo Quinto, Ana Campos, Roswell
  • Graphic Design: Andrea Cáceres, Carolina Chi, María Paz Delgado, Cristina Barreiro
  • City: Babahoyo
  • Country: Ecuador
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Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Image 6 of 27
© Francesco Russo
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Image 22 of 27
Site
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Cityscape
© Francesco Russo

Text description provided by the architects. Context. In Ecuador, several centuries ago, the Babahoyo River and its floating houses became one of the main gathering, storage, and resting points on the commercial route for merchants and farmers between the cities of Guayaquil and Quito, using a construction system with greater resilience and adaptability over the years.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Windows
© Francesco Russo
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Image 24 of 27
Plan
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Waterfront
© Francesco Russo

Currently, the river is no longer a commercial waterway, reducing the number of floating structures from 200 to 25 and increasing the risk of their extinction, despite being recognized as Intangible Heritage of Ecuador.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Windows, Waterfront
© Francesco Russo
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Image 23 of 27
Axonometric
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Windows, Waterfront
© Francesco Russo
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Image 25 of 27
Section

During the last few years, the governments have developed housing solutions for relocation and displacement, declaring the riverbanks as a risk zone, without considering the consequences on the socio-cultural dynamics based on fishing, boat manufacturing, and river transportation.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Waterfront
© Francesco Russo
Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Image 26 of 27
Section

The inhabitants of the remaining 25 houses feel the need to preserve their connection with their territory, despite the unsatisfied basic needs and the absence of public policies that promote the care of their habitat.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Interior Photography, Handrail, Deck
© Francesco Russo

The objective is to propose a model of floating housing for Mr. Carlos, Mrs. Teresa, and their youngest son. A family that has been living on the river for over 30 years and uses the immediate ecosystem as their main resource.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Waterfront, Deck
© Francesco Russo

Carlos repairs wooden boats, while Teresa prepares traditional food, which is sold to local communities. The housing they lived in presented a critical condition in its structure and provision of basic services, preventing them from carrying out their livelihood activities in a dignified and sustainable manner.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Interior Photography
© Francesco Russo

Processes and techniques. A survey is conducted of their current living spaces and an inventory is made of the existing furniture and their uses. Through interviews with Carlos and Teresa, the problems, needs, and possible solutions are further explored, with the aim of utilizing them.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Interior Photography, Stairs, Handrail, Deck
© Francesco Russo

La Balsanera proposes extending 2m on each side of the current platform (6mx7m) to enhance the productive environments of the inhabitants. The structure consists of modular frames every 2m built with local wood, forming a gable roof, creating storage spaces and sufficient height for the enhancement of natural ventilation and lighting through its wooden lattice boundaries.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Waterfront
© Francesco Russo

The existing location of private and social spaces such as the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms is preserved in the center, while two strips are added to the ends; one for service and two for productive purposes, where the boat workshop, dry toilet, laundry, toilet, and shower are located. The platform ends towards the river with a productive terrace where the possibility of extending the traditional food service, social gathering, and anchoring of tourist boats is generated.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Interior Photography, Windows, Beam
© Francesco Russo

Management and approach. The SAT (Sharjah Architectural Triennial) calls on architecture teams to develop an exhibition that values the importance of scarcity, reuse of resources, and the appreciation of ancestral techniques based on nature in the Global South, including the Natura Futura studio, which in collaboration with Juan Carlos Bamba decides to use the resources commonly used in ephemeral constructions and later discarded to design and build the first sustainable floating house in Babahoyo, Ecuador with the aim of recovering the tradition of inhabiting the river.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Interior Photography, Kitchen, Windows, Beam, Countertop
© Francesco Russo

La Balsanera explores possible floating solutions that recover local artisanal techniques while enhancing the active and productive participation of occupants in vulnerable communities, where it is urgent to strengthen their resilience and sustainability to initiate the generation of public policies that allow, for the first time, traditional habitat on the river.

Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba - Exterior Photography, Windows, Waterfront, Cityscape
© Francesco Russo

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Project location

Address:Babahoyo, Ecuador

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Cite: "Productive Floating House - La Balsanera / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba" [La Balsanera - Casa Flotante Productiva / Natura Futura Arquitectura + Juan Carlos Bamba] 21 Nov 2023. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1009969/productive-floating-house-la-balsanera-natura-futura-arquitectura-plus-juan-carlos-bamba> ISSN 0719-8884

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