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Architects: Equipo Parque Educativo La Carcova
- Area: 500 m²
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Photographs:Herald Jeffry Paredes
Text description provided by the architects. The Educational Park La Carcova project is defined as an ongoing collaborative work experience, extended over time, based on the formation of a university network united by a common goal in a specific territory with numerous unmet basic needs. Since 2019, a national and international network of educational institutions has been established, fostering an experience of exchange and joint production. This initiative revolves around the development of full-scale constructions through collective and community-building workshops, with the active participation of students and social actors. The team at Biblioteca Popular La Carcova serves as the primary liaison within the territory for the project's development. As an educational and cultural institution, it is a key reference point within the community, actively engaged in various initiatives and facing concrete growth needs.
The overall working strategy aligns with the Educational Territory concept established by the Universidad de San Martín (UNSAM), which defines the transfer of knowledge to the most underserved areas within the municipality. Under this framework, a collaborative effort has been formalized with the policies of the Department of Socio-Urban Integration of the Municipality of General San Martín. The process of listening to the needs, current activities, future actions, aspirations, and desires initiated a collective imagination exercise that ultimately shaped the final project. This led to a proposal for the expansion of Biblioteca Popular La Carcova, along with a broader strategy for the development of the Educational Park, enabling its gradual implementation over time. The close relationship with community leaders has facilitated a participatory process, fostering consensus-building and trust among institutional actors and local residents. In 2019, the first structure was built within the territory—a wooden framework whose roofing not only provided much-needed shade but also established a gathering place, serving as a symbolic, identity-forming, and emotionally significant landmark for the La Carcova community. The production and assembly of this structure took place through multiple sessions of a collective building workshop, bringing together students, faculty, and community members.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the project has continued to expand. Later, through the Integrated Collective Construction Workshop, comprised of students and professors, the Santuario del Gauchito Gil was built—a fundamental religious landmark for the neighborhood. Currently, construction is underway on the second floor of Biblioteca Popular La Carcova, supported by the German foundation Aktion Palca, alongside the Early Childhood Space, which is already operational. Its name, more than anything else, encapsulates the essence of this collective construction process: "Todo a su tiempo" (“All is in good time”)
El ejercicio de escucha de las necesidades, actividades actuales, acciones futuras, deseos y anhelos, puso en marcha un ejercicio de imaginación colectiva que permitió dar forma final al proyecto. Se desarrolló entonces una propuesta de ampliación de la Biblioteca Popular La Carcova y una estrategia más amplia para el desarrollo del Parque Educativo, que permite su implementación a lo largo del tiempo. La cercanía con los referentes de la organización social permiten un proceso de trabajo participativo, de construcción de consensos y de confianza entre los actores institucionales con los vecinos.
En 2019 se construyó el primer dispositivo en el territorio. Se trata de una estructura de madera, que con su cubierta resolvió no solamente la demanda de sombra en el predio sino que estableció un punto de encuentro que define un elemento referencial, de identidad y de afecto para la comunidad de La Carcova. Se inició la producción y el montaje de dicha estructura a través de diversas jornadas de un taller de construcción colectiva que reunió a estudiantes, sus docentes y la comunidad. Desde entonces el proyecto no dejó de crecer a pesar de la pandemia y de las dificultades.
Tiempo después, a través del Taller Integrado de Construcción Colectiva integrado por estudiantes y docentes, se construyó el Santuario del Gauchito Gil, figura fundamental de la religiosidad del barrio. En la actualidad se está construyendo la planta alta de la Biblioteca Popular La Carcova, gracias al apoyo de la fundación alemana Aktion Palca, y el Espacio para la Primera Infancia, que ya está está en funcionamiento, y cuyo nombre describe mejor que nada este proceso de construcción colectiva: "Todo a su tiempo".
