Toquilla House / Rama Estudio

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Text description provided by the architects. The project takes place on the island of Portete, located in the Province of Esmeralda - Ecuador, one of the sectors affected by the 2016 earthquake. As a result of this event, the 80 families who lived on the island were displaced to the mainland in an infrastructure that was not their customs and without any appropriate thermal conditions for the area. The endemic materials of the area such as bamboo, wood, toquilla straw, and kade were replaced by zinc plates, blocks, and concrete. The traditional construction of the area whose materials are easily accessible, cheaper, and more sustainable have been stigmatized as low-quality materials. In this way, distancing the communities of the sector from accessing their own homes with traditional construction systems that are easily executed by having specialized labor in their family.