Office: Al Borde | ArchDaily

Witoca Laboratory / Al Borde

Andreas Luco — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Facing the options of urbanizing the jungle, deforestation for monoculture, or creating intangible protection zones, there is another option: the chakra. The chakra is a Kichwa concept and, above all, a model of ancestral agroecology based on high biodiversity. This model of land use and management achieves the double goal of conserving the ecosystem while simultaneously producing within it. This strategic approach is the one adopted by Witoca to drive social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The project is located in the community of Huaticocha, in the buffer zone of the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

House in La Vicentina / Al Borde

Valentina Díaz — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 15:00:00 +0000

The project is located in La Vicentina, a traditional middle-class neighborhood in Quito, Ecuador. The location of the lot on a staircase makes it impossible to have parking, but far from being a disadvantage, it aligns with the lifestyle of the owner, who is a frequent bicycle user. In addition, the hillside topography provides an opportunity to take advantage of the view towards Cerro Auqui. Added to these conditions are the client's needs: a home for his own use, a smaller one for his daughter, and a versatile common space that can function as a workshop or social area.

Yuyarina Pacha Community Library / Al Borde

Andreas Luco — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Yuyarina Pacha means 'Space-Time to Think' in Kichwa. This project is located in the community of Huaticocha, in the buffer zone of the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In 2019, the Laboratorio Creativo Sarawarmi and Witoca, an agricultural association focused on coffee in the community of Huaticocha started a pilot non-formal education project with local children. What began as a reading club quickly evolved into a space for holistic learning. The library and reading club are more than just a place to look at books; they are a safe space where local children can learn, play, and create.

Raw Threshold / Al Borde

Andreas Luco — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 06:00:00 +0000

In a context where everything is within reach, where anything is possible to acquire from anywhere, and the capitalist development approach has eroded the local identity to the extent of destroying historic neighborhoods, a fundamental question arises: What does it mean to be local?

House Between Walls / AL BORDE

Agustina Coulleri — Wed, 25 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

The desire to settle forever in a space that feels like one's own, the search to live in harmony with nature, the need for autonomy of the three members that make up the family, the low budget understood as optimization of spaces and resources, and the phrase “There is always another way of doing things and another way of living”, coined by the owner of the house, became the starting point for our work.

Learning Viewpoint / Al Borde

Agustina Coulleri — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 03:00:00 +0000

The first intervention of the Cerro Blanco Protected Forest master plan faces the visitors to the forest magnitude. The design promotes the collective experience of being sitting in the front row. The end of the main axis lets the guide or the teacher the best location to address the audience spread in the two lateral wings. With this action, the viewpoint works as an open classroom for the school groups that visit the forest, which represents the largest park visitors.

Garden House / Al Borde

Pilar Caballero — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Jose studied ecology, has always approached nature, feels part of it blurring the boundaries between him and his surroundings. His house tries to do that too, spreading its elements on site and turning the garden into its circulation. José and his house question the comfort standards. For getting from bed to bathroom, you have to walk outside. Showering takes place in the middle of the plants in his greenhouse. There are places where people do not know whether they are a garden or house, or a house built by the garden.

Post-Earthquake Prototype – Rural Dwelling / AL BORDE + El Sindicato Arquitectura

Cristobal Rojas — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 15:00:00 +0000

The Prototype: As a second life of the German pavilion for HIII, we developed a post-earthquake prototype for the rural Ecuadorian coast, which costs the same as the houses delivered by the state but better adapted to the user and the place where it is implanted.

House of the Flying Beds / AL BORDE

ArchDaily Team — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Built in the late eighteenth century, at first sight, the house gave the impression of not being useful at all. It had only a one-floor plan, the brick floor was broken, the eighty square meters were dark and cold, and the wood roof structure was rotten. Only the earth walls seemed able to be refurbished, which at first glance they did not look so bad at all.

Kusy Kawsay / AL BORDE + David Guambo

Valeria Silva — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 02:00:00 +0000

The problem that triggers this work comes together with the duty of his author: I became a big fan to listen up the music loud, it allowed me to do my architecture school assignments during the nights, but I did not realize that this bothered my neighbors.

Nueva Esperanza School / al bordE

Nico Saieh — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 11:00:00 +0000

“For all of we, who belong to the Puerto Cabuyal Community, it´s been a cause of pride to have our new school. Our community is located on the beach, on the field, in a far away site, been fishing and agriculture the basis of our daily meals. Until 4 years ago there was no school in the community and because of that, most of its inhabitants were illiterate. We began with our school in a small cottage, but as the time passed, the space was got smaller because of the number of children, that’s why we undertook the construction of a new place”.

Culunco House / AL BORDE

Florencia Mena — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 15:00:00 +0000

Excavated Construction

Esperanza Dos / AL BORDE

Victoria King — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Here in Cabuyal people live without electricity, without sewage or running water. People do not use money; they have no jobs or professions. People do not measure time with clocks; do not use meters or rulers. Here there is no private property, nor institutions. Over here life is simple: if they are tired, they sleep, if they are bored, they play. They have ignored boundaries, morals and shoes.

Greenhouse Atelier / al bordE

Nico Saieh — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

He requires a shelter to express the powerful reflection of nature in his paintings. In the other hand. She needs a greenhouse to summarize the diversity of that nature. He is the foundation of the family. She is tenderness, passion and hope.

Entre Muros House / al bordE

Nico Saieh — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The wish to set up, the search for living in harmony with nature, the need of autonomy for each one of the three members of the family, the low budget (understood as the optimization of resources and spaces) and the phrase: "There is always another way of doing things and another way for living", settled by her, were the starting point for the design.