Resilient Footprints: ELEA XXXVII Ecuador

From October 12 to 19, 2025, the city of Cuenca became the gathering point for more than 150 architecture students from 13 Latin American countries. The 37th Latin American Meeting of Architecture Students (ELEA XXXVII)—held as part of the 40th anniversary of the Latin American Coordinator of Architecture Students (CLEA)—proposed rethinking the role of architects in the face of contemporary territorial challenges.

Coordinated by architect Fernando Abarca, with the support of CLEA, the National Organization of Architecture Students of Ecuador (ONEA), the University of Azuay (UDA), the University of Cuenca (UCUENCA), and the Andean Parliament, the meeting adopted "Resilient Traces" as its conceptual framework: an invitation to read the city not only as a physical substrate, but as memory, conflict, and opportunity.

Cuenca, with its heritage fabric, its rivers, and its tensions between urban growth, mobility, and landscape, became a living laboratory for academic analysis and experimentation.

Territorial Resilience as an Academic Approach

"Resilient Traces" articulated a common framework for all workshops. The goal was not only to identify urban challenges, but to interpret how the city has learned to adapt: rivers as ecological and cultural corridors; heritage neighborhoods as repositories of identity; and mobility as a reflection of the aspirations and tensions of urban development.

The methodological processes—critical observation, collaborative mapping, multiscale analysis, and design experimentation—were guided by national and international workshop leaders who brought diverse perspectives to contemporary architectural practice.

Academic Themes and Workshop Processes

1. Water, Landscape, and Environmental Resilience

The first theme addressed the relationship between the hydrological system, the landscape, and the environmental challenges associated with climate change. Droughts, heavy rainfall, and soil instability demand a more comprehensive water management approach connected to local identity. The workshop explored green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and traditional practices to regulate water cycles and strengthen the collective memory associated with rivers.

2. Mobility and Public Transportation

This theme examined mobility dynamics in Cuenca, a challenge shared by many mid-sized Latin American cities. The territorial analysis highlighted a growing dependence on private vehicles, the limitations of public transportation, and a lack of integration between transit modes. The workshop proposed moving toward an accessible, multimodal, and sustainable model, understanding mobility as an urban right and as an expression of how the city is inhabited.

3. Identity and Appropriation of Space

Developed across two workshops, this theme focused on Plazoleta San Francisco and Plaza del Otorongo. Participants identified how recent transformations—many oriented toward tourism or vehicle traffic—have reduced community appropriation. The analysis highlighted urban identity as a collective construction based on memory, cultural practices, and the daily use of space. The proposals sought to reimagine these plazas as vibrant, safe, and inclusive spaces.

4. Habitat and Heritage

The fourth theme studied the tensions in the historic center between its cultural value and the effects of commercialization, tourism, and real estate pressure. Population loss and gentrification were key issues. The workshop advocated for understanding heritage as a living space that must remain habitable, accessible, and community-oriented. Management models prioritizing neighborhood cohesion and the right to inhabit were proposed, reaffirming heritage as a foundation for urban resilience beyond its economic value.

Outcomes: Replicable Strategies and Critical Thinking

ELEA XXXVII produced not only theoretical reflections, but also exploratory models, experimental interventions, and replicable strategies for Cuenca and other Latin American cities. The outcomes converged on key points:

• Understand natural systems as fundamental structures of urban development.
• Reaffirm the importance of inclusive and culturally meaningful public space.
• Recover heritage as a support for collective life, not as an isolated object.
• Address mobility as an essential component of urban equity.

These conclusions reinforce the spirit of the gathering: an architecture in dialogue with its context that prioritizes resilience as a structural criterion.

The Student Experience: Situated Learning and Urban Co-responsibility

For the students, ELEA was an immersion in situated learning. Fieldwork, direct contact with communities, critical readings of the territory, and multinational collaboration fostered a broader and more sensitive understanding of architectural practice.

Among the key takeaways were:

• Apply real methodologies in concrete scenarios.
• Understand that architecture is built in dialogue with people and their environment.
• Recognize the value of collaborative and cross-border work.
• Assume professional responsibility in building just, inclusive, and resilient cities.

Cuenca was transformed into a classroom, laboratory, and temporary home for a student community that confirmed that architecture is, above all, an act of territorial responsibility.

An Edition with Memory and Vision

In the year that CLEA celebrated its 40th anniversary, ELEA XXXVII reaffirmed the value of academic, cultural, and human exchange as a driving force for training new generations. The 2025 edition leaves a legacy of a critical perspective on Latin American territory and a shared conviction: designing for resilience means designing with both memory and a future.